A pro-life group has sued the city of Richmond, Virginia, after the city council approved the sale of city property to a Planned Parenthood abortion facility for a mere $10.
Family Foundation’s Founding Freedoms Law Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of Dr. Sheila Furey, a local psychiatrist. The suit contends that the city’s transfer of the building, a former school, violates the law and prevents others from bidding on the land. Planned Parenthood has indicated it intends to build a 10,000 square-foot, $10 million dollar facility on the property — the corporation’s third facility in the city.
“The City should not have squandered over a million dollars in funding that it could have used for critical services for Richmond residents, like improving our schools or providing real medical services to children in need,” Furey said in an Aug. 14 press release. “Their actions denied my practice and other worthy businesses the opportunity to acquire that property and use it to provide our neighbors with services they actually want and need.”
Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb said the property could be utilized to serve the city in better ways.
“Given the needs of homelessness [and] mental health [patients], this certainly is not the greatest need of the city and absolutely could be better served in other ways,” said Cobb. “Citizens must know that their leadership is accountable and transparent to follow the law, and that is what is best done by the residents. And when you have businesses that are boxed out of a process because the City Council has a pet project, that’s the opposite of what I think residents are voting for.”
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney lashed out at the Family Foundation following news of its lawsuit. “It comes as no surprise that the Family Foundation, a group of extremists bent on ripping away access to reproductive healthcare from the indigent, is suing the city to do just that,” said Stoney. “Northside is a healthcare desert and the addition of a new Planned Parenthood clinic would meet Richmonders right where they are and provide access to quality, affordable care — including primary care for those without insurance. We look forward to fighting this in court.”
Stoney’s statement echoes one of the arguments often used to excuse the opening of a new abortion facility, but the data doesn’t back up the claim. Planned Parenthood provides very little legitimate health care, especially primary care. Instead, it’s own annual reports, show that its health care services are decreasing, while abortions are increasing. It currently commits 40% of the national market share of reported abortions.
