Authorities Investigating Fire At Louisiana Planned Parenthood

Pro-life protestors gather in front of the Waco Convention Center to picket the Nobody's Fool sex education conference for teenagers Thursday July 15, 2004 in Waco, Texas. The conference is sponsored by Planned Paren... Pro-life protestors gather in front of the Waco Convention Center to picket the Nobody's Fool sex education conference for teenagers Thursday July 15, 2004 in Waco, Texas. The conference is sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Central Texas. As the one-day Nobody's Fool conference marks its 15th year, the debate continues over what type of sex-ed program is best: giving youngsters information about contraceptives or telling them to save sex for marriage. (AP Photo/Waco Tribune-Herald, Duane A. Laverty) MORE LESS
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The New Orleans Fire Department is investigating a Saturday morning car fire at the construction site for a new Planned Parenthood clinic in New Orleans, according to the Times-Picayune.

Firefighters responded to a vehicle on fire inside the locked gate of the construction site and extinguished the blaze, according to the Times-Picayune. Nobody was injured in the fire, Melissa Flournoy, the director of Planned Parenthood Louisiana, told the Times-Picayune.

In a Monday statement, Dawn Laguens, the executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, said she believes that anti-abortion activists started the fire at the construction site.

“Just yesterday, extremists set fire to a security guard’s vehicle outside our Planned Parenthood health center under construction in New Orleans,” she said. “Planned Parenthood will do everything in our power protect the health and safety of our staff and patients, and to protect women’s access to health care in Louisiana and all fifty states.”

The fire occurred as Planned Parenthood has come under fire from conservatives due to edited, undercover videos released by an anti-abortion group. On Monday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) announced that he had ended the state’s Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood due to the videos.

The Planned Parenthood construction site has been hit with protests since the organization began building in May 2013.

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