Our fight against Planned Parenthood in the courts is continuing, and every day that goes by brings us one step closer to getting to the bottom of PP’s lies in coming into Aurora and, God willing, one step closer to kicking them out. Tom Brejcha and Peter Breen at the Thomas More Society Pro-Life Law Center have been working tirelessly as well as getting some input from some attorneys from Washington D.C. who contributed to the NOW v. Scheidler trial. All the attorneys are very excited about these cases. We could see some big waves rippling out from Aurora, IL in the coming years. Here’s an update of what’s happening in each of the three cases currently in court:
Frachey et al. v. Planned Parenthood
As I posted here on the 14th, the zoning case [PDF] against PP and the City of Aurora has been filed. We are currently in the legal limbo of waiting for the attorneys for the defense to reply to our complaint. They have till March 20 to file that reply. If past performance is any indication of future results, we will likely be waiting till the 20th to get that reply. Once we get their reply, our attorneys will go over it and file a response to it. After that, the trial will begin in earnest. Look for that to happen late March or early April. We will, of course, keep you updated as developments occur.
Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood et al. v. The City of Aurora
When we filed our 1st Amendment case against the City of Aurora, the city’s attorneys immediately called for a settlement conference to try to brush this thing under the rug. Unfortunately for them, this case is far too big for that. You may have heard about the original date set for that conference, which was Ash Wednesday, but it didn’t happen that day. Our attorneys needed a little more time to build up a rock solid case against the City and PP, so the conference has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 26, which is Easter Wednesday, or Bright Wednesday as we call it in the Eastern Churches. What an encouraging day to have a lawsuit! Pray that new life will triumph.
Elizabeth and Roger Earl et al. v. Steve Trombley
Finally, the libel case [PDF], which has found itself on the back burner for a while now, through no fault on our side. The defense hired a high powered Chicago attorney, Leah Bruno, who has worked for the likes of McDonalds, Wal-Mart, and Prudential insurance. You can look her up here. Ms. Bruno asked for more time to review our case, so we’ve been waiting several weeks to give her time to do that. The next action on that case will take place March 19, and after that, much like the zoning case, we will respond to her reply to our complaint, the the trial will get rolling in earnest. So that’s the story so far. All three suits are rolling along nicely, though law, like most government operations, takes time. As I said earlier, our attorneys could not be more excited, both about our chances and about the implications these cases could have nationwide. As always, pray hard for our attorneys and the judges for wisdom, and for the PP, the city, and their attorneys that they might fall into their own nets, as the psalmist says, or experience glorious conversion!
