Planned Parenthood clinic opens

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AURORA (AP) - Meagan Waycaster says she grew up knowing the emotional pain an abortion had caused her mother. Colleen Heflin-Duval says if she'd gotten pregnant when she was raped as a teenager, she would have chosen an abortion. The women, both in their 20s, each said it was important to be present to express their beliefs as a Planned Parenthood clinic opened its doors to patients Tuesday, two weeks later than planned, after anti-abortion activists raised questions about how it received building permits. Planned Parenthood got the necessary occupancy permit late Monday afternoon after reviews by three attorneys found no legal basis to deny it. A 40-foot pink banner reading "This Center Is Now Open" hung across one of the brick building's walls on Tuesday. While Heflin-Duval stood in the clinic's parking lot, wearing a hot pink "I Support Planned Parenthood" sticker on her shirt, Waycaster was among about 100 protesters who peacefully gathered on nearby sidewalks. Some carried rosaries or flowers, others raised signs reading "Keep Abortion Out of Aurora." "It may be legal to open this clinic," said Waycaster, 21, of Montgomery. But she said she wants the center's patients and staff to know "that we love them, and we think that this is wrong. ... We wish that they could see this is a horrible crime that's happening." Waycaster said her mother had an abortion about four years before she was born and regretted it almost immediately. Her mother often attends protests and prayer vigils, she said, and is open about telling people her story. "She was too young, and she didn't believe what she believes now," Waycaster said. "It's affected her whole entire life. She knows that she could have had a much different life - she doesn't know if it would have been better or worse, but she knows that she would have rather found out." Meanwhile, Heflin-Duval said since it became public knowledge in late July that Planned Parenthood would occupy the building, she's devoted some of her free time to passing out yard signs in support of the group and attending public meetings where the development process was debated. Heflin-Duval, 25, of Woodridge, said she was raped when she was 17 years old. "Had I gotten pregnant, I would have chosen to have an abortion, and I would have been proud of my choice, because it was my choice," she said. "Thankfully it did not come to that, but if it had, I would have needed to turn to Planned Parenthood and had somebody to help support me in my decision and what I was going through." Because the area is growing quickly - Aurora is the state's second-largest city - she said it's important for women in the region to have a place where they can go for affordable reproductive health care services. She's a volunteer rape crisis counselor in DuPage County, and while most rape victims go immediately to a hospital for treatment, those women could turn to Planned Parenthood for follow-up testing for sexually transmitted diseases, she said. "I see the need for these services on a day-to-day basis," she said. "I am thrilled to see it open today after a frustrating battle. It's a wonderful place." The original opening date of Sept. 18 was delayed because city officials would not grant an occupancy permit while the review was under way into Planned Parenthood's use of a subsidiary called Gemini Office Development in getting the clinic built. Mayor Tom Weisner announced on Monday that said while Planned Parenthood was "less than forthcoming" during the development process, three attorney reviews found no legal basis to deny an occupancy permit to the clinic. The 22,000-square foot, $7.5 million facility will serve more than 25,000 patients a year when it's at full capacity, said Steve Trombley, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area. "Make no mistake. It took a lot for this to happen, but it was worth every minute of it," Trombley told cheering supporters outside the clinic as it prepared to officially open "Some say this fight is just about abortion. But for us at Planned Parenthood, this fight was about providing a broad range of much-needed reproductive health care services." The clinic will offer various contraceptive options, including emergency contraception, gynecological exams, pap tests, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and abortion services. Abortions account for less than 10 percent of Planned Parenthood's services in the Chicago area, Trombley said. Eric Scheidler, a spokesman for the Pro-Life Action Network, which has led protests and prayer vigils outside the building, said his group will continue to try to shut the clinic down. He said his group next will focus on a claim that because Planned Parenthood is a not-for-profit, it needed a special-use permit that would have required a public hearing and notification of nearby property owners. One attorney's review already dismissed that argument. If a local zoning board does not agree with his group's interpretation, they will next turn to the courts, Scheidler said. --- City of Aurora: http://www.aurora-il.org/ Planned Parenthood: www.plannedparenthood.org Pro-Life Action Network: www.prolifeaction.org