(LifeSiteNews) — Planned Parenthood has reopened for business in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Almost three years ago, an arsonist destroyed its previous building. The new building, which is on the same property, is less than half the size of the first.
On opening day, October 14, area churches organized prayer vigils and protests on the sidewalk adjacent to the property. Catholics offered rosaries each hour of the workday. Members of Covenant Baptist church witnessed to people entering and leaving the building.
Abortion is severely restricted in Tennessee, but CEO Ashley Coffield plans to offer “gender-affirming care,” contraception, STI testing and treatment, pregnancy testing, and ultrasounds.
Area pro-lifers suspect that Planned Parenthood may coordinate abortions through mail-order pills or transportation to states where abortion is legal.
“How much of what is going on here is regulated? Are they even observing the law?” asked Daniel Gribble, who was onsite representing AbolishAbortionTN.org.
Early on the morning of December 31, 2021, an arsonist set fire to Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood on North Cherry Street. At the time of the fire, the building was under construction for a $2M renovation, including a new addition which would have doubled the size of the facility from 4000 to 8000 square feet.
READ: FBI intends to withhold records on Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood fire until 2026
In their Origin and Cause Report, the Knoxville Fire Department determined that the arsonist got inside the building and started the fire in one of the exam rooms of the new addition, using gasoline as an accelerant. The arsonist likely climbed through one of the narrow windows of the new addition, which were merely covered with plastic sheeting. All doors were locked or barred with plywood when firefighters arrived. Because the building was under construction, the sprinkler and fire-alarm systems were not yet operational.
On November 1, 2022, the Department of Justice issued a press release accusing a deceased pro-life Catholic man, Mark Reno, of being the arsonist. However, the arsonist captured by Planned Parenthood’s security cameras was much thinner than Mark Reno.
READ: FBI fabricated charges against pro-life Catholic who died in custody
Reno, who had told an undercover investigator at a pro-life rally that he had been at the January 6 demonstration in Washington D.C., died in custody after being falsely accused by the FBI of shooting at a federal building.