Abortion Industry Negligence Nationwide: Highlighting the Most Egregious Offenses

Fact Sheet: Abortion Industry Negligence Nationwide

Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors” abortion clinic in Philadelphia is not an outlier. Across the nation, abortion clinics are failing health inspections and coming under fire for hurting women brutally ending the lives of late-term babies. Evidence has revealed that such vile conditions are endemic to the abortion industry as a whole.

Alabama- Botched Abortions and Clinics Operating Illegally

2016

Central Alabama Women’s Clinic in Selma closed after historic protest in 2015. The facility had been operating illegally since at least 2014.[1]
New Woman All Women in Birmingham was finally demolished as the owner gave up attempts to keep it open.[2]

2014

In June 2014, a Huntsville, AL abortion facility closed rather than comply with requirements that it meet the same safety standards as ambulatory surgical centers.[3]

2013

On August 8, 2013, New Women All Women Health Care, located in Birmingham Alabama, was dealt a permanent injunction after the Alabama Department of Public Health filed a law suit, claiming abortionists, Diane Deriz and Bruce Norman, did not have the necessary licensing to operate the Birmingham abortion clinic.[4]

2012

In January 2012 in Birmingham, New Woman All Women abortion facility sent three women with botched abortions to the hospital[5]. Paramedics had to hand-lift a partially clad woman from a narrow doorway and down several steps to an awaiting gurney because New Woman All Women did not have a gurney-accessible entrance.
- The Alabama Department of Public Health issued a 76-page deficiency report[6], citing, among other violations:
  - Clinic staff was not properly trained to provide safe quality patient care.
  - Failure to have policy and procedures related to medication errors and the administration of medications. This resulted in the hospitalization of three abortion patients on January 21, 2012, with one patient placed in ICU.
  - There was no documentation that the two abortionists employed by Derzis were even qualified to do abortions.
  - Abortionists made illegible notations on patient charts that made determining critical information about patient care impossible. In several cases, the abortionist’s notes about patient care and/or condition were completely false.
  - Lack of documentation of medications administered.
  - Inaccurate preparation and administration drugs resulting in overdoses or inadequate pain management.
  - Use of equipment with inspection dates from 2007 or no inspection date at all.
  - Failure of on-call nurse to return patient calls, document correct dates on reports, or notify the physician of patient problems.
- In April 2012, the health department announced that New Woman All Women had been ordered to surrender its license by no later than May 18, 2012, noting that the Alabama Department of Public Health “performed a comprehensive investigation of New Woman All Women Health Care in Birmingham in response to a complaint received in January 2012.
  - This investigation revealed significant failures in maintaining compliance with the Rules of the Alabama State Board of Health for the safe and effective provision of care[7].”
- New Woman All Women illegally re-opened in March,[8] despite the state’s denial of its two applications to reopen for business on August 27, 2012 and September 17, 2012.
  - On March 19, 2013, the Alabama Department of Public Health announced that it was conducting an investigation into whether New Woman All Women was operating as an unlicensed abortion/reproductive health center[9].
- On March 26, 2013, the state sued to shut down New Woman All Women, saying that the facility was acting as an abortion provider without a license.
  - On May 31, 2013, New Woman All Women owner Diane Derzis withdrew her motion to dismiss the case, which had argued that the Alabama Department of Public Health had no jurisdiction to enforce health and safety regulations[10].

In 2012, Roberta Clark filed charges against Planned Parenthood for negligence for a botched abortion after the abortionist failed to diagnose her tubal pregnancy, which ruptured 25 days later and required emergency surgery. Clark is now infertile[11].
- “Clark was given a suction abortion, after which she continued to complain of nausea, vomiting, and pelvic pain. The pathology report that indicated no fetal parts were identified in the tissue specimen that had been submitted for inspection that same day. Clark was not informed of this nor is there a record of her receiving any follow-up care from [abortionist] Umoren or Planned Parenthood[12].”
In Tuscaloosa, the Alabama Department of Public Health found that the West Alabama Women’s Center failed to meet its own sterility standards for hand washing, glove usage, cleaning of supplies, and safe use of sharps containers. The deficiency report also noted that needles lay on the floor[13].
- Alabama state health inspectors found that Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville did not clean exam tables between abortions, dispensed expired medication, and failed to comply with state informed consent laws[14].

Arizona – Abortionist Convicted of Sexual Abuse and Inappropriate Conduct

2003

Brian Finkel was convicted on 22 counts of sexually abusing patients over 17 years. During Finkel’s three-month trial, a parade of victims told of sexual abuse that included twisting their nipples, kissing them or fondling them inappropriately during exams.
Finkel performed more than 30,000 abortions over the past 20 years and was a national figure in the 1990s through his frequent appearances on network talk shows.[15]

Colorado – Late-Term Abortionist and Facility Sued for Negligence

2016

A Nebraska couple have filed a lawsuit against Dr. Warren Hern and his private practice, the Boulder Abortion Clinic, seeking more than $75,000 damages.
- On December 3^rd, 2013, Dr. Warren Hern performed an abortion on Jennifer DeBuhr, who was near the end of her second trimester. Jennifer and her husband, Jason, decided to terminate the pregnancy because doctors informed her that her child would have a life expectancy of less than one year due to severe cerebral abnormalities.
- In 2014, DeBuhr began to experience spotty bleeding; the lawsuit states that a skull fragment had become lodged in her uterus. DeBuhr says that she was never informed of the risks of the abortion, or the possibility that there may have been remaining tissue from her aborted child in her body.
- Because of the complications, DeBuhr had to have her uterus removed and is no longer able to have children.[16]

Delaware – Complete Failure to Regulate Abortion Clinics and Practitioners

2017

In May 2017, a woman received a botched, incomplete abortion done by Larry Roy Glazerman, a former Florida doctor who has hurt a woman during surgery before. The procedure took place at the Dover, Delaware facility which temporarily suspended surgical abortions in 2013 during an investigation led by the Division of Professional Regulation and the state Division of Public Health to address concerns of dangerous conditions raised by two former Planned Parenthood nurses.[17]
- Part way through the procedure the woman began to feel pain. The woman’s boyfriend was told “The doctor there can do the abortion,” by Glazerman and she was then loaded into their private vehicle to go to the hospital as Planned Parenthood refused to call an ambulance.[18]

2015

In September 2015, Premier OB/GYN of Wilmington informed the state that it would stop doing surgical abortions rather than obtain national accreditation as required by law.
- According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Kimberly Glunt, the spokesperson for Premier OB/GYN, has ties to a Philadelphia clinic that was shut down for failing to disclose its association with Steven Chase Brigham, who had his license revoked in three states at the time.[19]
- Glunt claimed that the facility changed ownership and did not start doing surgical abortions until January 2015, but “public health staff personally called the agency in September 2014 and confirmed Premier was providing surgical abortions,” then informed them several times to comply with the law or face sanctions. The director of the Delaware Division of Public Health, Dr. Karyl Rattay, said, “The back-and-forth with this facility is not something we have experienced with any other facility that has performed invasive medical procedures.”[20]

