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Monday October 1, 2007
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Planned Parenthood Sued Today for Libelous Statements Against Pro-Life Advocates
Maximum damages sought on behalf of protesters in Aurora accused of advocating violence
AURORA, IL, October 1, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In Kane County District Court this morning, a libel lawsuit was filed against Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area (PP/CA), its CEO and Director Steve Trombley, and Gemini Office Development LLC, based on a letter sent to Aurora's Mayor and Aldermen and released to the press and one or more advertisements that PP/CA placed in the Aurora Beacon News accusing those who oppose their facility as having "a well-documented history of violence and criminal activity" as well as "advocating violence against both persons and property as well as other related criminal activity."
The documents filed in court today insist that these statements are not only false, but maliciously false and libelous. The lawsuit was filed by Chief Counsel Tom Brejcha of the Thomas More Society of Chicago and Jason Craddock of Sauk Village, Illinois. Plaintiffs are nineteen individual residents of Aurora and neighboring communities, including Eric Scheidler, volunteer coordinator of Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood, who helped to organize the prayer vigil and protests at the Aurora PP facility.
Trombley's letter and the first ad, which ran in the Beacon on September 6, 2007, were followed by a "cease and desist" letter from Tom Brejcha on behalf of Eric Scheidler and the Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood. This letter demanded a "prompt and public retraction of false, libelous, and malicious statements." Planned Parenthood responded with public statements and another ad that were more inflammatory and accusatory than the original.
"Trombley and Planned Parenthood need to be held accountable for the outrageous statements they made both to Aurora officials and to the public," said Brejcha. "You cannot accuse the peaceful citizens of Aurora of violent crimes and advocating violence simply because you disagree with their message. This is just one more black eye on an organization that regularly uses deception in their tactics, but the good people of the Fox River Valley aren't going to let them get away with it."
The 22,000 square foot Planned Parenthood facility in Aurora, the nation's largest, has set off a firestorm of controversy and is now being referred to as "Ground Zero" in the national abortion battle. The City of Aurora is currently investigating the facility on allegations of fraud for not disclosing the tenant of the building during the application process. In addition, the pro-life community in Aurora and the surrounding area have been gathering daily at the facility, seeing as many as 1,500 march in organized peaceful protest. In addition to the ongoing investigation, which has kept the facility from opening, the libel lawsuit will be another in a series of court battles Planned Parenthood is facing.
"Planned Parenthood is a money-making machine that profits from their abortion business," stated Brejcha. "A young family with two children carrying crosses or a grandmother praying the Rosary should not be subjected to these malicious accusations made by Trombley and his organization. And while court rules prohibit insertion of large monetary claims in initial complaints, let it be said that our clients would be happy to take Planned Parenthood's $7.5 million building off its hands in lieu of damages, and then lease it to respectable, taxpaying legitimate health professionals - those who strive to heal, and not kill, human beings."
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