SOUTH BEND, Indiana, November 6, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – South Bend's only abortion facility has been shut down for numerous violations of the law.
The Women's Pavilion of South Bend, owned by abortionist Ulrich Klopfer, dropped its appeal of the Indiana Department of Health's refusal to renew Klopfer's license in June. Klopfer's appeal was to be heard this week, but the notorious abortionist retracted his appeal for unstated reasons.
The state Department of Health (DOH) filed a complaint to revoke Klopfer's license in January for multiple health and safety violations. The Indiana DOH filed a second complaint in June for various violations, including not following informed consent laws.
“Women's lives are at risk when anesthesia is administered improperly, medication is expired, staff is under-trained and infection control is lacking, to name but a few of the facility's problems,” Jeanette Burdell, executive director of St. Joseph County Right to Life, explained. Her organization has been working with Indiana Right to Life and South Bend's Life Center and others to call the state's attention to the unsafe conditions and health violations of Klopfer.
“No other medical facility would be able to get away with the things Women's Pavilion has been doing for years[.] … And when abortions on 13-year-old girls aren't reported in a timely manner as required by law, children are in danger of sexual abuse.”
Attorney Shawn Sullivan of South Bend's Life Center, which operates right next to Klopfer's abortion business, said they began reporting violations of informed consent laws, which require 18 hours between medical information and biological facts presented to the mother and her abortion procedure. The law is designed both to help women make a more informed decision and to give a brief period of time to consider a major surgical operation.
The Indiana DOH investigated the complaints and found that every complaint investigated was substantiated. Furthermore, Klopfer himself admitted that he did not follow the informed consent laws of Indiana.
Allegedly, Klopfer's clinic did not keep a registry of patients, used expired medication on women, had no governing board for legal accountability, and did not keep staff certified.
Attorney Sullivan told LifeSiteNews that through the efforts of the Life Center and other pro-lifers, “we've gone from 3,315 abortions in the I-90 corridor to zero, in three years. One hundred babies' lives saved. Five abortuaries shut down. The last one [is] South Bend.”
As LifeSiteNews reported, after a June 3 inspection, the Indiana DOH cited Klopfer for a “history of non-compliance, ongoing non-compliance,” and “untimely and unacceptable plans of correction.” The DOH concluded that “the clinic's inability to comply with and follow existing state law … is an intentional and willful act.”
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Klopfer committed abortions for decades in Gary, Fort Wayne, and South Bend. His Fort Wayne abortion facility was closed at the end of 2013 because it lost its local hospital admitting agreement, which was required by a state law intended to save the lives of women in cases of botched abortions. His Gary facility was closed in June of this year over a DOH report showing numerous safety hazards.
In 2010 and 2012, state inspectors found that Klopfer allowed the bodies of aborted babies to be stored in a refrigerator alongside medication the office would dispense to female patients. They also found unsigned consent forms, fire hazards, and a nitrous oxide tank that had expired 23 years previously, in 1989.
Klopfer has also been investigated for committing abortions on minors and then not reporting statutory rape. After aborting an eighth-grader's baby, he did not report the procedure for nearly six months, when the law says he must report such instances right away.
Klopfer's abortion facility also had improper record-keeping to evade Indiana's legal standards, including Klopfer listing the date of every abortion at “88 weeks.”
“Klopfer compromised the health and safety of women who sought abortions from him,” Indiana Right to Life's Cathie Humbarger said. “Hoosier women deserve better. We extend our appreciation to the Pence administration and the ISDH for refusing to sweep Klopfer's shady practices under the rug.”
“It's a good day for the health and safety of Hoosier women.”
Humbarger made a Freedom of Information Act Request for state termination of pregnancy reports last year. The Right to Life group was shocked to discover 1,590 errors and omissions on the reports. Pro-lifers filed over 1,200 consumer complaints with the Indiana attorney general, pointing out Klopfer's numerous violations.
Under Klopfer's settlement agreement, he may not apply for a license for 90 days. It remains unclear whether Klopfer will seek licensure in February 2016.
On December 3, Klopfer is scheduled to appear before the Indiana Medical Licensing Board over a complaint filed by the Indiana attorney general, which has received 1,833 notices of violations.
