Beverly Hills, California, is at the center of a legal battle following the attempted establishment of a reproductive health care clinic that filed suit against the city for alleged civil rights violations. The DuPont Clinic, PC, which offers a range of services including late-term abortions, initiated the lawsuit on April 23 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
This case marks the second time DuPont has brought legal action against Beverly Hills. The clinic had plans to open its doors at 8920 Wilshire Boulevard in October 2023, having signed a lease with landlord Douglas Emmett in September 2022. However, the venture faced swift backlash from local anti-abortion activists, particularly a group known as the Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, which orchestrated protests and attended City Council meetings advocating against the clinic’s operational permits.
In June 2023, the situation escalated when Emmett notified DuPont that their lease would be canceled. According to the lease termination letter, the landlord claimed that DuPont failed to disclose that the clinic would focus on providing abortions for high-risk and late-term pregnancies. This prompted DuPont to file its first lawsuit against Emmett in August 2023, contesting the legality of the lease cancellation.
The legal fracas intensified with a subsequent complaint against the city filed in October 2023, in which DuPont accused city officials of yielding to political pressure and conspiring with the landlord to prevent the clinic from opening. California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office launched an investigation into the allegations, with Bonta publicly criticizing Beverly Hills officials for delaying the permitting process and exerting pressure on the landlord to revoke the lease.
By December 2024, the court granted the city’s anti-SLAPP motion, dismissing much of DuPont’s claims against Beverly Hills, although the allegation of improper withholding of building permits remained. DuPont has since appealed this ruling, and the appeal is currently pending. The city is also pursuing around $400,000 in legal fees from DuPont related to the initial lawsuit, with a hearing set for June 5.
In its new filing, DuPont contends that the city’s actions—including delays in permit approvals and what it describes as a “hostile pressure campaign”—directly led to the cancellation of its lease. The clinic maintains that, as a legitimate business, it is entitled to operate without government intrusion. DuPont has characterized the city’s actions as a violation of its constitutional rights.
Beverly Hills City Attorney Laurence Wiener expressed disappointment over the renewed lawsuit, reiterating the city’s support for women’s right to choose and indicating that the city will respond to the latest allegations, which mirror those in the previous legal action.
DuPont’s lawsuit seeks damages on allegations that touch on violations of the Due Process Clause and federal civil rights laws.
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