By Micaiah Bilger
Life News
A Missouri Planned Parenthood must close this week after a federal judge refused to allow it to stay open while in violation of state abortion clinic regulations.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes rejected the abortion chain’s request for a temporary injunction against a state law requiring abortionists to have hospital admitting privileges for patient emergencies, the AP reports.
Because the Planned Parenthood in Columbia is not in compliance with the law, it will have to stop aborting unborn babies this week. Its license expired Tuesday. The only other abortion facility in the state is a Planned Parenthood in St. Louis – a facility pro-lifers call “the most dangerous abortion facility in the U.S.”
The state law requires that abortionists have hospital admitting privileges for patient emergencies and that abortion facilities meet the same basic health and safety standards as other ambulatory surgical centers.
Planned Parenthood’s latest request to block the law came after it recently lost an appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The legal battle continues.
Here’s more from the Columbia Tribune:
The [inspectors from the health] department visited the clinic Aug. 14 and again on Sept. 26.
“When I and the Department’s inspectors entered the Columbia facility for the follow-up inspection on September 26, 2018, I fully expected that all deficiencies identified in the August 14, 2018, Statement of Deficiencies would have been corrected, particularly given that the license expires October 2, 2018,” William Koebel, administrator for the department’s Section for Health Standards and Licensure, wrote to the court. “Instead, I and the inspectors found that some of those items still had not been corrected.”
The inspection last Wednesday found rust on the cabinets of suction machines, a condition that was also found Aug. 14. Inspectors also found a hose on a machine that appeared to have mold inside and another hose with residue that appeared to be bodily fluids, Koebel wrote.
The problems found Wednesday were fixed by Friday and the clinic was ready for re-inspection, [Planned Parenthood] wrote. It is unknown what was in the tubes cited in the report, she wrote, but added that they have been replaced and no unsanitary instruments were used on patients.
Samuel H. Lee of Campaign Life Missouri said the judge’s decision will protect women and babies in the state. He thanked the state officials who have been working to enforce basic health and safety regulations.
By Charles Fain Lehman
Washington Free Beacon
New detailed inspection reports reveal dozens of violations of health and safety standards by Whole Woman's Health (WWH), a chain of abortion clinics that saysit is "committed to changing the culture around abortion stigma."
The new documents, inspection reports between 2011 and 2017 from the Texas Department of State Health Services, were obtained by And Then There Were None (ATTWN), a nonprofit group that "exists to help abortion clinic workers leave the abortion industry."
The documents show a widespread problem of health violations at WWH clinics. Staff failed to properly disinfect and sterilize equipment used on multiple women, and were not properly trained in the sterilization of surgical instruments. In 2011, the Beaumont, Texas, clinic did not have a registered nurse on staff, in contravention of legal requirements.
The inspector's reports also expressed concerns about maintenance of medical equipment.
"There was [sic] numerous rusty spots on the suction machine used on the patient for evacuation of the products of conception," the Beaumont report notes. In multiple cases, supplies and medication were found to be clearly expired.
Facilities themselves were also in disrepair, with floors that were "stained and discolored which gives the appearance of being dirty." A 2016 report on the McAllen, Texas, facility notes a counter so warped it "was no longer a wipeable surface, which could harbor bacteria and infectious matter." The reports also show cracks, rips, and tears on exam tables' covers, and a hole in cabinet flooring that had "the likelihood to allow rodents to enter the facility."
In the most recent report, investigating the Austin facility, investigators found missing stock of fentanyl, the schedule narcotic linked to thousands of overdose deaths.
These reports are part of broader concerns about the safety standards of abortion clinics. According to a report from the pro-life advocacy group Americans United for Life, between 2008 and 2016, 227 abortion clinics, including six Whole Woman's Health clinics, were cited for over 1,400 health and safety deficiencies. These included failures to ensure a "safe and sanitary environment" and failures to properly handle patients' private information.
