Life Legal served Planned Parenthood Northern California with a lawsuit yesterday for repeatedly harassing pro-lifers outside its Napa California abortion mill. Planned Parenthood “deathscorts” routinely assault pro-lifers to prevent them from talking to women entering the Napa facility.
In one incident, a Planned Parenthood “deathscort” grabbed a pro-lifer’s arm and pushed it away as she was handing literature to a woman approaching the facility. In another incident, which happened at the height of the COVID pandemic, a deathscort stepped up to a pro-lifer, got within six inches of her face, and started screaming at her. The pro-lifer was alarmed and shaken by this aggressive behavior.
Planned Parenthood deathscorts and other pro-aborts have pushed and shoved pro-life advocates, knocked over their signs, followed them to their cars, shouted profanity in their faces, and yelled at them to stop praying.
Last year, the city of Napa passed a “bubble zone” ordinance that prohibits harassing any person within 30 feet of the entrance to an abortion facility. Harassment includes interfering with the free passage of a pedestrian, intentionally touching or causing contact with a person without that person’s consent, and engaging in a course of conduct that alarms another person.
Planned Parenthood insists that the bubble zone ordinance was necessary to protect its workers and clients, even though all the harassment taking place outside the abortion mill has been directed at pro-lifers. Pro-aborts sought the ordinance to deter pro-life advocates and make sure women do not have access to life-affirming options to abortion.
The brazen and abusive behavior of Planned Parenthood’s deathscorts toward pro-lifers escalated following the passage of the bubble ordinance. Life Legal’s own staff, which prays daily outside the Napa abortion mill, has been subjected to ongoing persecution and intimidation by deathscorts. Our action is enabled by the very ordinance pro-aborts lobbied for and passed.
After repeated attacks, including physical assaults, on pro-lifers by Planned Parenthood employees and volunteers at its Napa abortion facility, we had no choice but to file suit. Public sidewalks – even those outside abortion clinics – must remain open to constitutionally protected speech and activities without constant harassment and interference.
Planned Parenthood Northern California is a DBA of Planned Parenthood Shasta Diablo and owns assets of over $81 million. The affiliate took in over $60 million in taxpayer and private revenue last year.
Please stand with us to fight back against Planned Parenthood’s bullying tactics.