Illinois Planned Parenthood Built New Aurora Abortion Business Secretly 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 27 2007
Aurora, IL (LifeNews.com) — As more reports surface on the new abortion center Planned Parenthood is building Aurora, Illinois, pro-life advocates are concerned about how it was built with so little advanced notice. The 22,000-foot building is one of the largest abortion centers in the nation but Planned Parenthood was able to build it under the radar.
As LifeNews.com reported Tuesday, Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area will open the abortion business in the 200 block of North Oakhurst Drive, located in the DuPage County section of Aurora.
But the new facility escaped the attention of pro-life advocates and area residents until recently in part because signs at the location carried Planned Parenthood’s name for its new building — the "Gemini Health Center."
Work crews working on the abortion center have been working on it for eight months but no one knew the facility would be used for abortions until a contractor tipped off local pro-life advocates when he grew concerned about the amount of security and bulletproof glass for the building.
The tip mirrors concerns contractors had in Austin, Texas when they began a concerned effort to boycott the construction of an abortion center there. The building was ultimately completed, but the boycott caused significant delays.
Steve Trombley, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area, admitted to the Chicago Tribune on Friday, "Frankly, I’m surprised we were able to keep it a secret for so long."
"We didn’t want anything to interfere with the opening … and, at this point, I don’t anticipate anything will stop that from happening," he said. "We want to introduce ourselves to the community … rather than be defined by our adversaries."
The building is set to open on September 18 and Ann Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League, told the Tribune her group will do everything possible to put obstacles in its way.
"It is not going to be possible to stop construction," she conceded. "It’s probably more a matter of damage control at this point."
Scheidler’s group is bringing in national pro-life leaders to help it plan a strategy to protest the abortion center.
Regarding the secrecy surrounding the construction, Scheidler told the Tribune that workers helped identify the new building as an abortion center.
"He knew there was a recovery room. It was obviously a surgery center of some sort. I guess the bulletproof glass and all the security, the security cameras, made him concerned," she said.
Even Aurora Councilman Chris Beykirch, a local politician with his ear to the ground, didn’t know the new building would house an abortion business until just recently. The property was zoned for a medical office and building and nothing indicated to him or area residents that Planned Parenthood was moving in.
