Planned Parenthood has existed in Lancaster since 1932, and has been at its present location of 30 South Lime Street since 1971, almost 30 years — and no small feat for an organization of its kind, taking into account the growth and expansion necessary to keep up with the population surge the city has experienced in the last 30 years. They have seen opposition, of course, even a case of arson in 1993, but they have been able to cope and meet these challenges as well as accommodate zoning standards, building code standards, and Department of Health issues as have been required. But things changed in 1998 when Planned Parenthood decided to add abortion to their list of services provided at the Lancaster facility. A contractor was hired to perform renovations to the area where abortions would be performed, and a building permit was obtained.

A week into construction, word was made public what the renovations were going to be used for. The same day, a stop work order was issued by the city, and the contractor, although previously aware of what the renovations were for, decided not to complete the work. The second contractor hired decided the same thing. The third contractor was finally able to complete the renovations, but it was just the beginning of the adversity that Planned Parenthood of the Susquehanna Valley would face in the next two years.

Nancy Osgood, president and CEO, and Pat Brogan, vice president, have both been with Planned Parenthood in Lancaster since the move to Lime Street almost 30 years ago, and both saw a need to offer abortion services in Lancaster. While these services have been available in Harrisburg and York for years, they found that many women in Lancaster did not have the resources to get to those locations when needed.

"That’s really why we decided to offer abortion services at the Lancaster facility," says Osgood. Pat Brogan agrees, "That would be a terrible reason to make a decision on motherhood, whether or not you have transportation [to York or Harrisburg]."

When Planned Parenthood appealed the stop work order to The Building Code Board of Appeals and won, work was able to move forward as planned. But it was about this time that the growing number of vocal opponents to Planned Parenthood formed the group Lancaster United For Life (LUFL).

LUFL appealed the court’s decision to county court but lost. Then they took it to the PA Commonwealth Court, but the state courts upheld the decision to allow Planned Parenthood to go ahead with its plans. LUFL then took the final step and took their case to the PA Supreme Court, where it stands today. Brogan characterizes the level of opposition in Lancaster as "unique", and, according to Osgood, "unprecedented in Pennsylvania."

Planned Parenthood faces obstacles on two other fronts as well. LUFL lodged a complaint with the zoning board stating that Planned Parenthood was not zoned properly for what they intended to do. The zoning board turned it down, but when LUFL appealed to county court, Judge Paul K. Allison overturned the board’s decision, and ruled that the facility was indeed zoned improperly. Ironically, Allison was the same judge who ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood during the building code issue. The reasoning behind the reversal was that Allison felt that performing abortions was not a natural expansion for Planned Parenthood, even though the steps taken by Planned Parenthood of The Susquehanna Valley practically mimic countless other Planned Parenthood offices around the country, "and other OB-GYN offices around the country, for that matter" says Osgood. "Over time, we have added a number of invasive surgical procedures at our clinic. To say that abortion is any different is an error in understanding of the various medical procedures involved with reproductive health."

Also mentioned in Allison’s ruling is that Planned Parenthood of The Susquehanna Valley poses a legitimate danger to nearby civilians and neighbors, a statement that is particularly troubling to Pat Brogan, "Not that the protesters are a danger, but that we are," she says. Planned Parenthood has contested the ruling, and the case is scheduled for Commonwealth Court in September 2000.

Then there is the patient transfer issue. The Department of Health requires an agreement to be made with a hospital that in the case of an emergency during an abortion procedure, the hospital will admit the patient in question for treatment. Through all of Planned Parenthood’s years in Lancaster, they have always had transfer agreements with all three Lancaster hospitals, but when it came time to draw up an official document to meet the Department’s requirements, the hospitals would not come to an agreement with Planned Parenthood.

Then a physician from York Hospital heard of the situation and called Nancy Osgood to offer their assistance. An agreement was reached and submitted to the Department of Health for approval. This set off a fresh round of debates, as the guidelines required that the hospital be within a thirty-minute drive from the facility. Many people, including LUFL members and one state senator, took to their vehicles to prove that the distance could not be covered in fewer than thirty minutes. However, none made this trip in an ambulance under emergency conditions, and besides, according to Osgood, the trip would not be necessary, anyway. "As a practical matter, no patient would be driven the whole way to York in the case of a medical emergency. Indeed, she would go directly to the nearest hospital."

After weeks of deliberation, and several written inquiries from Osgood, the Department of Health made a curious judgment on the agreement with York Hospital: they would not make a decision until the zoning issue was cleared up, thus creating a link between two areas that seemingly have nothing to do with each other.

"These are two totally separate issues," says Osgood, who believes the Department has an obligation to make a decision. "It may be a ‘no’, but they have an administrative and regulatory responsibility to rule."

The opposition to Planned Parenthood is not likely to disappear anytime soon. On May 11th, LUFL hosted STOPP (Stop Planned Parenthood) International’s Jim Sedlak, who spoke to some 70 people at Calvary Church in Manheim Township. STOPP’s website states its purpose is to "cause such discontent with Planned Parenthood programs that it will have no choice but to close its doors and get out of town." Mr. Sedlak was identified by Planned Parenthood in 1993 as one of the fifteen most active opponents to their programs, and in his speech in Lancaster said, "If you look at the things Planned Parenthood endorses, they are the same things supported by the devil."

Phone calls to LUFL were not returned, but a recorded message explains that their "purpose as an organization is to prevent the establishment of an abortion facility in Lancaster and encourage activities that will eliminate the perceived need for abortion." LUFL has ably demonstrated their fervor in pursuing the goal of the first half of this statement, but what about the latter half? Perhaps the people of Lancaster would be better served if LUFL dedicated as much of their energy and ideas to positive community programs as they do to their very visible opposition efforts.

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood is physically ready to offer abortion services to women in Lancaster. "Our facility is ready, we have the staff ready, and we have doctors in place," says Osgood, "We are just waiting on a decision to be made." That decision won’t be addressed until September, making for what is sure to be a long, hot summer for both parties, as they wait to see how the courts will rule.