Beverly Hills Interfered with Abortion Clinic's Planned Opening: AG

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — Despite the city's denial of wrongdoing, state Attorney General Rob Bonta said Thursday Beverly Hills officials actively interfered with the planned opening of a late-term abortion clinic and engaged in a pressure campaign against the clinic's landlord, leading to a cancellation of the facility's lease.

"It is troubling that, even here in California where access to reproductive healthcare is a constitutional right, Beverly Hills officials have taken actions reminiscent of those in extremist red states by illegally interfering with, and ultimately preventing a new reproductive healthcare clinic from opening," Bonta said in a statement. "Today's first-of-its kind agreement will ensure that the city abides by comprehensive training and education of reproductive healthcare laws.

"The agreement also serves as a benchmark for local governments to evaluate their healthcare policies and services, guaranteeing that they not only comply with the law, but also fulfill California's broader commitment to reproductive healthcare access."

The judgment stems from the canceled opening of a DuPont Clinic location at a Douglas Emmett-managed building in the 8900 block of Wilshire Boulevard last fall. The clinic, based in Washington, D.C., had obtained a lease and began work to open the clinic, but following a series of protests by anti-abortion activists, the clinic's lease was canceled last summer.

DuPont later sued the city, contending that officials had colluded with an anti-abortion group and conspired to get the clinic's lease canceled to prevent it from opening.

City officials have consistently denied taking any actions to interfere with the clinic's lease, but the state Attorney General's Office launched its own investigation into the situation, leading to the judgment originally announced by the city late Wednesday.

In a statement issued Wednesday night ahead of Bonta's Thursday morning news conference, Beverly Hills city officials said they had agreed to the stipulated judgment, which they insisted found no wrongdoing by the city, and that did not impose any fines or penalties against the city.

"The city cooperated fully with the Attorney General's investigation, and the evidence presented demonstrated that the city did not interfere with the planned opening of the clinic and the decision to rescind DuPont Clinic's lease was not made by the city of Beverly Hills," Mayor Lester Friedman said in a statement. "We disagree with the allegations in the Attorney General's complaint."

According to the city, which is home to other abortion clinics and has declared itself a sanctuary for reproductive health rights, Beverly Hills agreed in the judgment to "develop a training module for select employees and elected officials regarding compliance with state and federal reproductive healthcare law." However, the judgment contains no admissions or findings of wrongdoing, according to the city.

But according to the Attorney General's Office, the investigation found that the city "unlawfully interfered with DuPont's opening by improperly delaying the issuance of approved building permits and actively engaged in a pressure campaign against the property owner and manager Douglas Emmett, resulting in the termination of DuPont's lease."

Bonta's office contended that Beverly Hills officials including the city manager, police chief, city attorney and former mayor claimed the clinic would lead to security threats against the building's other tenants, including possible "lone-wolf active shooters." When such warnings failed to halt the clinic's opening plans, city leaders "threatened to send a letter from the Beverly Hills Police Department to all of Douglas Emmett's other tenants in the building, warning them about the threats posed by the clinic, continuing to mount pressure until Douglas Emmett decided to end its contract with DuPont Clinic," according to the A.G.'s Office.

In his statement Wednesday night denying any wrongdoing by the city, Friedman said, "Beverly Hills is already home to medical facilities that offer complete reproductive health services. The city reaffirms and pledges that it did not and will not discriminate against any reproductive healthcare provider and strongly supports a woman's right to choose."

Beverly Hills City Councilman John Mirisch issued a separate statement Wednesday night saying the council voted last week to approve the judgment with the A.G.'s Office, but he said he was the lone vote against the deal.

"While people may have had different interpretations of some past public statements from other council members, I have seen no evidence that the DuPont Clinic's failure to open in Beverly Hills was a result of the city's actions or was essentially anything other than a tenant/landlord dispute," Mirisch said. "As such, the stipulated judgment feels like it is political showmanship from the Attorney General's Office, an attempt to score political points at the expense of a well-known, often stereotyped city, which also happens to be the state's only Jewish-majority city."

He claimed that Bonta was singling out Beverly Hills while ignoring the actions of cities such as Fontana, which he said has "repeatedly blocked Planned Parenthood from opening." He also blasted Bonta for his "inaction in protecting Jewish students and residents who have been faced with an unprecedented tsunami of anti-Jewish racism over this past year."

The DuPont Clinic differs from many other abortion providers by offering the procedure past 24 weeks of pregnancy. California law generally bars abortions once a fetus is considered viable — at roughly 24 weeks — unless the mother's life or health is endangered. But there are very few local clinics that will perform such late-term abortions.

City News Service