New Planned Parenthood property draws protests

People hold signs in protest of a proposed Planned Parenthood location at 3716 22nd Street on the corner of Memphis Avenue on Tuesday in Lubbock. [PHOTOS BY JUSTIN REX/A-J MEDIA]

Planned Parenthood’s return to Lubbock drew protests through the day Tuesday, with anti-abortion advocates converging on the clinic’s apparent new location.

Advocates with West Texas for Life and others displayed signs and hosted a prayer vigil at 22nd Place and Memphis Avenue - a former dental industry facility that Lubbock Central Appraisal records show Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas recently acquired.

People hold signs in protest of a proposed Planned Parenthood location at 3716 22nd Street on the corner of Memphis Avenue on Tuesday in Lubbock.

The new development in Planned Parenthood’s return to Lubbock comes in the midst of an ongoing push by anti-abortion advocates and the area’s state lawmakers to urge the Lubbock City Council to enact an ordinance aimed at stopping abortion facilities from operating in the city.

Mark Lee Dickson, a resident of Gladewater and director of Right to Life of East Texas, has been in the Lubbock area pushing city councils to adopt the ordinance.

He helped lead Tuesday’s protest at the Planned Parenthood property.

“This is where Planned Parenthood is planning on opening up and we believe that this is an issue that needs to be taken seriously by the city of Lubbock and the mayor and the city council have an opportunity to choose life for the community of Lubbock and we are encouraging them to do so,” Dickson told the A-J Tuesday afternoon during a prayer vigil.

Last week, the A-J reported the Lubbock City Council said the proposed Sanctuary City for the Unborn Ordinance presented to them by State Sen. Charles Perry and State Reps. Dustin Burrows and John Frullo raises multiple legal concerns, including potential conflicts with state law. No council member has championed the cause or introduced it to a council agenda for a vote.

However, proponents for the ordinance have gathered what they hope are the necessary number of signatures to force the city council to vote on the ordinance, the A-J reported last week. The signature validation process is still pending.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas officially bought the property at 3716 22nd Place in September, according to Lubbock Central Appraisal District records. The facility is listed at 6,373 square feet and is on a nearly 2/3rd acre lot, with a total appraisal value of just under $830,000. It was sold by a Dallas-based holding company that owned the property for just over two years.

Prior to that, the site was the location of a dental implant surgery support facility for nearly three decades.

Sarah Wheat with Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas wrote a brief statement in response to an A-J request for more details about the new location, services to be offered and a timeline for opening.

“In light of the history of harassment by extremists opposed to Planned Parenthood’s mission, we don’t comment on health center projects for security reasons until they are completed,” she wrote. “We are not yet serving patients in our Lubbock health center but we’ll have an update to share soon, before we are open for breast and cervical cancer screenings and cervical cancer prevention, birth control, sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment, HIV tests and PrEP and PEP to prevent HIV transmission, treatment for urinary tract infections, vaginal infections, annual well checks, and other healthcare services.”

Planned Parenthood had previously confirmed it is hiring for a new location in Lubbock, but has not confirmed if abortions will be among services offered in Lubbock, the A-J reported in August.

The recent conversation about the Sanctuary City for the Unborn Ordinance and abortion access has arisen in Lubbock because Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas confirmed it is working to open a location in Lubbock.

Planned Parenthood had a previous location in Lubbock, but it closed in 2013 due to a state law that has since been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2013, Texas lawmakers passed a law requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, and clinics to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the law in 2016, saying the law created an “undue burden” on the constitutional right to access an abortion.

In 2019, Planned Parenthood launched a telemedicine app in West Texas, including Lubbock. The Planned Parenthood Direct app allows patients to connect with a clinician who can prescribe three forms of birth control and treatment for urinary tract infections. Patients can have birth control pills mailed to them, and patch and ring contraceptive prescriptions will be directed to local pharmacies.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas operates 23 health centers across Texas, according to its website. Three of those health centers currently provide medication and surgical abortion, and twenty of those health centers offer Planned Parenthood’s other services: breast and cervical cancer screenings and cervical cancer prevention, the full range of birth control options including IUDs and implants, sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment, HIV tests and PrEP and PEP to prevent HIV transmission, treatment for urinary tract infections, vaginal infections, annual well checks, and other healthcare services.

Advocates for the Sanctuary City for the Unborn Ordinance say they’re hopeful either the City Council or Lubbock voters can keep an abortion provider out of the city and otherwise limit access to the procedure.

The ordinance states: “It shall be unlawful for any person to procure or perform an abortion of any type and at any stage of pregnancy in the City of Lubbock, Texas.”

The ordinance also says it shall be unlawful for someone to aid and abet an abortion — the ordinance makes it unlawful to drive someone to a clinic for an abortion, to provide money with the knowledge it will be used for an abortion, or giving instructions regarding self-administered abortions.

It also states an abortion provider can be sued for emotional distress by a member of the unborn child’s family, including, grandparents, siblings and half-siblings.

Prior to the city council meeting last week, a group of citizens delivered signatures to the city secretary’s office to bring the ordinance to a vote.

“Today, we delivered over 5,000 signatures to the city council requesting they adopt the ordinance making Lubbock a sanctuary for the unborn,” Sen. Perry wrote on Facebook. “I give God the glory for the outpouring of support and long hours it took to do this monumental task.”

The group advocating for the ordinance already filed the necessary documents with the City Secretary, under the provisions outlined in the city’s charter, to initiate the process to bring a citizens ordinance to the council.

According to the city, the charter requires that the committee submit a petition signed by no less than 25% of the number of voters in the last municipal election. In the 2018 election, 14,604 votes were cast in the mayoral race.

Organizers said on Facebook they needed to collect 3,651 signatures from registered voters in Lubbock, and he said they turned in 5,695 signatures.

The signatures were turned in Oct. 13. The next day, the city sent a news release saying, “The Office of the City Secretary will perform the required verification of the included signatures. The City will abide by and follow the process provided for in the Charter and welcomes the opportunity to visit with the Initiating Committee should it so desire.”

The city gave no indication how long it’ll take to verify the necessary number of registered voters.

Photojournalist Justin Rex contributed to this story.