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PASCO -- Foes of a proposed Planned Parenthood clinic in Pasco are continuing attempts to influence public opinion about the clinic -- and hope their demonstrations will sway the city council's decision in November.
The council is set to have a "closed record" hearing Nov. 16 on Planned Parenthood's application for a special use permit to open the clinic on Court Street about 80 feet from Mark Twain Elementary School.
The planning commission on Sept. 17 recommended that the council deny the permit, citing concerns about potential disruption and threat to public safety to nearby businesses because of protests.
Planned Parenthood appealed that recommendation to the city council.
Many of the more than 200 people who attended a public hearing June 18 argued that the clinic would pose a hazard to the elementary school if it became the target of protesters' violence.
"We find it kind of ironic ... many of the people responsible for organizing these protests are the same ones going before the planning commission and voicing concern about there being protests," said Brian V. Griffith, Planned Parenthood of Central Washington spokesman.
The morality of abortion was a focal point of opponents' testimony despite statements by Planned Parenthood that no abortions would be performed at the facility. Many people said at the hearing that they believed if the clinic were allowed into Pasco, nothing would stop it from eventually performing abortions there.
Abortion again was the core issue for several hundred protesters who lined Court Street from Road 32 to Road 40 on Sunday to show opposition to the clinic.
Suzie Murphy of Kennewick was among those participating in the "Life Chain," one of a series of nationwide events intended to peacefully protest abortion and pray for unborn infants.
"It was very exciting to see the pro-life people there, see the people who were against (abortion)," she said.
Murphy said she's a Catholic who was raised to believe that both abortion and contraception are wrong and are against life, and she sees Planned Parenthood as the opposite of everything she believes.
"Planned Parenthood is an affront to Catholicism," she said.
Murphy, 37, said she remembers holding a sign in front of a proposed clinic in Pasco as a little girl -- and that the protests stopped the clinic from coming.
"Usually pro-life people are not very loud, but when things like this happen, you have to get out and have to defend the babies," she said. "You have to defend life. It's important for us."
Planned Parenthood officials have said the clinic would provide reproductive health care services such as annual exams, cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, access to birth control and vasectomies.
Supporters of the proposed clinic have said it's needed in Pasco because of the high rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in Franklin County, and that Court Street is a good location because it's on a bus line.
Rick White, Pasco's Community and Economic Development director, said the council will not be allowed to take any more public testimony at the Nov. 16 hearing. It must rely on transcripts and evidence from the planning commission hearing when making its decision.
-- Michelle Dupler: 582-1543; mdupler@tricityherald.com
