The City Council of Richmond, Virginia, unanimously approved a controversial sale this week to Planned Parenthood: an acre of city-owned land sold to the corporation for about the price of a McDonald’s breakfast: $10.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the abortion giant plans to build a 10,000 square-foot, $10 million dollar facility on the property — its third facility in the city. In April, one of the two existing Richmond Planned Parenthood facilities (on North Hamilton) called 911 for an abortion client suffering a possible uterine perforation, requesting an ambulance with no lights or sirens. According to a report about the incident, “Previously, this facility was found to have a number of health code violations, where inspections discovered filth, botched abortions, and failures in the areas of quality management.”
The city’s willingness to practically give away the land for the killing of its preborn citizens follows a city resolution passed earlier this month detailing the city’s support for increased abortion.
“Access to affordable, quality health care, including reproductive services, is essential to the well-being of our residents,” said Mayor Levar Stoney in a press release. “I am proud the City Council unanimously voted to approve this land transfer. Richmond is leading the way in the South for protecting reproductive rights and increasing access to health care.”
But before the sale’s approval, nearly two dozen citizens spoke in opposition.
READ: Virginia Planned Parenthood staffer laughs casually as woman suffers abortion injury
“I want to start off by saying that Planned Parenthood is in the business of performing abortions and ending an innocent human life. That’s what abortion does — it ends a life in the womb,” said resident Brooke Sadler. “That’s what they do and they make lots of money doing it.”
“My plea is to give our children a chance. Let them live out the destiny that God has planned. Members of the Richmond City Council, God will smile down upon your decision,” said another resident, Frederick Michael Decker, before the vote. “Who knows the children that would be aborted in this facility may not be North Side’s next Barack Obama or Douglas MacArthur.”
Josh Hetzler, an attorney with the Richmond-based Founding Freedoms Law Center, said he will consider filing a lawsuit against the city for the sale, which he claims is illegal. “You can’t give a sweetheart deal to a billion-dollar corporation just because you like them,” he said.
Family Foundation of Virginia president Victoria Cobb also indicated a willingness to sue the city. “Richmond City Council is essentially gifting the establishment of a fifth abortion center within city limits, [which] is appalling,” Cobb said.
