‘It didn’t have to be this way’: Beverly Hills settles investigation over abortion clinic battle

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta blasted the city of Beverly Hills in a news conference Thursday, accusing city officials of colluding to keep out a third-trimester abortion clinic last year.

Bonta opened an investigation after DuPont Clinic accused Beverly Hills of conspiring with antiabortion activists and pressuring its landlord to back out of a lease that would’ve allowed the reproductive healthcare provider to open an abortion clinic on Wilshire Boulevard. The battle thrust the city into the national spotlight, testing California’s reputation as a haven for reproductive rights.

“This was an intentional effort to violate… multiple laws of the state of California — a state that prides itself in our commitment to reproductive freedom and being a sanctuary for reproductive healthcare,” Bonta said.

Bonta announced a proposed settlement that requires the city to train its employees and elected officials on abortion clinic protections.

“It didn’t have to be this way. Beverly Hills could have just done nothing,” Bonta said. “Instead, the city of Beverly Hills… engaged in a number of different types of conduct including delaying the permitting process and then launching a pressure campaign against the landlord until the landlord rescinded its lease with the tenant.”

Bonta criticized the city’s then-Mayor Julian Gold, city attorney, city manager and police chief, accusing them of violating state law.

The city wasn’t subject to any fines or penalties as a result of the judgment. In a statement, Beverly Hills current Mayor Lester Friedman said that the judgment contained no admission or finding or wrongdoing.

“The City cooperated fully with the Attorney General’s investigation, and the evidence presented demonstrated that the City did not interfere with the planned opening of the clinic and the decision to rescind DuPont Clinic’s lease was not made by the City of Beverly Hills,” Friedman said. “We disagree with the allegations in the Attorney General’s complaint.”

The storyline was a political twist for Beverly Hills — a city that has, at least publicly, been vocal in its support for reproductive rights. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022, the City Council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting a woman’s right to choose. Officials also protested the decision by lighting up the plaza in front of City Hall in a glow of pink.

But when DuPont Clinic signed its lease, the affluent city became a battleground.

The Washington, D.C.-based abortion provider would’ve been the only clinic in Southern California offering procedures after 24 weeks, and antiabortion protestors held rallies outside the site of the planned clinic, which hadn’t yet opened, in 2023.

In the wake of the protests, DuPont’s landlord, Douglas Emmett Inc., terminated its lease.

DuPont then filed lawsuits against the landlord and the city, claiming that city officials “bowed to the political pressure of the anti-abortion community.” The clinic never opened.

“It’s a stark reminder that you don’t have to be Texas or a red state to be a place where reproductive healthcare is under attack,” Bonta said. “It can happen right here in California.”