Aurora, Illinois Officials Issue Final Permit for Planned Parenthood Abortion Ctr
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 22, 2008
Aurora, IL (LifeNews.com) — At the first of the month, city officials in Aurora, Illinois issued a final permit for the new Planned Parenthood abortion center that pro-life advocates have been opposing for over a year. The Final Certificate of Occupancy for the 22,000-square-foot abortion facility has been under dispute since last year.
Unlike the now-expired Temporary Certificate of Occupancy under which the facility had been operating, the Final Certificate will grant permanent legal status to the facility.
Responding to the issuance, pro-life attorneys from the Thomas More Society law firm filed appeals to both the Aurora Building Code Board of Appeals and the Zoning Board of Appeals yesterday.
The pro-life attorneys are representing Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood and neighboring residents of the new abortion center.
They say the city of Aurora continues to refuse to apply the correct ordinance to Planned Parenthood, even after officials conceded that its outside attorneys applied the wrong ordinance to the facility during their legal review before the temporary certificate was issued.
The dispute was the first to see Planned Parenthood use a fictitious name, Gemini Office Development, to hide its identity during the building permit phase of the construction.
Peter Breen, a Thomas More attorney, talked to LifeNews.com about the latest developments.
"Planned Parenthood has made a mockery of Aurora’s development process," he said. "They have brazenly committed fraud against the city and have strong-armed their illegal non-profit ‘business’ into the backyards of citizens who were given no voice."
"It is time for the ‘City of Lights’ to shine a harsh light on Planned Parenthood’s dirty tactics," he quipped.
The appeals open a new front in the legal battle over the new abortion center, Breen said, including new questions raised about the Aurora Building Code used in the facility’s applications, inspections, and permits.
Thomas More Society attorneys previously-filed a nine-count lawsuit, which Aurora unsuccessfully tried to remove to federal court and have dismissed.
On motion by Thomas More Society attorneys, the federal court remanded the suit to state court in DuPage County, where the parties are awaiting a status date.
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