ROCKFORD, IL, November 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A ruling handed down this week means that one of the most notorious abortion clinics in the country, the Northern Illinois Women’s Center (NIWC) in Rockford, Illinois, will remain closed until January 4, 2012, when a formal public hearing will be held. The ruling on the suspension of the clinic’s license was made by an Administrative Law Judge at the behest of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).
In addition to its health violations, the abortion facility is known for routinely displaying anti-Christian symbols, such as a nun in a coffin and a crucified rubber chicken, as well as taunting signs in its windows.
The judge announced her ruling during a teleconference yesterday, when the department of health advised the judge that health concerns stemming from inspections of the facility remained unresolved.
“Every week an estimated 25 children were killed in the Rockford abortion mill,” noted Kevin Rilott, a veteran pro-life activist who regularly witnesses outside the abortion facility, at prolifecorner.com. “That’s approximately 100 human lives a month destroyed in Rockford by abortion.
“This means for the three months the Rockford abortion mill has been closed, up to 300 human lives may have been saved. Yes, some of these mothers may have gone to other cities to end the lives of their children – but many may have chosen life as well.”
Last week, attorneys Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society, and Jason Craddock, special counsel for the Society, wrote a lengthy letter to the health department, expressing grave worries about a possible premature reopening of the NIWC.
The Thomas More Society attorneys were retained in the case by concerned citizens residing in the Greater Rockford area, including the Rockford Pro-Life Initiative and a Registered Nurse, who had been instrumental in persuading the public health authorities finally to conduct a series of inspections of the NIWC abortion facility after a protracted period of nearly 14 years — during which no inspections had taken place.
The Society’s letter pointed out that IDPH’s long overdue inspections of the facility had uncovered a laundry list of “egregious health and safety violations,” including gynecological cannulas (surgical instruments inserted during abortion procedures) that were stained with a “brown substance,” “failure to prevent contamination of clean surgical equipment” and “repeated deficiencies in record keeping.”
Inspectors at the clinic had found shoes stored inside a box of survigal gloves, while “autoclave equipment used to sterilize medical instruments failed biological testing on at least two occasions.” They also found that the abortionists did not have admitting privileges at local hospitals, and failed to meet requirements for a registered nurse to be present in the operating room, “leaving unqualified and unlicensed personnel to do tasks reserved by law for licensed, qualified professional personnel.”
“We pray that this Christmas season may mark NIWC’s permanent closure,” said the Thomas More Society’s Tom Brejcha.
NIWC’s lawyers are claiming that its patients are “safe” despite its failure to abide by legal requirements.