A new Planned Parenthood mega-clinic in Washington, D.C. is open for business this week, just across the street from a city elementary school.
The abortion facility is located next to the Two Rivers Public Charter School, a sought-after elementary school in Washington, D.C, much to the outrage of pro-lifers and parents. Construction on the new abortion center began more than a year ago after Planned Parenthood closed its smaller D.C. facility.
On Monday, someone wrote messages in chalk on the sidewalk outside the new abortion facility’s front doors. Daily Signal reporter Kelsey Harkness noticed it and posted a photo on Twitter.
“Welcome, we kill babies.” Planned Parenthood flagship in DC getting a warm welcome by protesters on its opening day. pic.twitter.com/Xvtjte5Mio
— Kelsey Harkness (@kelseyjharkness) September 26, 2016
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Another image showed pro-lifers holding signs with messages such as “Protect them both.” As Harkness walked around the abortion facility, she said she could hear children playing in the school playground nearby. Her video report for the Daily Signal also captured sounds of the school children as she walked around the Planned Parenthood building.
Over the weekend, pro-lifers held a candlelight vigil outside the new abortion facility to pray for the moms, babies and abortion facility workers.
It is unclear when exactly the facility opened for business, but the abortion giant is celebrating the grand opening of its new D.C. facility this week.
On Sept. 23, pro-life sidewalk counselor Lauren Handy posted a message on Facebook noting that she began seeing the first patients arrive for appointments that day.
The Planned Parenthood mega-center originally was scheduled to open in May, but “pro-life efforts have delayed their opening thus far,” Handy told LifeNews in August.
Since learning about the new facility, pro-lifers in the city have been working in various ways to protect babies and moms from the abortion expansion. Prayer vigils and protests, sidewalk counseling efforts and increased access to life-affirming support all have been part of pro-lifers’ efforts to help unborn babies and moms in the city.
Pro-lifers have been holding protests at the site for months.
In December, the neighborhood charter school sued pro-lifers who were protesting the construction, alleging that they were harassing students in their efforts to stop construction of the new “flagship” abortion facility.
“This lawsuit is outrageous,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which is representing the pro-lifers in the lawsuit. “It is shocking that a school entrusted with the care of young children would want an abortion clinic adjacent to its property.
“Planned Parenthood is brass to construct a death camp beside an elementary and middle school. Parents should be forewarned of the dangers which lurk behind the four walls. School officials should be ashamed for trying to hide the clinic from the parents and the public. Our client will not be intimated and deterred in the exercise of his freedom of speech,” Staver said in February.
The pro-lifers are not the only ones who are opposed to the new abortion clinic setting up shop next to the schools. In January, a subcontractor walked off the site after learning that it was an abortion clinic.
Several parents also have voiced their concerns about the abortion facility moving in directly next to the Two Rivers elementary school and across from a middle school, LifeNews previously reported.
Of course, Planned Parenthood believes its clinic will do just fine with the schools close by. Its Washington, D.C. president and chief executive, Laura Meyers, said Planned Parenthood has other clinics located near schools in other parts of the country and they “enjoy a strong partnership.” She even mentioned that their “educators” work with many middle and high schools to teach kids on “reproductive health.”
