Hearing set in Planned Parenthood director case
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BRYAN, Texas (AP) — Planned Parenthood has filed a temporary injunction to prevent a former director of its Bryan clinic from teaming up with a local anti-abortion group to release records from her eight years of work at the family planning clinic.
The employee, Abby Johnson, said Monday that she never planned to release the records.
Either way, the case, which has gained national attention on conservative online media sources and anti-abortion blogs, has caused a skirmish between the clinic and the Brazos Valley Coalition for Life, which recently moved its headquarters several hundred feet away from the clinic.
A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Nov. 10 in the 85th District Court.
The injunction was filed Friday and signed by District Judge J.D. Langley. It prevents Johnson and the coalition from releasing anything that Johnson, who was executive director for about two years, may have retained while working at Planned Parenthood -- at least until the hearing.
Coalition Director Shawn Carney said Monday that there was not a campaign to reveal private information. He said Planned Parenthood's actions were unnecessary and an overreaction.
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood wrote in court documents filed Friday that Johnson was seen copying confidential personnel files and possibly other documents in the days before she abruptly resigned on Oct. 6. The clinic's lawyers expressed worry in the filings that Johnson might release clients' medical records, information about doctors who work at the clinic and the clinic's security measures.
Johnson said in a telephone interview with The Eagle that she didn't turn over any documents to the Coalition for Life.
"I didn't provide any because I don't have any," she said.
The 29-year-old said she resigned from the clinic because she felt guilty after witnessing an abortion in September. She also said she was concerned about pressure from the organization's regional manager that the Bryan clinic focus on more abortions because of financial reasons.
"Definitely the most lucrative part of their business was abortions," she said. "One of the things that kept coming up was how family planning services were really dragging down the budget, and family planning services include education about contraceptives. It was a drain on the budget, but abortion services were really running up the budget and that was keeping the center afloat."
An employee at Planned Parenthood's Bryan clinic declined to comment and referred questions to the organization's regional office in Houston. A spokeswoman from the regional office released a statement but declined to answer any questions.
"We regret being forced to turn to the courts to protect the safety and confidentiality of our clients and staff, however, in this instance it is absolutely necessary," the statement said.
The injunction filed Friday came two days before the end of Brazos Valley Coalition for Life's 40 Days for Life community campaign. Planned Parenthood lawyers said in court documents that they had heard that "something big" was going to happen on the final day of the campaign, and they believed that it could be the release of Johnson's documents.
Court documents filed by Planned Parenthood stated that Johnson told a nurse practitioner who works at the clinic that she gave Coalition for Life a document with the nurse's home address and phone number. Johnson declined to comment on that allegation.
Planned Parenthood also said that an out-of-town physician who provides occasional services to the Bryan clinic was recently contacted by a protester associated with Coalition for Life. Johnson and Carney said the physician's identity was publicly known as a doctor who provides abortions.
The group was planning on going public with Johnson's decision to leave Planned Parenthood in December, but they wanted to present it as a story of an employee having a change of heart and not as a way to expose any people who work for or visited the clinic, Carney said. "This was a spiritual experience," he said. "This was a religious change of mind or change of heart and it has nothing to do with documents."
The coalition now features Johnson's story on its Web site, saying it's by "far the most amazing thing that has happened to the Coalition for Life throughout its entire history."