2013

On April 10, ABC Philadelphia news reported that two former nurses at the Planned Parenthood of Delaware abortion facility quit their jobs, citing unsafe, unsanitary conditions, and “a meat-market style of assembly-line abortions.”[21]
On May 29 the nurses, Jayne Mitchell-Werbrich and Joyce Vasikonis, testified before the Delaware state senate and called the clinic conditions “ridiculously unsafe,” and said women were at risk for hepatitis and AIDS.
Planned Parenthood of Delaware suspended surgical abortion procedures at their Wilmington and Dover clinics as a result of ongoing investigations by the state Division of Professional Regulation and the state Division of Public Health.[22]
- Despite these conditions, Delaware Planned Parenthood received $400,000 from the state in addition to federal funding, according to Democratic Senator Robert Venables.[23]
- “Vile conditions and disregard for the health and wellbeing of women are problems endemic to the abortion industry,” saidSusan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser in regard to the conditions found at the Planned Parenthood abortion facilities. “America’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, claims to be a principle advocate for women’s health. They need to own this problem. Rather than attack their former employees for exposing Gosnell-like unsafe and unsanitary conditions, they should spend their time going through their facilities nationwide in order to get to the root of this problem and protect women.”[24]
In 2013 between January and April, at least five women were sent to the hospital with complications from botched abortions.[25]
Disgraced former Planned Parenthood Delaware abortionist Dr. Timothy Liveright is shown to have an active medical license in Pennsylvania.[26]
- Liveright admitted to misconduct including sexual harassment and failure to adequately document procedures and results of procedures in patient charts while performing medical or surgical abortions.[27]
- Deputy Attorney General Katisha D. Fortune accused Liveright of “incompetence and negligence” and of being an “immediate danger to the public” for violations such as over sedating patients, suctioning them unnecessarily, improperly administering oxygen, and failing to avoid complications that sent patients to the emergency room.[28]
- He has surrendered his license to practice medicine in Delaware and reaffirmed that he had no intention of returning to practice medicine as part of his agreement with the state.[29]

2011

Kermit Gosnell also performed abortions in Delaware, where abortion facilities are not subject to inspections.
- In 2013, he was formally charged with eight counts of murder including seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors. Prosecutors said that he made millions of dollars over 30 years, performing as many illegal, late-term abortions as he could. [30]
After news of Gosnell’s case broke, fellow abortion providers Drs. Albert Dworkin and Arturo Apolinario had their licenses suspended for failing to report Gosnell for performing late-term abortions at Atlantic Women’s Medical Services in Wilmington, DE, where he worked one day a week.[31]
Apolinario, like Gosnell, is charged with prescribing drugs illegally.[32]
Both Atlantic Women’s Medical clinic locations were permanently closed (before a hearing could take place) after an agreement was reached between the Delaware Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline and clinic owner Panzy Myrie, a woman who portrayed herself as a medical doctor in advertisements – though she holds no license in Delaware.[33]

Florida – Late-Term Abortionist Who Has Failed to Protect Babies Born Alive Continues to Operate

2020

In April, three abortion facilities associated with James Pendergraft were reported as closed or for sale, after the Florida Board of Medicine revoked his license in 2018. Pendergraft’s Center of Orlando for Women, which specializes in late-term abortions, remains open.[34]

2016

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration filed administrative complaints against four abortion facilities associated with James Pendergraft after he was arrested in South Carolina on “drug related offenses.”[35]

2015

In August 2015, state inspectors caught two Planned Parenthood locations in Naples and Fort Myers doing second-trimester abortions illegally; they were not licensed to perform abortions beyond the first trimester.[36]

2013

The Florida Board of Medicine indefinitely suspended the medical license of late-term abortionist James Scott Pendergraft, and closed one of his Orlando abortion clinics.
- After merely paying a fine, Pendergraft re-opened his abortion clinic and performs abortions seven days a week. [37]
- Pendergraft owns five late-term abortion clinics in Florida and has had his medical license suspended five times for repeated botched abortions.[38]
- Pendergraft’s medical license is also suspended in Virginia, and expired in Maryland and the District of Columbia.[39]

2011

In July 2011, Pendergraft, who has also been convicted of “attempted extortion …mail fraud … conspiracy to commit extortion, mail-fraud, and perjury[40],” was party to a lawsuit in which the jury awarded a plaintiff $36.7 million. The lawsuit stemmed from a 2001 botched abortion in which a baby girl was born alive and has suffered lifelong handicaps.[41]
- He employs abortionists throughout the state of Florida who do late-term abortions that can exceed $2000.
- These abortions are taking place even while his license is under suspension.[42]
- Pendergraft’s associate, Randall Whitney has testified that babies have been born alive and delivered in the toilet all the time and many times are “still alive, wiggling around in the toilet.”[43]

2005

WORLD Magazine reported that an abortion at one of Pendergraft’s clinics resulted in a woman giving birth to a “live pre-term baby” who died “after abortion workers refused to render aid or call for emergency help.”[44]
- The woman saw her baby curl up as though cold, then “screamed for clinic workers to call 911”. When they wouldn’t a friend of the woman who had undergone the abortion called 911 on her cell phone.[45]

Illinois – The Death of Tonya Reaves

2015

In May 2015, the state moved to revoke the license of a Chicago abortion facility “after wrangling…for more than 16 months over building safety issues,” and the Department of Public Health fined Albany Medical Surgical Center $40,000. An inspection had found that the building lacked an automatic sprinkler system, and that improvements to the emergency generator were needed. Albany initially defended its noncompliance by arguing that it was “grandfathered in.”
A separate medical inspection found that Albany failed to report seven ambulance transfers of patients to a hospital in the first three quarters of 2014, and an employee remarked that “transports had not been entered on official reports for four years.” Also, the inspection cited an instance where the doctor left the facility while patients were recovering from surgery. Albany was fined another $7,000.[46]

2012

On July 20, 24-year-old Tonya Reaves died following a second-trimester abortion at a Chicago Planned Parenthood.[47]
Autopsy results reveal that Ms. Reaves died as a result of a hemorrhage following a botched surgical abortion. The autopsy reported that she was a healthy woman at the time of her abortion but that she suffered an “extensive” perforation of her broad uterine ligament with a possible severing of her left uterine artery as a result of the abortion procedure.[48]
The autopsy also revealed that the abortion was incomplete as the medical examiner discovered that pieces of placenta had been left attached to her womb, despite the dilation and evacuation (D & E) abortion performed by Planned Parenthood. Reports indicate that Planned Parenthood ignored instructions by an emergency dispatcher to call 911.[49]

Indiana- Abortionist with History of Health & Safety Violations Stockpiled Thousands of Aborted Babies’ Bodies

2019

In September of 2019, after the death of abortionist Ulrich Klopfer,[50] the remains of more than 2,200 unborn children were found on his property. Klopfer carried out thousands of abortions in both Indiana and his home state of Illinois. The remains were found in Klopfer’s home and garage.[51]
Weeks later, authorities discovered more fetal remains in Klopfer’s car, bringing the total to more than 2,400.[52]

