VIDEO: Planned Parenthood Opens in Ferndale Amid Protest

A opened at 9 a.m. today at 23338 Woodward Ave. in Ferndale, making it the organization's first location in Oakland County.

While the clinic welcomed its first patients this morning, it also saw at least 30 protesters who stood outside the building and on the Woodward median in opposition to the organization.

The picketers were from Citizens for a Pro-Life Society and said that although this location will not offer abortion, it will refer women seeking abortions to other providers.

"This is a question of human rights and justice," Monica Migliorino Miller, director of the group, said of the abortion issue. As for other services the clinics offer, Miller said, "It doesn't excuse the fact that they kill human life."

Desiree Cooper, spokeswoman for the local Planned Parenthood, said 97 percent of the services the organization offers is preventative care.

“Our core services are annual exams, breast cancer screenings, birth control, testing and treatment of STDs, HIV/AIDS testing and counseling, and procedures that address pre-cancer cells in the cervix," she said.

Cooper said additional services, like prenatal care, vasectomies and the most controversial of their services – abortion – are offered in select clinics based on the population’s need, as well as funding.

Planned Parenthood would like to open additional clinics in Oakland County, Cooper said.

"We’ve found grave need in Oakland County,” Cooper said.

Planned Parenthood originally purchased a building in Auburn Hills in the fall of 2010, but it was met with anti-abortion opposition that spiraled into a legal battle. Citizens for a Pro-Life Society was involved in the opposition of that location.

Cooper said Planned Parenthood searched specifically along the Interstate 75 corridor and south Oakland County when considering locations. She said the clinic will serve Ferndale's diverse community, including the LGBTQ community.

A ribbon-cutting will be held for the new clinic on Tuesday afternoon.

For more information on the clinic, call 800-230-PLAN or visit www.plannedparethooddetroit.org.