CINCINNATI, OH — A Hamilton County magistrate ruled Monday to uphold the Ohio Health Department's decision to close the Lebanon Road Surgery Center, Martin Haskell's Sharonville abortion clinic, for failure to meet Ohio medical standards. Specifically, Haskell's clinic continues to operate without a transfer agreement with any area hospital. The magistrate promised to reverse a previous ruling that allowed the clinic to remain open, in a ruling he plans to file on July 10.
“We want to thank the Health Department as well as Attorney General Mike DeWine for enforcing Ohio law and refusing to allow the abortion industry to dodge compliance with health and safety standards,” said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life. “With the closure of this facility, Ohio will have witnessed a total of six abortion mills close during Governor Kasich's administration. We are endlessly grateful to see pro-life Ohio's collective efforts to save lives come to fruition.”
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According to Ohio law, Lebanon Road Surgery Center exists as an Ambulatory Surgical Facility and because of this legal status, the clinic is not a full-service medical facility. To operate legally, Lebanon Road Surgery Center must have a transfer agreement with a full-service private hospital to handle all cases of abortion complications against the mother. In the case that an abortion facility is unable to acquire a transfer agreement, it can apply for a variance (exception). Lebanon Road Surgery Center failed to obtain either. After the Ohio Department of Health ordered the facility to close in January, the facility appealed that ruling in court.
Late-term abortionist Martin Haskell, who owns Lebanon Road Surgery Center, has performed abortions for more than 30 years. He is notorious for his advocacy of partial-birth abortion and is credited for popularizing the now banned and illegal procedure. With the closing of Haskell's clinic, only one abortion facility remains open inside the county with the third highest rate for abortion deaths in Ohio.