It's Over

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Well, whaddya know. Yesterday a State's Attorney in Illinois declared that, guess what, Planned Parenthood's permit for their Aurora clinic was perfectly legal.
After abortion opponents and some members of the Aurora City Council accused Planned Parenthood of committing fraud against the city by applying for permits under the name of Gemini, a subsidiary, Aurora hired municipal attorneys Richard Martens and Phillip Luetkehans to review the permit application process. Both attorneys found no grounds to deny Planned Parenthood an occupancy permit.

The city then asked Kane County State's Atty. John Barsanti to review the investigative materials. On Monday, Barsanti announced his review was completed and no crimes had been committed.
Quel surprise: Planned Parenthood makes sure all its i's are dotted and all its t's are crossed when they build a new clinic.
"Knowing the tactics of our extremist opponents, we chose to take a low-visibility approach in building our health center in Aurora. At the same time, we took great measures to ensure that we did everything legally and truthfully," said (Steve) Trombley, (the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area).[/quote[
Of course, the anti-abortion folks are complaining about it:
Ald. Rick Lawrence, an outspoken critic of the clinic, said he believes the full City Council should have been given a chance to vote on the clinic.

"Either way this thing is going to go, it should have been decided by the elected officials, not just one of them," said Lawrence, who was outside City Hall with the abortion protesters. "We're going to have to look into [options] as aldermen."
Sorry, buddy, that's the way the law works: you make a stink, it goes before a judge, and the judge--yes, just one--makes his decision. Sorry your grapes are sour.

It seems that the antis aren't likely to have much luck, though obviously they intend to keep trying to figure out how to deny suburban Chicagoans complete--and legal--reproductive health care.
"It won't be over until Planned Parenthood leaves Aurora," said Eric Scheidler, a spokesman for the Pro-Life Action League. . . . Scheidler said his group planned to file another lawsuit in DuPage County on Tuesday claiming that because Planned Parenthood is a not-for-profit, it required a special-use permit that would have required a public hearing and notification of nearby property owners.

One attorney's reviews already dismissed that argument.
Meanwhile, there are women who have appointments at the clinic tomorrow. Guess they don't agree with the protesters who think that Planned Parenthood is "bad for Aurora."

More details are available at the Planned Parenthood Aurora blog, which posted this statement by Trombley earlier today:
My friends, we stand before you this morning in front of Planned Parenthood’s new health center that is now open to serve the women and families of this community.

Make no mistake – it took a lot for this to happen.

But it was worth it.

Some say this fight is just about abortion. But for Planned Parenthood this fight was about providing a broad range of much-needed health care services to the people in this community.

This fight was about providing life-saving services as pap tests to screen for cervical cancer.

This fight was about providing exams to detect breast cancer and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

This fight was about providing services some take for granted but that many don’t have access to because they are either not available or unaffordable.

And yes, this fight was about providing access to abortion services but we know that the preventative services offered by Planned Parenthood do more to prevent the need for abortion than our opponents will do in a lifetime of protesting.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been instrumental in making sure this facility opened.

I want to thank our board of directors for having the courage to take this project on.

I want to thank our architects and contractors for working with us to build this facility.

I want to thank our staff for their dedication, their courage and their flexibility during this difficult month.

And, most importantly, I want to thank the hundreds of supporters from Aurora and the surrounding community that have welcomed us, fought with us and now are a part of this health center and its mission.

Nearly 850 communities across America have welcomed Planned Parenthood because they know we give women an accessible place to go for quality, affordable health care. In fact, nearly 1 in 4 women in America have visited Planned Parenthood. We have been serving the Chicago area for more than 60 years, and we are now thrilled to call Aurora our new home.
One in four women in America. Thank god for Planned Parenthood.

Bitch_PhD went to Planned Parenthood for her first birth control prescription when she was just 17. It was the beginning of a long and healthy sex life free of unwanted pregnancies, and she is duly grateful. She wishes the same to all the women in Aurora who will use Planned Parenthood's services in the coming years.

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/news/all/22404/Its-Over/