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Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York is suing Henrietta, New York, after the town voted against issuing it a permit to build a clinic in a local retail plaza.
Henrietta’s town board voted 3-2 against Planned Parenthood’s special issue permit on June 22, just two days before the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
Planned Parenthood’s suit, which was filed in July, alleges that the permit application was in accordance with town zoning and land-use criteria to open in a B1 district, and that the town’s decision ultimately “came down to personal opinions and public objections surrounding abortion services.”
The suit, which is slated to appear before the New York State Supreme Court at a later date, attempts to nullify the town board’s vote, as well as direct it to approve the permit and pay Planned Parenthood’s legal fees.
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Planned Parenthood applied for a permit to open a clinic in the Henrietta Jefferson Plaza in Rochester, New York.
(CREDIT: Google Maps)
Henrietta Town Supervisor Stephen Schultz and board member Millie Sefranek, both of whom are Democrats, cast the two votes in support of the permit.
“I absolutely felt it met the requirements,” Schultz said of the permit application.
Lisa Bolzner, M. Rick Page and Joseph Bellanca — the Republicans on the town board — voted against the permit, arguing that “a surgical medical facility” is “completely inconsistent” with the Jefferson Plaza and that the retail area does not have adequate space for vehicles or ambulances transporting patients who have undergone medical procedures.
Volunteer clinic escort, Kaleb Masterson, poses for a portrait outside of a Planned Parenthood location in Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 12, 2021.
(REUTERS/Gaelen Morse)
Bolzner also expressed concern that demonstrations and protests at the potential clinic could prove detrimental to neighboring businesses, concerns that Schultz acknowledged.
“She’s an advocate for small business owners,” Schultz said of Bolzner. “And she had spoken to shop owners who felt that they would be adversely affected by having Planned Parenthood next door.”
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Michelle Casey, who serves and president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York, told the town that if their clinic opens in Jefferson Plaza, it would only offer surgical abortions up to 13.6 weeks and “medication abortion” up to 11 weeks.
Protesters pray outside a Planned Parenthood location in Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 12, 2021.
(REUTERS/Gaelen Morse)
Casey further told the town that Planned Parenthood’s University Avenue location had two ambulance transfers in 2020, and three in 2021.
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Planned Parenthood did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