2016

In March 2016, Women’s Pavilion — Dr. Ulrich Klopfer’s South Bend, IN abortion facility — closed after 30 years in business as the state moved to revoke Klopfer’s license.[53]
- A state inspection of this facility in late 2014 found 27 violations “including proof of staff certification, clinic procedures and disposal of expired medication.” It also found that half of patient files “showed patients were not monitored by qualified personnel other than the doctor while under conscious sedation.” [54]
- Inspections in 2010 and 2012 showed violations of an 18-hour informed consent law, fire hazards, and the body of a baby aborted two months prior being stored along with medication in a refrigerator meant only for medication.[55]

2015

In May 2015, the Friendship Family Planning abortion clinic in Gary, IN closed as Klopfer, who at one time performed abortions there, faced criminal trial for failing to report suspected sexual abuse.
- A prior state inspection of this facility had shown “a water leak in the basement, foul smells in the patient care area and unqualified personnel.” [56] In 2010, “an inspector found an oxygen cart that didn’t have a regulator that fit the tank of oxygen, meaning should a patient require oxygen, the tank would not have been able to deliver it.”[57]

2014

In 2014, Klopfer’s Ft. Wayne, IN abortion clinic closed[58] after his legally-required Physician Designee (back-up doctor) quit, citing Klopfer’s blatant disregard for his status as a mandated reporter of suspected child sexual abuse and his encouragement of minor girls and their guardians to cross state lines to evade the laws in place for their protection.[59]
- Prior inspections of this facility found staff taking soiled linens home to wash, a poorly-maintained defibrillator, and a tank of nitrous oxide with an expiration date of 1989. [60]
On March 20, 2014, Special Victims Unit officers raided Klopfer’s South Bend facility, leading to a man’s arrest and sentencing for child molestation.[61]
In 2014, IN Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed an 1,833-count complaint against Klopfer with the Indiana Medical Licensing Board.[62]

2013

In November 2013, the South Bend Tribune reported, based on public records, that “at least four Indiana doctors have waited weeks or even months to report abortions provided to girls under 14 despite a law requiring them to do so within three days,” a law that is “intended to speed up reporting of statutory rape and sexual abuse.” The most frequent offender was Klopfer.[63]

Kentucky – Court Vindicates Gov. Bevin, Noncompliant Facilities Held Accountable

2016

On June 15, the Kentucky Court of Appeals unanimously granted Governor Matt Bevin’s request to temporarily close a Lexington abortion clinic operating without a license, reversing a lower court ruling.
- In its order, the court stated, “The cabinet is not seeking to prevent women from obtaining abortions. It is seeking, however, to enforce its right to regulate the manner in which abortions are performed in this commonwealth.”
- When the facility was inspected in February, inspectors “reported that employees told them the clinic only performed abortions.” They also discovered “dirty conditions and expired medicine.”[64]

2015

In January of 2015, the Kansas Board of Healing Arts decide to continue barring from medical practice the abortionist Ann Kristin Neuhaus.[65] The decision came after the Board concluded that Neuhaus’s “record-keeping of the mental health exams to justify referrals to Tiller for late-term abortions was enough to bar her from practicing medicine.”

Louisiana – Repeat Violations and More Connections to Gosnell

2019

After requests from a Louisiana abortion facility and two abortion doctors, the Supreme Court agreed to review the state’s Unsafe Abortion Protection Act,[66] a law that would require surgeons, including abortionists, to have admitting privileges at a local hospital within 30 miles of their facility location. The review comes after a host of evidence that Louisiana abortion facilities repeatedly fail to meet commonsense safety standards that protect women:
- Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge:
  - Failed to provide emergency IV fluids to a surgical abortion patient experiencing heavy bleeding, which resulted in the patient being transferred to a hospital where she underwent a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingectomy.[67]
  - In addition, The Baton Rouge Clinic’s lack of sufficient IV fluids resulted in a lack of ability to stabilize a second patient experiencing the same complications.[68]
  - The clinic also failed to keep sufficient supply of unexpired emergency medication for treating abortion procedure complications.[69]

2018

In 2018, the Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge:
- Failed to verify that medical supplies and patient medication were not expired. They have previously failed to do this in both 2009 & 2013.[70]
- Failed to accurately document patient medical records and procedures such as administration of sedatives, and reception of paracervical blocks. They had previously failed to do this in 2009.[71]
In June of 2018, Women’s Health Care Center failed to ensure that its medical director had a current CDS license. This person was responsible for ordering/supplying controlled and dangerous substances to the clinic.[72]

2017

In January of 2017, the Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge failed to properly sterilize medical equipment used to perform abortions.[73]

2016

The 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Louisiana could enforce a 2014 patient protection law requiring admitting privileges. Two facilities immediately closed due to being unable to comply and a third was expected to close.[74] Another facility performing about 1,800 abortions per year closed two weeks prior to the court decision.[75]

2010

In 2010, the Delta Clinic was accused by the Department of Health and Hospitals of failing to ensure the clinic had a “quality assurance program.”
- The Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge is the former employer of Gosnell employee, Eileen O’Neill, who was also arrested in Philadelphia.[76] O’Neill was introduced to Gosnell by Delta’s owner, Leroy Brinkley, who also owned Atlantic Women’s Services in Wilmington, Delaware.[77] Brinkley hired Gosnell as an independent contractor to perform abortions at said Delaware clinic. When Gosnell was later convicted of the murder of three infants and manslaughter of a patient, Brinkley was unable to provide all but three of Gosnell’s patient records upon subpoena request.[78]
The report indicated that the clinic did not provide women adequate protections for their privacy and did not monitor patients receiving sedation “regarding their cardiac status, respiratory status and level of consciousness during the medical procedure.”[79]

Maryland – Death at the Hands of Notorious Late-Term Abortionist Leroy Carhart, Clinic Shut- Downs, Unlicensed Abortionist Operating Out-of-State

2016

A report on re-licensure inspections conducted in 2015 showed that multiple deficiencies were found in all 12 of Maryland’s licensed surgical abortion facilities – some of them the same violations that were found in the previous inspection in 2013. Violations include unsterile instruments, untrained staff, unpreparedness for patient emergencies, poor infection control, expired medications, and incompetent administration of anesthesia.[80]

Englewood Women’s Services, a clinic still allegedly run by Steven Brigham, filed for bankruptcy after a judge in Maryland awarded millions of dollars to a woman who sued Brigham’s Maryland practice for malpractice.[81]

Late-term abortionist Harold O. Alexander had his medical license revoked by the Maryland Board of Physicians after he administered an abortion to a woman when she was actually in need of an obstetrical delivery of her stillborn baby[82]. Other conditions that the Board acknowledged but refused to cite for grounds for revocation included:
- The clinic’s lack of an abortion license
- Absence of surgical equipment
- No licensed staff or hospital privileges
- The practice of midnight abortions
As of April, at least four patients of Leroy Carhart’s Germantown, MD facility have been transported by ambulance to the hospital in 2016.
- Combined with Carhart’s Nebraska facility, this adds up to 14 such emergencies since 2012, including the death of Jennifer Morbelli.[83]

On April 14, 2016, a pro-lifer who discovered private medical records blowing down the street from a dumpster at Hillcrest Clinic[84] received a letter from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene verifying her complaint and admitting that Hillcrest was operating without a license.[85]

2015

In September 2015, Leroy Carhart’s Germantown, MD facility was cited by state inspectors for having an expired laboratory permit that was two years out of date, and failing to ensure that staff were proficient in testing women for the Rh blood factor,[86] which could have serious implications for future pregnancies.[87]

