Yesterday at 3:32 p.m., our zoning case [PDF] against Planned Parenthood and the City of Aurora was filed in Illinois State Court! Finally, we have moved out of the cloistered city politics of Aurora and into State Court, where our case can finally be heard. The case, brought by five courageous residents of the Oakhurst neighborhood and FVFAPP, will finally call Planned Parenthood to task for their lies and deceit. The City will be forced to admit what they knew when, and PP will be forced to give an account for their lies to City officials and the community. Thomas Brejcha and Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society Pro-Life Law Center in Chicago explain that the rights of Aurora citizens have been violated in three ways:
- Planned Parenthood’s deceit (perhaps with the City’s complicity) robbed citizens of their basic right to establish the kind of community they wish to live in. City law demands citizens be informed when businesses like PP come into town, but PP skirted those laws.
- By robbing citizens of any voice in determining what kind of community Aurora would become, citizens’ freedom of speech was violated.
- Finally, citizens were robbed of the protection meant to be afforded them under the city zoning code. You and I don’t have the resources to stop PP from putting abortion centers wherever they want to. That’s what the zoning code is for, but when PP lies and the city looks the other way, a higher governmental authority must be called to action.
Which is why we are very excited to finally have the facts of this case brought into the cold light of day where they belong. As Peter Breen said in an article in the Aurora Beacon today, “All we want is justice.” The story was also covered by Chicago Tribune.
