Planned Parenthood takes back accusation city of Des Moines used eminent domain to acquire book sale warehouse
The decades-old Planned Parenthood book sale is coming to an end next month.
Planned Parenthood originally said Monday night that the warehouse where they store the books is being acquired by the city of Des Moines using eminent domain.
"It is with mixed emotions and a heavy heart that we are announcing the end of the Planned Parenthood book sale," Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a video attached to the press release.
KCCI reached out to the city of Des Moines, which denied those claims.
City Engineer Steven Naber said they reached a voluntary agreement to purchase the property at a fair market price, without having to use eminent domain.
The city said the property is crucial for a construction project near Second Avenue and Clark Street and that they've already paid some of Planned Parenthood's relocation fees.
"We worked with Planned Parenthood's leadership for the last couple years and they were great to work with and I was happy we reached an agreement in May, a voluntary agreement to purchase a property," Naber said.
It wasn't until 4 p.m. Tuesday that Planned Parenthood responded to KCCI's follow-up emails verifying what the city of Des Moines said was true. They sent the following statement:
When the city told us about this important infrastructure project, they made a fair offer for the warehouse to avoid the eminent domain process and the legal fight for both parties. In this increasingly hostile landscape, Planned Parenthood is often fighting legal battles to protect the right of Iowans to access essential health care and much needed sex education.
We often have to make hard decisions about where to allocate resources to support our mission. We recognized that by coming to a mutual agreement with the city with a fair purchase price for the warehouse, we could continue supporting sex education in Iowa and preserve our legal resources for the fight to protect Iowans’ freedom to control their health, bodies, and future. We are thankful for the city’s open communication and partnership in that process.
Planned Parenthood says the book sale started in 1961, and since then, more than $10 million has been raised.
The final book sale will be hosted in the 4-H Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Oct. 12-16.