2014

In April 2014, Harold Alexander, who performed abortions at his Forestville facility, lost his license. He blamed pro-life activism, but “records suggest the real reason…was that he allowed non-licensed technicians to administer sedatives to patients.”[88]

In March 2014, abortionist Mehrdad Aalai – a former associate of Steven Chase Brigham – surrendered his medical license and shut down his Annapolis facility.
- Aalai had his license revoked in 1994 when he pled guilty to Medicaid fraud, but the Maryland Board of Physicians reinstated it two years later.
- In 2007, while working at Brigham’s College Park, MD facility, Aalai agreed that “Patient A” could go home instead of to a hospital despite unsuccessful removal of the placenta. During the 4-hour drive, Patient A bled, and her mother pulled over to a gas station. She called 911 after finding her daughter passed out and covered with blood in the restroom. Patient A received emergency surgery and two units of blood.
- The treating physician filed a complaint against Aalai, and a disciplinary judge found him “guilty of immoral and unprofessional conduct” and recommended that his license be revoked. Instead, it was suspended for six months, of which he only completed three months before receiving leniency. His license was again reinstated on probation.[89]

2013

On February 7, Jennifer McKenna Morbelli, a 29-year-old kindergarten teacher from New Rochelle, NY, died “due to or as a consequence of Amniotic Fluid Embolism following Medical Termination of Pregnancy.” The medical examiner’s office confirmed that a botched 33-week abortion killed Mrs. Morbelli.[90]
- When she was 31 weeks pregnant, Mrs. Morbelli sought an abortion from Dr. Leroy Carhart in Germantown, MD. Carhart left town shortly after the abortion procedure and was reportedly unavailable when Mrs. Morbelli began to experience shortness of breath and chest pains – which led to a delay in her emergency care.[91]
In March, the Maryland Department of Health and Hygiene suspended the licenses of three surgical abortion clinics. All three were affiliated with abortion business owner Steven Chase Brigham.[92]
- A patient at the Baltimore facility went into cardiac arrest and later died at the hospital. At two of the three locations, personnel were not CPR-certified or did not know how to use the defibrillator – but the defibrillators weren’t functioning, anyway. At the third location, a patient was left unattended after waking up. The facilities were permitted to continue non-surgical abortions during the suspension.[93]
- Inspections of the abortion clinics revealed they were continuing to violate state health and safety laws after the initial violations that prompted the state investigations in the first place.
- After a brief period of being reopened, in May the clinics once again lost their licenses after inspectors discovered that all clinics routinely administered the drug Misoprostol to cause abortions in women who were past 11 weeks gestation, “even if the patient has not been evaluated by a physician, and even if no physician is available on site.”[94]
Abortionists Mansour Panah and Iris Dominy had their licenses suspended on May 29, 2013 for their involvement in the death of Maria Santiago at the Baltimore abortion clinic where they were employed[95].
- The Maryland Board of Physicians (MDBP) lifted Dominy’s suspension on August 29, 2013[96].
- She is not permitted to use sedation techniques in her procedures, but is permitted to still practice medicine.
- Mansour Panah, Medical Director of a Steven Chase Brigham abortion clinic, where Dominy also worked, was returned his license completely on July 18, 2013.
In April 2010, an 18-year-old New Jersey woman was critically injured during an abortion at a Steven Chase Brigham clinic in Elkton, MD. She was airlifted to Baltimore hospital from Brigham’s facility.[97]
- The Maryland Board of Physicians found that the woman, who was 21 weeks pregnant, had first been treated in Voorhees, N.J., where her cervix was dilated. She was then told to drive 60 miles in her car to Elkton, MD, so doctors could complete the abortion[98].
- After the woman’s uterus ruptured, state officials said, the woman was put into Brigham’s rented Chevrolet Malibu and driven to Union Hospital in Elkton.
- The Maryland Board of Physicians stated that the patient was slumped in a wheelchair, nearly unconscious, outside the emergency room while Riley argued with hospital staff, who demanded their identities before treating the woman.
- Elkton police searched the clinic but could not find medical records for the woman. During the search, police did find 35 late-term fetuses, some 20 to 35 weeks old, in a freezer.
The abortionists involved, Dr. Nicola Riley and Dr. Steven Chase Brigham are now prohibited from practicing in Maryland. Riley’s medical license was suspended in September 2010 by Maryland authorities. Dr. Brigham, who did not even have a Maryland license, was barred from practicing in the state.
- Both abortionists had previously lost their licenses to practice medicine or run clinics in other states, including New York and Pennsylvania.
At the Associates in OB/GYN Care LLC on North Calvert Street in Baltimore, where one patient suffered a fatal cardiac arrest, the physician was not certified in CPR and a defibrillator at the facility did not work, according to state officials in a letter to the General Assembly. The other two clinics that lost surgical privileges, located in Landover and Silver Spring, are also owned by Associates in OB/GYN Care and also had licenses suspended for issues related to the ability to respond to life-threatening problems during surgery.[99]
In November 2011, late-term abortionist James S. Pendergraft and his accomplice Harold O. Alexander were caught operating an illicit late-term abortion mill in Forestville, MD.
Pendergraft – who is not licensed in Maryland – was caught on tape.[100] On August 22, 2012 the Maryland State Board of Physicians suspended Harold O. Alexander’s license for a minimum of three months.[101]

2012

Steven Chase Brigham, who had once operated an abortion clinic Albany County, was charged with murder back in January for performing late-term abortions in Maryland.
- State investigators discovered 17 frozen fetuses in the Albany clinic back in 1996. [102]
- The investigation also revealed that Brigham would refuse to perform abortions until his clients made extra cash payments, despite their procedures being covered by Medicaid.

Michigan – Decrepit Clinics Shut Down, Criminal Abortionist Covered by Board of Medicine, Botched Abortion Leads to Death

2016

In April 2016, the state Attorney General’s office sued to shut down Summit Women’s Center, an illegally operating abortion clinic in Detroit.[103]
In July 2016, Cree Erwin-Sheppard died from “the presence of a clot and/or retained products of conception” just two days after she received an abortion at a Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo, MI.[104] She had been experiencing symptoms consistent with an incomplete miscarriage and a copy of an unfilled prescription showed the signature of a Planned Parenthood doctor, although the clinic refused to admit that Cree had been a patient there.
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs fined abortionist Thomas Gordon and suspended his license after he failed to report his prior criminal convictions, which included domestic violence and aggravate assault.[105] Gordon was only required by LARA to complete the Health Professional Recovery Program before facing two years of probation.[106] At the time, Gordon’s clinic was the only one in Grand Rapids.[107]

2015

The closed, vacant abortion facility of Dr. Alberto Hodari, who allegedly forced a young woman to have an unwanted abortion, was discovered to contain hundreds of boxes of abandoned patient medical records and ‘piles of hypodermic needles.”[108]

2014

The Women’s Center of Southfield had its license suspended in November 2014. A woman came forward who had a second trimester abortion there earlier in the year, suffered a perforated uterus, and had to be taken to the hospital. The state confirmed claims that she and her husband received no counseling and no registered nurse was present to monitor her vital signs. She further said that when the ambulance arrived, clinic staff put her in a diaper and made her go out the back way.
In an unrelated inspection, unsanitary behaviors were found among staff, including lack of hand-washing and failure to sterilize bloody equipment, and bringing an open container of patient belongings in the operating room. Staff also did not offer a patient the chance to see an ultrasound.[109]

2013

In August 2013, Flint’s Feminine Health Care Clinic closed for unspecified reasons.
- This is nearly three years after the lawsuit a patient filed against the doctor and his assist at the facility[110] for forcing her to have an abortion after she changed her mind.
- A 20-year-old woman, Caitlin Bruce, alleges that Dr. Alberto Hodari of the Feminine Health Care clinic in Flint performed an abortion on her even though she screamed for him to stop[111].
- Bruce claims that she told him to stop that she didn’t want to have the abortion anymore[112].
- Bruce asserts she was held down and her mouth was covered by a staff member.

