Vote on Planned Parenthood deal delayed

The Aurora City Council will not vote tonight on an agreement reached between the city and anti-abortion protesters in a 2-year-old suit in federal court.

According to city officials, there was not sufficient time to give the required notice under the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

The agreement would bring to an end a suit filed in August 2007, which alleged that the city had infringed on the First Amendment rights of protesters at Planned Parenthood's New York Street clinic. Copies of the agreement have not been released, and details are scarce, but it reportedly sets out rules and regulations for those protests in the future.

The council will likely vote on the agreement in two weeks, on Nov. 24.

Since August 2007, the two sides have been hammering out an agreement that would regulate protests there, and still preserve the rights of those protesting.

According to attorneys from both sides, a settlement was reached last week, and presented to Judge Virginia Kendall on Monday morning. Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society, representing the protesters, said Kendall "strongly recommended" the council approve the agreement.

"Both sides got a good deal of what they wanted," Breen said. "However, the real winners here are the people of Aurora and the Fox Valley, whose First Amendment rights are vindicated by this agreement."

Neither Breen nor city attorney Alayne Weingartz would discuss specifics of the deal. A copy of the agreement was not provided.

Eric Scheidler, who heads up Families Against Planned Parenthood, said the settlement requires amending a couple of city ordinances, and stipulates details such as where protesters can place their signs, and where they can stand.

Scheidler said the protests will now stay off of the east side of Oakhurst Drive, and his group will erect warning signs along New York Street when they use graphic images depicting abortions. He said the deal also creates a grievance procedure, so conflicts can be resolved "without going to court, or having arrests."

Scheidler noted that the larger monthly protests do draw other anti-abortion groups, and the agreement would not cover them. But he said he considers it his responsibility to make sure the protests "operate within the parameters of the law," and said he would work to get the information about the agreement out to whoever attends.

"It's an agreement we can live with," he said. "We'll see if the spirit of cooperation that gave rise to this (settlement) will continue to govern the relationship."