Judge Won’t Dismiss Lawsuit Against Planned Parenthood for Claiming Pro-Lifers Support Violence

A lawsuit accusing Planned Parenthood of defamation against a pro-life group will continue in court after a judge denied the abortion business’s request to throw out the case on Friday.

The Illinois Review reports the Pro-Life Action League filed the lawsuit against the abortion business’s Illinois affiliate after it tried to link the pro-life group to violence in four separate newspaper advertisements in 2007.

Peter Breen, who is representing the Pro-Life Action League on behalf of the Thomas More Society, said the Kane County Circuit Court judge’s decision is good news.

“This ruling means that the Pro-Life Action League will finally have the opportunity to clear its name in court against Planned Parenthood’s lies,” Breen said. “The League twice beat Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry before the U.S. Supreme Court in a related case, and we look forward to mounting a vigorous prosecution of these defamation claims.”

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According to the report:

Planned Parenthood bought full page ads in the Daily Herald and Aurora Beacon News suggesting the Pro-Life Action League had a “well documented history of advocating violence.” The ad included a photo of a bombed-out abortion clinic in Michigan.

The first ad, which ran in the Beacon on September 6, 2007, was followed by a “cease and desist” letter from the Thomas More Society on behalf their clients. This letter demanded a “prompt and public retraction of false, libelous, and malicious statements.” Planned Parenthood responded with an ad that was more inflammatory and accusatory than the original.

The ads surrounded a 2007 controversy about the location of a then-new Planned Parenthood location in Aurora, Illinois, according to the Thomas More Society. The legal group said the Pro-Life Action League’s case against Planned Parenthood has been delayed for years because of appeals on issues unrelated to the merits of the defamation claims.

“No one should have to suffer the kind of vicious and false accusations of violence that the Pro-Life Action League has suffered,” Breen said.

The Planned Parenthood in Aurora, Illinois also is at the center of a second lawsuit, which alleges that the zoning of the mega-abortion facility was illegal because it was built in a business development district exclusively for for-profit businesses, LifeNews reported. The IRS recognizes Planned Parenthood as a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.

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