Planned Parenthood Takes Aurora, Illinois Abortion Battle to Federal Court 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 14, 2007
Aurora, IL (LifeNews.com) — Planned Parenthood is taking its battle to open a new abortion center in Aurora to federal court and saying that the process of applying to run a business there has become too political. City officials are currently investigating whether the abortion business deceived the city by applying for permit under a different name.
The investigation could result in the city denying a permanent occupancy permit to Planned Parenthood and delaying or preventing its planned opening on September 18.
As a result, abortion center officials took the city to court and requested a Friday hearing at the U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Steve Trombley, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area, told the Chicago Tribune that the lawsuit was necessary because the group can’t trust the city to make an objective decision.
"It is time to put our patients before politics," Trombley said, adding that 13 appointments had already been scheduled for Tuesday, including abortions.
"The City of Aurora is conducting a review of the permitting process and we no longer have faith in that process," he told the newspaper. "The entire process has now been politicized and we have no confidence that we will have a fair and impartial review. We are confident we will prevail in court."
Carie Anne Ergo, a representative of Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner, said the probe into the documents will continue.
The city has hired an outside attorney to determine whether Planned Parenthood illegally applied for a permit when it used the name Gemini Office Development LLC without disclosing it would run the abortion center.
"The mayor and members of the City Council believe having an independent evaluation of the facts surrounding the development of this facility is a reasonable response to legitimate questions raised about the building process," Ergo told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Alderman Rick Lawrence said Planned Parenthood has no one to blame for the potential delays but itself because it has admitted it tried to hide the true identity of the operator of the monstrous facility.
"We have every right to not issue an occupancy permit. If they would have, in my opinion, not defrauded us, we would not have a problem," Lawrence said. "They brought this upon themselves by not being honest."
Trombley has conceded Planned Parenthood tried to hide its identity, but told the Chicago Tribune, "In no way did we deviate from the letter of the law."
