WASHINGTON, D.C., December 13, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — Americans United for Life released an eye-opening investigative report on Tuesday morning that revealed more than 1,400 stunning health and safety deficiencies in the past eight years at 227 abortion providers in 32 states.
AUL launched the investigation, led by vice president of legal affairs Denise Burke, after the Supreme Court overturned the Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt ruling in June. The report, Unsafe, How the Public Health Crisis in America’s Abortion Clinics Endangers Women, is more than 200 pages and uncovers significant violations of state regulatory laws at abortion clinics.
Among the abortion facilities included in the report was Planned Parenthood, which is responsible for approximately one-third of the abortions in the U.S. AUL designated 39 Planned Parenthood clinics in 15 states (Alabama, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia) to be Unsafe. Some of those were guilty of each of the violations outlined in AUL’s “Top 10” list.
“The Justices indicated that health and safety standards designed to protect women from abortion industry abuses would be constitutional if there was better evidence of the need for such regulations,” Burke said. “Here’s proof that women need such protections and that abortion clinics must be better regulated and regularly inspected.”
The AUL’s findings could be only the tip of the iceberg considering restrictions on information and the lack of reporting requirements of clinic conditions in states such as California.
“Too many state officials are turning a blind eye to this red-light district of medicine,” Burke said. “AUL is calling on state attorneys general and governors to order inspections of abortion clinics and on state legislators to enact the enhanced protectons for women and their unborn children featured in AUL's Women's Protection Project and Infants' Protection Project.”
In addition to the discovery of unsafe conditions, the investigation reveals the absence of protective laws in some states, lack of accountability as far as regular state inspections and public access to public health reports on the goings-on at these abortion facilities, and in general the shady, largely unregulated practices of abortion providers.
“The Supreme Court wrongly threw out Texas’ health and safety standards, concluding that there was insufficient evidence to support the need for the law,” Burke said. “That perceived deficit must be addressed wherever and whenever possible, yet this void exists, in part, because of the scandalously lax manner in which many abortion clinics are monitored.
“AUL took on the task of learning what information is available on abortion clinic conditions and what is not, as too few states protect women by appropriately regulating and inspecting abortion clinics. The fact that data from some states are not included in the report indicates the need for better and more regular inspections and reporting on the results of those inspections Importantly, AUL is releasing this report in advance of the 2017 state legislative sessions so that lawmakers will have an important tool for explaining the critical need for enhanced health and safety standards and to call for further investigation.”
The report includes:
- Women You Should Know, which tells the stories of women who have been victimized by the abortion industry. Many of these women lost their lives after receiving dangerously incompetent care in the nation’s abortion clinics.
- America’s Epidemic of Substandard Abortion Facilities and Practices, which features a detailed analysis of hundreds of violations and deficiency reports from state health inspectors showing that abortion clinics, including Planned Parenthood facilities, are routinely cited for putting women’s health and safety at risk. Among the most common violations found in America’s abortion clinics are failing to ensure a safe and sanitary environment, failing to document and protect patient records, failing to properly train staff, allowing unqualified staff to provide care to patients, utilizing expired medications and medical supplies, failing to purchase and maintain required equipment, failing to adopt and follow health and safety protocols, failing to properly handle medications, failing to comply with physical plant standards, and failing to monitor patient vital signs. Hundreds of significant violations of these common sense health and safety standards were found over just the past 8 years.
- The Perilous Prevalence of “Circuit Rider” Abortionists, which reveals the abortion industry’s reliance on a small cadre of abortion providers who travel from state to state plying their grisly trade and who are not available to women suffering post-abortive complications. The report also highlights the dangerous individuals who populate the abortion industry. Shockingly, at least 65 of the abortion providers examined were chronic offenders who had been cited multiple times for the same violations in subsequent inspections. Further, at least 13 abortion providers either failed to report suspected sexual abuse of a minor or failed to implement practices to protect minors from ongoing sexual abuse, at least 30 abortion providers failed to provide or post all required informed consent information, and more than two dozen abortion clinics failed to comply with abortion reporting requirements.
AUL’s Top 10 Violations report for clinics considered Unsafe is as follows:
|
Violation |
Clinics Implicated/ States Implicated |
|
1. Failure to ensure a safe and sanitary environment and to follow infection control policies |
130 clinics in 22 states |
|
2. Failure to accurately document patient records and keep patient medical information confidential |
100 clinics in 17 states |
|
3. Failure to ensure staff are properly trained for duties |
82 clinics in 14 states |
|
4. Unlicensed/unqualified/untrained staff providing patient care |
81 clinics in 14 states |
|
5. Expired medications and medical supplies |
77 clinics in 17 states |
|
6. Failure to adopt, follow and/or periodically review internal health and safety protocols |
77 clinics in 15 states |
|
7. Failure to purchase and maintain the required equipment |
74 clinics in 11 states |
|
8. Failure to properly handle medications |
62 clinics in 16 states |
|
9. Failure to comply with physical plant standards |
41 clinics in 6 states |
|
10. Failure to monitor patient vital signs |
30 clinics in 10 states |
“The abortion industry willingly sacrifices women’s health and safety in their ‘back alley’ clinics, prioritizing mere access to abortion over women’s health and safety. Convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell provided ‘mere access’ to abortion, and women died in his care,” Burke said. “During the investigation of Gosnell and his ‘house of horrors’ abortion clinic, the grand jury found that, while there were laws on the books allowing for inspections, state officials decided not to act because of abortion politics. Women’s health and safety must not be held hostage by an abortion industry willing to put profit over people.”
To learn more about the dangerous conditions documented in America’s abortion clinics, go to www.unsafereport.org or www.aul.org.