In January 2013, the Women’s Medical Services abortion clinic in Muskegon, MI was shut down by the fire marshal over conditions the city described as potentially “dangerous to human life or the public welfare.”[113]

Robert Alexander’s abortion clinic was closed after police discovered “filthy” and unsanitary conditions throughout the clinic, including “blood on the floor and walls in multiple locations.”[114]
- Photos taken by the police reveal unsanitary conditions, including stained medical equipment near an examination chair, trash near lab equipment and discarded in a storage room, and water stains and holes in a leaky ceiling. The investigator also reported “blood dripping from a sink p-trap in a room used by patients.”[115]
- Other violations noted in the fire marshal’s inspection include improper disposal of syringes and needles, unsterilized medical equipment, as well as the “dumping of chemicals and other liquids down drains without proper authorization and approvals.”[116]
- In May, local media reported that in 2009, the Michigan Board of Medicine received a complaint about botched abortions at Alexander’s clinic, including one that ruptured a woman’s uterus, causing bleeding but still resulted in the birth of a live child, but the board did not investigate it.
  - Then Michigan Board Chairman Dr. George Shade Jr., Alexander’s mentor, determined that no investigation was necessary.
  - Alexander served prison time in the 1990’s for selling illegal prescriptions.[117]

Two more clinics (in Livonia and Detroit) were closed in March. Both clinics were owned and operated by abortionist Dr. Reginald Sharpe.
- The Livonia clinic was exposed several years ago for the dumping of fetal remains in a dumpster outside the facility.[118]
Sharpe’s medical license was suspended in 2005 for performing an abortion beyond 24 weeks.
- Sharpe was sued three years later, after his 26-year-old patient died of complications following her abortion. It was later revealed that the abortion had resulted in the perforation of the woman’s uterus, cut a uterine blood vessel, and lacerated her intestines and liver.[119]

2010

In February 2010, the bodies of 17 aborted babies were discovered in a business dumpster outside the WomansChoice abortion clinic near Lansing. Investigations revealed that the owners were Richard and Maggie Remund, owners of another clinic where the bodies of 47 aborted babies were discovered in a dumpster in 1989[120].
- Additionally, the business dumpster contained medical records, including patient logs with full names and insurance information, bloody surgical material, and used urine specimen cups labeled with the names of the patients.

2009

In March 2009, the Board of Medicine found several of the staff (including abortionist Dr. Alberto Hodari) to have been negligent in the shocking 2003 death of Regina Johnson and were fined consequently[121].
7 months later, in October, a Bureau of Health Systems inspection found the Womancare of Southfield to be substandard.
- The clinic was cited for incompliance with state surgical facility standards, including no oxygen available for patients, no emergency call system, and an insufficient recovery room.
Between 2007 and 2009, the Bureau of Health Systems cited 3 abortion clinics licensed as free standing surgical facilities (Birth Control Center Inc. in Sterling Heights, Feminine Health Care of Flint, and Womancare of Southfield) for noncompliance with state regulations for surgical facilities regarding the administration and storage of medication.
Violations at the Womancare Clinic were found to be especially deplorable during a 2009 inspection[122]. Violations included:
- No physician’s order for a medication that had been sent home with a patient and no physician signature verifying several other medication orders.
- Hallway cupboards with medications and an unsecured refrigerator with medications in patient areas where patients are left unattended.
- Unsecured medications included Ketamine, a controlled substance often sold illegally as a “club drug” and used as a date-rape drug.
- Narcotics logs were insufficient or nonexistent.
- In one startling example, at the Birth Control Center Inc. in Sterling Heights, the abortionist Richard Goldfine scrubbed his hands for procedures in a sink which was holding unsterile equipment used for emptying and processing waste and fetal remains.[123]
In 2009, a Grand Rapids Ob/Gyn filed an allegation against abortionist Robert Alexander citing his gross negligence in attempting an abortion on a woman who was 26 weeks pregnant[124].
- The OB/Gyn treated the patient who came into the hospital still pregnant following the incomplete abortion.
- The patient told the OB/Gyn that Dr. Alexander’s office had called her multiple times to offer her a refund of the abortion fee, plus an additional $200.
- The woman did not accept and retained an attorney.

2008

It was uncovered in 2008 that abortion clinics in the Detroit area were disposing of biohazard waste and patient records simply by dumping them in common trash receptacles[125].

Three locations (WomanCare of Southfield in Lathrup Village, WomanCare in Sterling Heights, and WomanCare of Downriver in Southgate) had bloody surgical material and a total of over 200 patient records in the trash. These patient records included photocopies of drivers’ licenses, insurance forms, and lab reports.
- The Lathrup Village location had the remains of 18 aborted babies in the trash.

At the Woman’s Choice Clinic in Lansing, Dr. Ronald Nichols was in the middle of performing an abortion when he determined the gestational age to be 20 weeks and stopped the procedure, despite already having rupturing the fetal membranes[126].
Nichols advised the patient, who was bleeding and in pain, to drive 80 miles to his Bloomfield Hills abortion clinic to complete procedure.
When she refused, Nichols forced her to sign a waiver.
Patient drove home and was taken by her family to the hospital where the staff confirmed the rupture of fetal membranes.
The patient’s 20.5 week baby died in utero the following day.
The Board of Medicine found Nichols to be negligent and incompetent, fined him $10,000, and ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service.

At the Womancare Clinic of Southfield, a patient alleges that she received no local anesthesia and tried to stop procedure due to her extreme pain[127].
- The patient was allegedly held down and female assistant put hand over the patient’s mouth.

Minnesota- Five Born Alive Infants after Abortions

2015

In 2015, there were five born-alive incidents that occurred in two hospitals.[128]
Minnesota law states that “When an abortion is performed after the 20^th week of pregnancy, a physician, other than the physician performing the abortion, shall be immediately accessible to take all reasonable measures consistent with good medical practice, including the compilation of appropriate medical records, to preserve the life and health of any born alive infant that is the result of the abortion.”
- However, the report states that all of the infants were reported to “have lethal fetal anomalies incompatible with life and thus no measures were taken to preserve the life of these infants.”

