WomensCare Gynecology v. Susan Marie Cooke
The Center successfully defended WomensCare Gynecology, a Bridgeton, MO based abortion clinic, in state district court against a claim that the clinic is seeking to violate a protestor’s First Amendment rights.
Filing Date: The case was originally filed on January 26, 2009, but the Center did not begin working on the case until April 2010.
State: Missouri
Plaintiff(s): WomensCare Gynecology
Center Attorney(s): Bonnie Scott Jones, Dipti Singh
Co-Counsel/Cooperating Attorneys: Richard Bender of Rosenblum, Goldenhersh, Silverstein &, Zafft, P.C.
Summary: In January, 2009, WomensCare Gynecology, a Birdgeton, MO based gynecology practice operated by Dr. Allen Palmer, filed suit against anti-choice protestors whose protest activities involved both trespassing and interfering with patients’ access to the facility’s parking area. The suit was brought against a local Catholic Church — whose members made up the majority of the picketers and whose newsletter encouraged members to go picket at the facility — and individual “Jane Doe” picketers, whose identities were not yet known. One of these “Jane Doe” picketers was later discovered to be an woman named Susan Cooke, and she was added as a defendant in the case. After a period of negotiations, the plaintiff reached a settlement agreement with all of the defendants except for Cooke who refused to settle.
Not only did Cooke refuse to enter into the settlement, she filed a counterclaim against Womenscare, claiming that the clinic’s original lawsuit was filed to harass her and abridge her First Amendment right to protest. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment on Cooke’s counterclaim. In October 2010, the Court ruled in favor of Womenscare, finding that Womenscare is entitled to summary judgment on Cooke’s counterclaim for abuse of process.
