Planned Parenthood suing New York town that denied permit to open clinic in shopping plaza

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Monday, August 22, 2022

Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York has filed a lawsuit against the town of Henrietta after its board voted against issuing a permit to open a new clinic in a retail plaza.

The Henrietta board voted 3-2 in June to reject Planned Parenthood's special use permit. In response, Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit claiming that Henrietta's town board shouldn't have denied its application because it met the B1 commercial district zoning requirements. 

Planned Parenthood argues in its lawsuit filed in July that the town board's decision “came down to personal opinions and public objections surrounding abortion services,” according to the Democrat & Chronicle. The suit seeks to nullify the town board’s June 22 vote and requests compensation for legal fees and “other relief as the court deems just, equitable, and proper.”

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The New York state Supreme Court will hear the case at a date that has yet to be set.

Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York did not respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment. However, its President and CEO, Michelle Casey, told Democrat & Chronicle that if the clinic ever opens, it would offer surgical abortions up to 13.6 weeks of pregnancy and dispense abortion pills for women to have at-home abortions, also known as chemical abortions, up to 11 weeks gestation. 

As part of the town board's decision not to approve Planned Parenthood's application, the members noted that several urgent care clinics and surgical centers are already in the city's B1 zoning areas or being built, including the University of Rochester Medical Center's Orthopaedics clinic that's under construction.

They added that “a surgical medical facility” is “completely inconsistent” with the shopping area which they projected wouldn't be able to accommodate the number of parking spaces needed to drop off and pick up patients or for ambulances to transport patients to the hospital in emergencies after botched abortions. 

Casey argued before the board that Planned Parenthood won't be performing surgeries and that its nearest clinic only required three emergency ambulance transports in 2021 and two in 2020.

In addition to abortion, Planned Parenthood said in court documents that it would also offer other services, such as STI and HIV testing and cross-sex hormones for people claiming to suffer from gender dysphoria. 

Henrietta Town Supervisor Stephen Schultz and board member Millie Sefranek, both Democrats, voted to grant zoning approval for Planned Parenthood, according to Democrat & Chronicle, which reported that the pair said the facility met the 10 requirements for approval, including B1 district standards to provide “service needs.” 

“I absolutely felt (the application) met the requirements,” Schultz said. 

The three Republicans on the board, Lisa Bolzner, M. Rick Page and Joseph Bellanca, voted against the zoning approval and said they sympathized with residents who voiced religious objections to the opening of a Planned Parenthood facility, according to the suit.

Schultz, the town's supervisor, added that he understood Bolzner's concerns that approving  Planned Parenthood's permit application would harm other businesses in the plaza due to protests and demonstrations. 

“She’s an advocate for small business owners,” Schultz said. “And she had spoken to shop owners who felt that they would be adversely affected by having Planned Parenthood next door.”

A proposal for a separate Planned Parenthood facility in the town of Brighton also stirred controversy last month before the town's planning board voted to allow construction to move ahead, according to Rochester First.com.

In June, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed six bills into law protecting abortion providers from arrest and extradition. The new laws also give pregnant mothers the right to sue anyone who attempts to stop them from obtaining an abortion, NBC News affiliate WGRZ reported at the time.