Mississippi- Woman Sent to Hospital after Judge Blocks Safety Standards

2013

On August 23, 2013, after it was discovered to fall short of state and health and safety regulations, Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization has since then been presented with an appeal.[129]
On August 7, 2013 abortionist Bruce Elliot Norman of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the last open abortion clinic in Mississippi, sent a woman to the hospital. This clinic remains open after a judge blocked a law that would have ensured continuity of care for abortion patients in the event of a medical emergency.
- Ironically, clinic owner Diane Derzis and Norman were in court on August 5 for a suit filed by the Alabama Department of Public Health alleging that they were operating an illegal, unlicensed abortion clinic in Birmingham.[130]

Missouri- Incomplete Abortions and Other Medical Emergencies at Planned Parenthood

2019

In the summer of 2019, the Missouri Health Department declined to renew the license of the state’s last-standing abortion facility, the St. Louis Planned Parenthood. Records show that this facility was responsible for at least three incomplete abortions which required additional surgeries; one of these patients developed sepsis after the second surgical abortion. A fourth patient experienced life-threatening complications following an abortion at 21 weeks of pregnancy.[131] The case is ongoing and the facility remains open.

2015

In November 2015, Planned Parenthood in Columbia, MO stopped performing abortions because it could not comply with rules on hospital admitting privileges.[132] A U.S. district court blocked the state from taking action to revoke the facility’s license; the decision is being appealed.[133]

2014

In November 2014, witnesses documented the 27^th known medical emergency since 2009 at the Planned Parenthood facility in St. Louis, noting that the ambulance lights and siren were turned off while idling by the building.[134]
- An inspection in 2013 found violations including:
  - expired medications and conflicting stories about how often medication was checked
  - other expired supplies, including postpartum balloons designed to reduce hemorrhaging
  - rusted suction machines
  - “copious amounts of visible dust/dirt”
  - failure to provide adequate written notice of patient rights
  - failure to inspect fire extinguishers monthly[135]

New Jersey – License Suspended in Bi-State Abortions, Planned Parenthood Sex-Trafficking Scandal

2016

As of February 2016, Steven Chase Brigham was still managing seven New Jersey abortion clinics. Brigham attempted to transfer ownership to his medical director, Vikram Kaji – whose own license was suspended in the mid-1990s for sexually abusing patients[136] – after losing his license, but the Deputy Attorney General asked the Board to suspend or revoke Kaji’s license, saying the transfer appeared to be fraudulent.[137]

2014

In 2014, the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners permanently revoked Brigham’s medical license for gross negligence, deception, and misconduct. He was ordered to reimburse the Attorney General’s Office more than $420,000 in legal fees.[138]

2011

Planned Parenthood in Mercer County, NJ was inspected and found to be in non-compliance with safety regulations.
- The state Board of Health found several violations including: improper use of syringes and compounds, improper training and qualifications of staff on pain management and health care counseling (including abortion services), failure to have infection control program in place, failure to require physical exam for staff, failure to test staff for rubella and TB, improper use and sterilization of medical instruments and devices, including a vaginal ultrasound, failure to maintain hot running water in patient care areas, and many more.[139]
In February of 2011, an employee of Planned Parenthood of Central Jersey, in Perth Amboy, NJ, was caught on videotape by Live Action aiding and abetting an undercover investigator posing as a sex trafficker of minor girls as young as 13.
- Amy Woodruff referred the alleged pimp and prostitute to the Metropolitan Medical Association if ever in need of an abortion where “their protocols aren’t as strict as ours and they don’t get audited the same way that we do.”[140]
- When asked how long after the abortion until the girls can engage in sex again, Woodruff says “minimum of 2 weeks.” When asked what the girls could do to make money, Woodruff advises, “Waist up, or just be that extra action walking by.”[141]
Woodruff was fired after Live Action’s investigation became public.[142]

2010

Steven Chase Brigham, who has operated facilities in Maryland, loses his only remaining medical license when the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners suspends it, calling him “a clear and imminent danger to public health.”
- In 1996, New Jersey regulators try to revoke Brigham’s license for botching bi-state abortions. An administrative judge reinstates the license.[143]

2007

Metropolitan Medical Associates in Englewood, NJ, a late term abortion clinic, was shut down for botching an abortion and almost killing a woman. When the state went in, they found filthy and unsanitary conditions and shut down the clinic. It later reopened.[144]

New York –

2016

Queens gynecologist Dr. Robert Rho was charged with manslaughter after a 30-year old woman died from a botched abortion.
- Rho allegedly nicked the cervix of Jamie Lee Morales, who later bled to death, during a second trimester abortion.
- Morales needed a second operation after noticing in the recovery room that she was still bleeding vaginally.[145]
- Morales was allowed to leave the facility even though she had been bleeding, collapsed, and appeared disoriented. She died later that night in the hospital after receiving six units of blood.[146]

2014

The New York Post reported that of the 25 abortion facilities regulated by the state Health Department, “Eight…were never inspected over the 2000-12 span, five were inspected just once, and eight were inspected only twice or three times.”[147] The State Health Commissioner resigned due to the ensuing scandal.[148]

1994

Steven Chase Brigham’s medical license was revoked with the Hearing Committee on Professional Medical Conduct finding him guilty of gross negligence. Additionally, a review board cited the cases of two patients with lacerated uterus whose lives were threatened by his poor judgment, saying that he “has evidenced not the slightest recognition of any of his deficiencies” and was not eligible for remediation.[149]

North Carolina – Dead Insects, Dirty Instruments and Improper Drug Use

2013

On July 31, the FemCare abortion clinic was cited for 23 violations, including a lack of weekly checks on emergency medical equipment and poorly maintained anesthesia equipment.[150]

On July 5, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services ordered The Baker Clinic for Women, an abortion clinic in Durham, to close after finding safety violations.
- The clinic failed to ensure quality control was performed in blood banking and also failed to perform quality control testing on 108 patients that received Rhesus testing.
On May 13, 2013, A Preferred Women’s Health Center abortion clinic in Charlotte was closed after state officials revoked its license to operate on May 10, calling it emergency action to address “an imminent threat to the health and safety of patients.”[151]
- The previous December, inspectors from the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services found dead insects, blood splatters and dirty surgical instruments inside the abortion facility.[152]
- This time, they found that the facility was improperly administering chemical abortions and improperly examining post-abortive women before they were discharged from surgery. Women were being told to drink methotrexate, originally a chemotherapy drug now also used to abort a baby at less than 9 weeks gestation, when it is supposed to be administered by injection.[153]

Ohio – Lakisha Wilson Dies from Abortion Complications; Faulty Elevator Prevented Timely Help

2015

911 calls documented two medical emergencies at Preterm Clinic in Cleveland, the same facility where Lakisha Wilson was rushed to the hospital and later died, in March and April. The first concerned an abnormally rapid heartbeat in a 15-year-old patient with no history of heart disease. The second indicated that a 35-year-old patient was requested to be transferred and monitored for heavy bleeding and was given an anti-hemorrhage drug.[154]
In September 2015, the Ohio Department of Health denied variance requests for a Planned Parenthood facility in Cincinnati and the Women’s Med Center of Dayton. Neither facility met patient protections standards that health officials called “essential” by having written transfer agreements in case of patient emergency. [155]

