The city of Beverly Hills agreed to train its employees on protecting abortion clinics after local officials interfered with the opening of an abortion clinic in “flagrant” violation of state law, according to a proposed settlement to be unsealed. Thursday by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. .
Bonta’s office said the then-mayor, prosecutor and city manager pressured the DuPont Clinic’s owner last spring to cancel the lease and that city officials also delayed permitting for the clinic. They even went so far as to warn the building’s owner that he could be responsible for bomb threats and shootings at the medical office building in the wealthy city’s business district.
The Washington, D.C.-based reproductive health provider is one of the few clinics nationwide that advertise abortions after 28 weeks of gestation. He had secured a lease and had begun preparations to open a second location in Beverly Hills in the United States.
Concerned about potential anti-abortion protests and negative media coverage, city officials “undertook a pressure campaign under the guise of public safety,” according to Bonta’s complaint. The actions “blatantly violated” state law, Bonta said in the complaint. It is the state’s first action under the voter-approved initiative known as Proposition 1, which enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution.
“It’s a stark reminder that there are efforts right here in California to undermine reproductive freedom,” Bonta said in an interview with KFF Health News before the announcement. “These are city officials who swore an oath to uphold the state constitution and state law, and they did the opposite.”
By signing the agreement, the city admitted no fault or liability. In a statement, Mayor Lester Friedman said the city disagreed with the allegations contained in the attorney general’s complaint.
“Beverly Hills is already home to medical facilities that offer comprehensive reproductive health services,” Friedman said in a statement. “The City reaffirms and pledges that it has not and will not discriminate against any reproductive health care provider and strongly supports a woman’s right to choose.”
As part of the agreement that has been approved by the Beverly Hills City Council and must be approved by the Los Angeles County Superior Court, city officials will be required to train employees on state and federal protections for abortion clinics. and create a protocol for handling complaints. of potential violations and designate a “reproductive justice compliance officer” to manage the program and training materials.
California prohibits abortions beyond the point of fetal viability, around 24 weeks, except in cases where the woman’s life or health is at risk. Proposition 1 strengthened reproductive freedom protections in the state constitution.
Passed by an overwhelming majority of statewide voters in 2022, the law says the state, and by extension local governments, “shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in his or her most intimate decisions, including his or her right to fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or reject contraceptives.”
Bonta said the measure, which at the time was widely considered a largely symbolic move in deeply progressive California, provided a solid legal basis for the state’s case against the city of Beverly Hills and led directly to the settlement agreement.
“There are protections, both constitutional and statutory, that protect reproductive freedom in California,” Bonta said. “Cities must honor and respect those rights and protections, and when they don’t, we will get involved.”
DuPont Clinic had announced plans in October 2022 to expand to the Los Angeles area, according to Bonta’s office. The following month, flyers opposing the opening of the clinic appeared in and around the building.
Beverly Hills police officials later drafted a plan to send a letter to other tenants in the building warning them of potential safety risks, something Bonta said they had never done with previous properties targeted by protesters.
The city attorney ordered city officials not to issue permits to DuPont until it had spoken with the clinic about “whether or not the proposed use is permitted.” He later suggested that DuPont provide a letter “confirming its intention to comply with California law” regarding abortions later in pregnancy.
“They acted differently and got into delayed permits and launched a pressure campaign based on the fact that reproductive freedom is at stake,” Bonta said. “They targeted DuPont based on the fact that it provided completely legal reproductive health care.”
During a City Council meeting in April 2023, City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey sent an email to council members alerting them to the controversy over the new clinic, just before several activists spoke in opposition. The clinic could, he warned, “be the focus of protests, rallies and unfortunately other more violent actions at times.”
“How did this come about?” Councilwoman Sharona Nazarian responded immediately.
Hunt-Coffey responded: “Well, it’s a private company that rents space in a private building. We have nothing in our code that prevents it…”
What followed was a series of attempts by then-Mayor Julian Gold, Hunt-Coffey and the Beverly Hills police chief to block the clinic from opening, Bonta said. Gold and the police chief met with the building’s owner, Douglas Emmett Inc., and warned him that the clinic could become a “lightning rod” for the city and that the owner would be “liable” and “liable” if something happened. . Gold also raised the possibility of bomb threats and active shooters, and the safety of other tenants in the building.
The clinic never opened.
Bonta said his office is prepared to go after local governments that shirk their responsibility to uphold state laws protecting abortion rights. He also suggested he would support changing state law to impose financial penalties on those who violate it.
