“Did we hope to avoid disruptive and potentially violent protests that might delay the opening of a facility greatly needed in DuPage and Kane counties? You bet we did,” Trombley said in the letter. “It should be obvious by now why we chose that course.”
Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area staff plan to open a full-service health center at 3051 E. New York St., in the DuPage County section of Aurora. Abortion services will be available.
“I’m not sure what he (Trombley) was hoping to accomplish” with the letter, Weisner told The Beacon News.
The City Council’s Planning and Development Committee approved the final plan for the health center on Nov. 16, 2006. The project did not require full council approval because the land already was zoned for medical office use. The owner was listed as Gemini Office Development LLC.
Planned Parenthood officials, applying under the names Planned Parenthood Association/Chicago Area and Gemini Office Development LLC, asked the Illinois Finance Authority Board in May for approval of the issuance of a type of bond to help fund construction and land acquisition costs of the Aurora health center.
From Planned Parenthood:
Aurora is a largely Hispanic and working class community, and Planned Parenthood saw a growing health care need:
- Illinois ranked seventh-highest in 2005 for chlamydia rates and 11th-highest for gonorrhea, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- The Guttmacher Institute reports that among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Illinois ranks 46th in the availability of contraceptive services and supplies.
- In Illinois, 1,558,620 women are in need of contraceptive services and supplies
What no one seems to be pointing out is that abortion is about 10 percent of what Planned Parenthood does. Abortion is completely legal in the United States. Treating a clinic offering a completely legal medical option differently than another medical option means that a community would have to find some objective criteria based on zoning–and Aurora doesn’t have that ability right now.
Planned Parenthood’s Open Letter
A new Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area (PP/CA) health center opening in Aurora, IL, in September will provide a full range of services to women and families, including
- pregnancy testing
- a range of contraceptive options
- emergency contraception
- gynecological services
- Pap tests
- colposcopy services for abnormal Pap tests
- sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment, including rapid HIV testing
- abortion services (both surgical and medication) with sedation options
- options counseling, including adoption referrals
There is a health care crisis across America, and Illinois is no exception. It has among the highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea in the country, and Illinois is ranked 46th in access to contraceptive services.
Aurora, like the rest of the country, has a huge and growing need for affordable health care. It is the second-largest city in Illinois, after Chicago, with a population of more than 157,000. One-third of Aurora’s population is Latino, and many do not have access to affordable health insurance.
But despite its large and growing population, Aurora has few resources for reproductive health care. As a nonprofit health care provider, PP/CA is committed to providing affordable services to low-income people. Between 2001 and 2004, PP/CA opened three suburban Express sites, but they offer only a limited reproductive health care menu of birth control, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, and pregnancy tests.
“Their success has demonstrated the depth of need for reproductive health care in the suburbs,” said Steve Trombley, PP/CA president and CEO. “The Naperville site alone logged more than 13,700 visits last year, mostly for birth control. The new Aurora site will meet the need for more comprehensive services.
“The bottom line? We need to deliver health care to the people who need it, and the new Aurora center will do just that.”
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Health care yes. I agree that health care should be provided for those without insurance, but i disagree with the stance that Planned Parenthood has on women and teens. Their liberal messages are damaging to young teens. To promote sexual promiscuity is wrong. Condoms, birth control, and abortions do not alleviate the problem with pregnancy, STDS, and unsafe sex. They make it worse. How is that in schools a student cannot take aspirin without parental permission? Yet, they can go to a planned parenthood and have an abortion? It does not make sense, and it is wrong to take away the parent’s right to their children.