Planned Parenthood is trying to use the courts to force Louisiana to allow it to open a new abortion facility, state attorneys said this week.
The abortion giant sued Louisiana last year over its abortion clinic license application. On Wednesday, its attorneys appeared before a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel to claim that Louisiana officials are wrongfully delaying the licensing process for its New Orleans abortion facility, the AP reports.
However, Elizabeth Murrill, solicitor general for the state Attorney General’s Office, said the abortion giant is trying to “circumvent” the state licensing process through the courts, according to The Advocate.
“They are forum-shopping,” Murrill told reporters. She said Planned Parenthood chose to sue rather than request a meeting with the state Department of Health secretary or apply for a provisional license.
“They didn’t do any of that,” Murrill said. “Ultimately, what they are trying to do is circumvent the licensing process.”
She asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
The abortion chain opened a huge new abortion facility in 2016 in Louisiana, but no unborn babies have been aborted there yet. Planned Parenthood applied for a license to do abortions that same year, but the state has not granted the license.
Planned Parenthood claims the state set up “new, unprecedented road blocks” for its license, Courthouse News reports. But the state’s reasons for delay included investigations into allegations of Medicaid fraud and the sales of aborted baby body parts at Planned Parenthood – something the U.S. Department of Justice also is investigating. In 2013, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, of which Louisiana is a part, paid $1.4 million to Texas in a settlement about Medicaid fraud claims, the local news reported at the time.
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It is not clear when the Fifth Circuit will rule on the case.
Planned Parenthood has been trying to expand its life-destroying business into Louisiana for years, but pro-life advocates have worked hard to protect unborn babies in the state.
According to Louisiana Right to Life, in October 2014, Planned Parenthood argued in a 74-page document that New Orleans needs 2,844 more abortions on an annual basis.
Benjamin Clapper, executive director of Louisiana Right to Life, said the following after reviewing Planned Parenthood’s brief:
“Over the past few years Planned Parenthood has avoided almost all mention of abortion when discussing its [new New Orleans facility]. They have focused instead on the need for women’s healthcare. Now, in a shockingly blunt and business-like manner, Planned Parenthood is making a case to the state of Louisiana that the New Orleans area needs 2,844 new abortions every year, and that Planned Parenthood is the business to sell those abortions.”
If it does receive a license, the $4 million mega-clinic will be the first Planned Parenthood in Louisiana to do abortions. The facility can accommodate 12,000 patients a year, according to the abortion chain.
The New Orleans project appears to be part of a larger plan at Planned Parenthood to increase its revenues by expanding abortions. The abortion business’s annual reports show services like cancer screenings declining while its abortion numbers remain steady.
Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion chain in America. Its most recent annual report listed 321,384 abortions. It also reported reaping in about half a billion tax dollars from hardworking Americans. Leana Wen, the new CEO, recently admitted that abortion is Planned Parenthood’s “core mission.”
