FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 1, 2013
Contact: Mallory Quigley, 202-223-8073
State suspends license after 23 violations found; not inspected since ‘06
Washington, D.C. – Yesterday the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services suspended the license of the FemCare abortion clinic in Asheville after finding “egregious violations … that revealed an imminent threat to the health and safety of patients.” The clinic, which has not been inspected since 2006, was cited for 23 violations. North Carolina native and Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) president Marjorie Dannenfelser remarked:
“Time and again we are seeing the consequences of championing abortion masked as women’s health care prove tragic for women. Kermit Gosnell, Douglas Karpen, and the other abortion clinic horrors uncovered nationwide show that the abortion industry cannot be prevailed upon to police itself,” said Dannenfelser. “This is the front lines of the war on women – and women deserve better. News of this clinic closing proves just how badly the increased health and safety standards are needed. We applaud the Governor and the bold pro-life, pro-woman legislators who led the effort to protect women.”
“FemCare had not been inspected by the State since 2006. It was cited for 23 violations, including that the operating room floor and beds were dirty, the anesthesia masks were torn and held together with tape, there was no resuscitator available, and emergency equipment was not regularly checked to make sure it worked,” said Tami Fitzgerald, Executive Director of the NC Values Coalition. “The nation was rocked by the horrors of the Gosnell abortion clinic in Philadelphia, but apparently we have our own ‘Gosnells.’ The need for abortion clinic reforms was never greater. These facilities have been allowed to operate in our state with little supervision under the previous administrations, until Pat McCrory took over as Governor. ”
Last week the North Carolina legislature passed the Safe Harbor for Victims of Sex Trafficking bill (SB 683) and the Health and Safety Changes Act (SB 353). The legislation addresses minors who are victims of sex-trafficking, requires abortion facilities to meet increased health and safety standards, bans sex-selective abortion, and protects the conscience rights of health care workers who object to participating in abortion.
In the last year, an abortion clinic in Charlotte was labeled ‘an imminent threat to the health and safety of patients’ after the health department found dead insects, blood splatters and dirty surgical instruments inside. The SBA List has compiled an ever-expanding fact sheet on abortion industry negligence and brutality occurring nationwide.
The Susan B. Anthony List and its affiliated Political Action Committees, the SBA List Candidate Fund and Women Speak Out PAC, are dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List emphasizes the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women at all levels of government. The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.
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