Members of the Beverly Hills City Council faced criticism at the March 18 Regular Meeting for the city’s alleged involvement in a health care facility’s failure to open in the city. The facility, DuPont Clinic, PC (“DuPont”), performs abortion services. It was scheduled to open in October 2023 at a location on Wilshire Boulevard.
Instead, DuPont filed a Superior Court lawsuit that month against the city, and filed a separate case against the building landlord, Douglas Emmett. In December of 2024, the court granted the city’s anti-SLAPP motion in the case against it.
At the March 18 council meeting, over a dozen members of the public accused the city of caving to the demands of anti-abortion activists and shutting down needed health care services that DuPont would have provided. Many requested that the city drop its effort to recover legal fees related to the lawsuit.
“Inflicting further financial hardship on DuPont Clinic harms women who rely on its critical services, especially when few other options exist,” said Alissa Roston, who ran for a seat on the Council in 2024. “Please do not add to their burden.”
Mayor Lester Friedman read a statement to the crowd addressing the commenters’ concerns.
“Any claim that the city desires to financially harm DuPont is groundless and simply not true,” he said. “Even though the city did not terminate the lease or pressure the landlord to terminate the lease, we still continue to participate in good faith settlement negotiations. My colleagues and I have repeatedly stated and continue to believe in a woman’s right to choose.”
At the same meeting, the council voted to merge the Health and Safety Commission with the Human Relations Commission and to sunset the city’s Charitable Solicitations Commission.
Councilmembers expressed gratitude for what the Charitable Solicitations Commission had accomplished and agreed to sunset it on July 1.
“I think this has been a really important commission, and … it’s provided such a great service to our city historically,” said Councilmember Mary Wells.