2014

On March 22, 2014, Lakisha Wilson had to be rushed to the hospital following an abortion at Preterm Clinic in Cleveland. She died a week later. The Cuyahoga Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that her death was due to complications from the abortion.[156] Preterm conducts surgical abortions on the third floor, and emergency responders were delayed by the small, malfunctioning elevator. When they reached Wilson, she was not breathing; she could not be intubated in the elevator because it was too small to fully recline the gurney. This elevator was also broken in March 2012 when a 32-year-old patient weighing approximately 300 pounds who was hemorrhaging needed transport to the hospital.[157]

2013

In March of 2012, Ariel Knights scheduled an abortion at Akron Women’s Medical Group because doctors advised her that her pregnancy was high risk because her daughter was growing in the weaker of the two uteruses that Ariel had.
- Ariel was told that the abortion “went well” but found out a week later when she became severely ill and experienced pain that she was still pregnant. She delivered her “miracle baby” girl and both mother and daughter are healthy.
- Ariel is now suing the abortion clinic for negligence for the physical and emotional pain experienced from the failed abortion[158]
In July 2013, the Ohio Department of Health closed Capital Care Network for failing to meet state regulations that protect a pregnant woman’s health. [159]
The clinic was warned in April of its potential closure after it was discovered to have multiple health and safety violations.
- During Capital Care’s annual inspection, investigators cited multiple violations under 10 various inspection categories ranging from cleanliness, surgical procedures and staff requirements.[160]
Among many violations, the abortion facility failed to perform TB testing, used unqualified and untrained staff, failed to meet sanitary standards and failed to properly keep patient documentation and had dozens of other operational and medical failures.[161]

Oklahoma – Abortionist Loses License after Lying to Women

2016

In January of 2016, Naresh Patel had his license revoked and was sentence to ten years’ probation after falsely telling women they were pregnant in order to make money.[162]
- During an undercover investigation, Patel sold $600 of drugs to investigators who weren’t pregnant.
- Several of his patients accused him of not using anesthetics during their abortions.[163]

2014

Abortionist Naresh Patel, once charged with raping his patients, faced an investigation after Operation Rescue filed a five-count complaint based on discarder documents and medical waste.[164] The allegations included:
- Improper of disposal of medical waste and confidential information
- Failure to observe the 24-hour voluntary and informed consent
In 1993 Patel admitted to dumping the remains of 60 aborted babies in a field and was charged with oral sodomy and assault. Then in 2003, one of his employees filed a protective order against him.
In 1989, Patel was ordered to pay $240,000 in damages after a 15-year-old girl left his clinic permanently damaged from an abortion.[165]

Pennsylvania – Gosnell’s House of Horrors and Clinic Shut Downs

2017

Hillcrest Women’s Medical Center in Harrisburg has violated Pennsylvania health laws for the fourth time in six years for multiple issues including improper staffing, expired medications and medical supplies, and failing to follow anesthesia policies for surgical abortions, according to the state Department of Health.[166]
- Hillcrest did not have a registered nurse on staff and twice failed to provide documentation showing that its physician was board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology. At least eight employees did not have the necessary background check for working with patients under 18 years old. The health department reviewed 12 patient records and none of the patients received nursing care and were not monitored while recovering from anesthesia, and some patients do not even have anesthesia records.
- Other violations included not testing patients’ blood types before surgery, expired medications, and some needles and syringes that were in packaging that were “physically deteriorated and yellowed with age.”
- Hillcrest has until August 31^st to make corrections and comply with state laws.[167]

2015

In August 2015, two of the highest volume Planned Parenthood abortion facilities (Far Northeast and Elizabeth Blackwell Center, both in Philadelphia) in Pennsylvania failed inspection. Inspectors found that both facilities were improperly storing fetal remains – in undated bags at Elizabeth Blackwell Center, and unpreserved in a janitor’s closet at Far Northeast. They also discovered unsanitary implements, including unused syringes and needles that had been removed from their packaging. At Elizabeth Blackwell Center there were dark stains on the carpet and on a bench in a patient area.[168]

2013

On May 13 abortionist Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of the murder of three newborn children and the negligent death of one patient.[169]
- He had been charged with eight counts of murder including seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors. Prosecutors said that he made millions of dollars over 30 years, performing as many illegal, late-term abortions as he could. [170]

2012

American Women’s Services, Pittsburgh[171], and Allentown Medical Services, Allentown[172], closed because complaints revealed violations that could not be fixed. The Department of Health said that the former owner of Allentown Medical Services, Dr. Steven Chase Brigham, “showed a ‘serial’ disregard for health regulations.”[173]
Allegheny Women’s Center closed rather than meet the inspection regulations.[174]

2011

In 2011, Abortion as an Alternative Inc., which had clinics in Bensalem and Philadelphia, closed.[175]
The clinics were operated by Dr. Soleiman M. Soli. The Department of Health found “drugs decades past their expiration dates, inadequate or inoperable equipment, poor record-keeping and mishandling of fetal tissue.”[176]
Allentown Medical Services in Allentown was cited for “preparing to use unsterilized instruments on patients, having drugs and single-use devices that were past their expiration dates, and for splattering blood on the walls and on the floor of a scrub room freezer.”[177]

2009

On November 19, Karnamaya Mongar, a 41-year-old immigrant from Bhutan, and a Virginia resident, died as a result of an abortion she received at the hands of now infamous Philadelphia abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell. The medical examiner’s report indicates that Mrs. Mongar died as a result of an overdose of Demerol.[178] She was 19 weeks pregnant.
A Gosnell clinic worker assisted in administering local anesthesia and when Mongar’s face turned gray and her breathing slowed, Gosnell continued to perform the abortion and did not order that 911 be called until after the procedure was finished.[179]
Gosnell could not resuscitate Mrs. Mongar himself as his defibrillator was broken.[180]

South Carolina – Abortion Clinics Held Accountable Under Haley’s Leadership

2015

In 2015, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control inspected South Carolina’s three abortion facilities at Governor Nikki Haley’s request. DHEC then issued administrative orders of suspension to Greenville Women’s Clinic and Planned Parenthood of South Atlantic in Columbia. Violations at Greenville Women’s Clinic included noncompliance with the Woman’s Right to Know Act, incomplete medical record documentation and improper infectious waste disposal practices. Planned Parenthood of South Atlantic was cited for 21 violations including noncompliance with the Woman’s Right to Know Act, incomplete medical and employee records, expired medications, improper infectious waste disposal practices, and failure to report abortions to DHEC Vital Statistics in a timely manner.[181]

Texas – Worse than Kermit Gosnell, Barbaric Photographic Evidence of Abortion’s Brutality

