Protesters sang hymns, shed tears and displayed large photos of aborted fetuses Tuesday but did nothing to disrupt the first day of business at the new Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora.
About a dozen Aurora police officers were at the site on the city’s east side in case problems developed between the roughly 100 abortion protesters and the nearly 50 employees and supporters of Planned Parenthood, who cheered loudly when Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area President and CEO Steve Trombley announced the clinic was open.
“We know that the services we provide will do more in one day to prevent abortions than our opposition will do in a lifetime of protesting,” Trombley said.
The clinic, a massive, nearly windowless brick building at Oakhurst Drive and New York Street, will provide an array of reproductive health-care services, including contraception, examinations for breast and cervical cancers, and screenings for sexually transmitted diseases, Trombley said. Less than 10 percent of the services performed at Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area clinics are abortion-related, he said.
Trombley estimates the clinic will serve 25,000 patients a year when at full capacity. A few appointments were scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, mostly for tests for sexually transmitted diseases, and more patients would be seen this week, he said.
Abortion protesters vowed not to give up the fight to close the clinic, also showing up Tuesday night at the Aurora committee of the whole meeting, even though no clinic item was on the agenda. Outside the meeting, Eric Scheidler, spokesman for the Pro-Life Action League, said he filed an objection Tuesday with the Aurora Zoning Board of Appeals because the clinic did not get a special-use permit. He said he believed the objection should have triggered a closing of the clinic for 30 days.
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“I’m disappointed that Mayor [Tom] Weisner betrayed his promise to the people that this would be a fully open process and that as a community we could come up with a response,” Scheidler said. “He decided all on his own. He went around the City Council and the people.”
City spokeswoman Carie Anne Ergo said Tuesday night that attorneys were reviewing the objection and the earlier opinion of city staff that no special-use permit was needed.
Weisner added “that there is no substance or reason to deny the occupancy permit. While granting the occupancy permit may make some people unhappy, our job is to follow the law, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The clinic has been embroiled in controversy since July when it was learned Planned Parenthood applied for building permits in the City of Aurora under the name of a subsidiary, Gemini Office Development LLC.
Aurora delayed the clinic’s opening for two weeks while it investigated whether Planned Parenthood committed fraud. Two independent attorneys and the Kane County state’s attorney reviewed the application process and determined that no state laws or city ordinances were violated. Late Monday, Aurora issued Planned Parenthood a permit to occupy the building.
Trombley said the deceptive tactics were necessary to keep abortion protesters from learning about the clinic and targeting contractors, a tactic that had been used elsewhere.
Protesters have kept a round-the-clock vigil at the clinic since it was revealed to be a Planned Parenthood project. They must stay on a public sidewalk on Oakhurst Drive because the clinic is on private property in a shopping mall near a grocery store and a video store.
On Tuesday, they lined the sidewalk, praying and reading the Bible. After the clinic opened, a crowd gathered in a vacant field across the street from the clinic and sang “God Bless America,” “Give Peace a Chance” and hymns.
Matt and Judy Poskonka of Naperville have protested regularly at the site. Judy Poskonka said she believes peaceful protests are the most effective.
“We’re praying that we will soften the hearts of these people so they will see the evil in there,” she said.
Supporters also were there as the clinic opened, with one man marching into the crowd of protesters and shouting over their singing.
Jennifer Fink of Aurora brought her 5-year-old daughter to the clinic to voice her approval.
“I think it is absolutely important that women are able to receive medical care. My daughter is a big reason I am out here,” Fink said. “They are trying to block the clinic, they are trying to prevent women from receiving medical care and that’s unacceptable.”
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