2013

In Austin, Texas, on August 14, 2013, a patient is rushed into an ambulance from the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic.
This is the eighth known medical emergency incident requiring ambulance transport since the 78,000 sq. ft. abortion facility opened in May, 2010.[182]
In May, Operation Rescue released a report revealing that 3 former staff members of the Aaron Women’s Clinic in Houston had come forward with evidence of horrific late term abortions conducted by abortionist Douglas Karpen[183].
The informants provided photographic evidence (taken on their cell phones) of illegal late-term abortions[184].
The photos depicted two babies aborted well beyond the legal limit of 24 weeks in Texas. Their necks had been cut. The physical condition of the babies reveals that it is likely that the babies had already been born when they killed.
Testimony from the former workers indicates that Dr. Karpen was committing both very late term abortions and infanticide. Patients would be administered doses of Cytotec, a drug that causes strong and unpredictable uterine contractions, to induce labor and then the abortion would take place.
“When he did an abortion, especially an over 20 week abortion, most of the time the fetus would come completely out before he cut the spinal cord or he introduced one of the instruments into the soft spot of the fetus, in order to kill the fetus,” stated former surgical assistant Deborah Edge. According to Edge, babies born alive were a common occurrence.
- According to Edge, sometimes Karpen would kill the babies by “twisting the head off the neck.”
The whistle blowers also contend that numerous other abuses took place at Aaron Women’s Clinic including:
- Falsification of ultrasounds to produce younger fetal ages of babies over the legal limit or older fetal ages to extract more money out of women.
- Fraudulent billing practices.
- Surgical equipment not properly sterilized and reuse of disposable instruments.
- Unqualified workers drawing and administering drugs.
- Hiring nurses through a temp agency to work only on days when inspections are scheduled.
- Mistreating and inappropriately touching women while under sedation.
- Sexual harassment.
The Harris County District Attorney’s office has announced that they are currently investigating the matter[185].

Records obtained by Texas Right to Life[186] reveal that 14 Texas abortion clinics have been cited for serious health violations between July 2011 – 2012. Violations included:
- Unsecured, open vials and unlabeled syringes were stored throughout abortion facilities.
- Methotrexate, a dangerous drug used for abortion, was left open, unsecured, and unlocked in a room, in violation of state and federal law.
- Instrument packages in a treatment room had broken sterile seals and vials containing Lidocaine were not sterile.
- Patient records indicating that patients were released without vital signs being taken.
- Expired equipment and medications being used.

2011

The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) found in June that Whole Women’s Health of Austin abortion had improperly disposed of fetuses[187][188].
- The clinic had sent the aborted babies to a medical waste contractor, which subjected them to steam disinfection along with other medical waste generated at the facility. The contractor then sent the waste to a landfill.
- The law forbids human body parts, fetuses or products of abortions from being disposed of in landfills.

TCEQ cited Whole Women’s Health in McAllen, TX in September 2011 for the improper disposal of human remains after the discovery of unborn babies in dumpsters outside the clinic[189].
- Private medical records were also discovered in the dumpsters.

Virginia – 80 Violations Even with Notice of Inspection

2016

Steven Chase Brigham’s Fairfax, VA facility remained closed as of June 2 after an April inspection in which “unsanitary equipment, expired medication and failure to maintain equipment or follow proper patient care protocols” were discovered.[190]

2013

On June 27, 2013, a woman was taken away by ambulance from Nova Women’s Health Center in Falls Church, VA. She was hyperventilating and in need of advanced life support.
Following this event, on August 2, the Falls Church facility underwent a licensing inspection where it was found that the facility violated a number of codes.[191]
Nova Women’s Health Center, the busiest abortion clinic in Virginia, closed when its lease was terminated via a lawsuit by the property owners on the grounds that the abortion clinic created a nuisance.
- According to the lawsuit filings, Nova patients were regularly inside the building “lying down in corridors…and, in some instances, even vomiting.” One filing said witnesses would testify that this was a daily occurrence.[192]
Previously in 2007, the state Board of Health reported evidence of negligence and abuse at Nova Women’s Health Center clinic including: failing to provide follow-up care, keeping inadequate records, and improperly handling and dispensing drugs. Abortionist Mi Yong Kim was forced to surrender her medical license, but continued to operate the clinic. [193]

2012

Virginia Health Commission inspection reports obtained by The Family Foundation through the Freedom of Information Act reveal unsafe and “utterly disgusting” conditions in Virginia abortion clinics.[194]
Blood-stained medical equipment and operating tables (Falls Church Healthcare Center, Falls Church)[195]
A doctor doing exams with unwashed hands (Alexandria)[196]
Improper disposal of fetal remains including frozen blood and remains at the bottom of the freezer, after contents had spilled out of a unclosed plastic bag (Tidewater Women’s Health Clinic, Norfolk)[197]
Staff failure to disinfect blood-stained equipment and recovery cots between patients (Roanoke Medical Center for Women, Roanoke)[198]
Splattered, dried blood in different colors and thickness on exam table and between exam table cushions (Roanoke Medical Center for Women, Roanoke)[199]
- Improper storage and dispersion of drugs (Falls Church Healthcare Center, Falls Church)[200]
- Staff failure to properly sanitize equipment and distinguish between dirty and clean instruments (Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia, Virginia Beach)[201]
The director of Tidewater Women’s Health Clinic in Norfolk, Dr. David Peters, claimed that the inspectors’ observations were flat wrong and none of the violations affected patient care. The violations found at his clinic included spilled blood and “products of conception” (fetal remains) being stored in the freezer.[202]

2009

Abortionist Mi Yong Kim of Nova Women’s Health Center performed an abortion on a woman with an ectopic pregnancy. Although the woman was told the procedure was successful and was sent home, the ectopic pregnancy later ruptured and caused a painful, life-threatening emergency for the woman. [203]
Previously, in 2002, a patient died as a result of an air embolism at the hands of Mi Yong Kim. Kim improperly sedated the woman, failed to realize the patient went into cardiac arrest, and subsequently did not attempt to resuscitate her.[204]

West Virginia– Abortionist Forcibly Aborts, Leave Fetal Remains Inside Mother

2013

Itai Gravely, a 26-year-old woman, filed suit against the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia and abortionist Rodney Lee Stephens after Stephens allegedly forced Ms. Gravely to proceed with an abortion against her will and then left her dead baby’s head inside her womb.[205]
- Gravely changed her mind about the abortion after adequate anesthesia could not be administered.
Stephens ordered clinic workers to physically restrain Ms. Gravely as he proceeded with the abortion.
The next day, Ms. Gravely was rushed to the emergency room where it was discovered that dismembered body parts, including the head, of her child had been left in her womb.

[1]http://politichicks.com/2016/01/historic-march-in-selma-alabama-leads-to-shut-down-of-illegal-abortion-clinic/

[2] http://www.wbrc.com/story/30936611/former-birmingham-abortion-clinic-demolished

[3]http://www.waff.com/story/25858750/only-abortion-clinic-in-north-alabama-closing-friday

[4]http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/victory-court-issues-permanent-injunction-against-derzis-illegal-birmingham-abortion-business/

[5] http://www.lifenews.com/2012/01/22/botched-abortions-injure-two-women-in-birmingham-alabama/

[6] http://abortiondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/NEW-WOMAN-ALL-WOMEN-201203011.pdf

[7]http://www.lifenews.com/2012/04/06/abortion-clinic-in-alabama-closed-after-botched-abortions/

[8] http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/birmingham-abortion-clinic-operating-illegally-in-defiance-of-state-ordered-closure/

[9] http://www.adph.org/news/assets/130319.pdf

[10] http://lldf.org/birmingham-abortion-business-argues-that-the-alabama-department-of-public-health-does-not-have-jurisdiction-to-enforce-health-and-safety-rules/

[11] http://abortiondocs.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Clark-v.-PPUmoren1.pdf

[12] http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/alabama-planned-parenthood-sued-after-botched-abortion-leaves-client-infert/