On February 15th 2018, there was another emergency call at Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Center in New York City - the tenth woman to be transported via ambulance from the Bleecker Street Planned Parenthood flagship facility to a local hospital for treatment. The ambulance did not run its sirens.
Operation Rescue President Troy Newman stated:
“The practice of ambulances running silent within proximity of the Planned Parenthood abortion facility is for the sole benefit of Planned Parenthood. In fact, such a policy could delay emergency care to women when every minute counts.”
The Jewish Life League believes the problem is that abortion facilities rarely get inspected.
It is incomprehensible that pizza places and tanning salons get inspected more often than abortion clinics. But it is true. In a 12-year time period – from 2000 up to 2012 – there were 225 abortion facilities in New York State. Out of those, only 25 were regulated. The New York Post reported that eight of the 25 clinics were never inspected during that time, five were inspected just once, and eight were inspected only twice or three times – meaning once every four or six years.
While all these inspections were not happening, the infamous abortionist, drug dealer and serial killer Kermit Gosnell was killing women and babies at his filthy, cat urine-infested house of horrors in Philadelphia, and using his office to sell narcotics. The Pennsylvania Department of Health knew what was going on at the Women’s Medical Society for well over 20 years, and let Gosnell slide for two decades.
There were complaints against Gosnell dating back to 1989 and the conditions in his clinic were so horrific his patients would have been better off having their abortions in a public outhouse. The Pennsylvania State officials had not even visited Gosnell’s mill since 1993.
The horrific and gruesome details of what went down in that so-called “clinic” is documented in the book "Gosnell: The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer," by Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. It is a difficult book to read tells the truth about what “safe and legal” has become in the abortion world.
After the Gosnell story went viral and national, there should have been a public outcry from the abortion lobby. Planned Parenthood should have called for increasing the number and frequency of abortion clinic inspections, and cooperate in putting more regulations in place. However, the health violations did not end with the New York Post’s investigative pieces. The radicalized abortion cartel has fought all attempts at the state level to make abortion safer.
In my research since reading this news story, I was appalled to find that nothing has changed since the Gosnell horror.
I began at my local college library and did a search on several professional databases using the criteria: “New York abortion clinics inspections regulations.” I turned up several related articles from various states, including Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri and Ohio.
For example, in South Carolina, the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) regulates and licenses abortion clinics. The DHEC issued a press release in 2015 indicating that three clinics were found to be in violation of state laws and regulations. Planned Parenthood of South Atlantic in Columbia, S.C. was one of them.
They were cited for 21 violations, including: “non-compliance with the Woman’s Right to Know Act, incomplete medical and employee records, expired medications, improper infectious waste disposal practices, and failure to report abortions to DHEC Vital Statistics in a timely manner.”
None of these other state violations came as a surprise, but my search was confined to New York. Yet, I found nothing for New York indicating any inspections are being done. There were no press releases or updates from the Health Commissioner’s Office indicating a step-up for inspections in my city. And there are more than just the 10 victims since January 2017.
Violations and citations against Margaret Sanger Center for back years can be found at this link on AbortionDocs.org.
In addition to my library research, I also dialed 311 and asked whom to contact to find out about abortion clinic inspections and regulations. The 311 operator referred me to one service that came up for abortion clinic counseling services, based upon my location. Since that was not what I had in mind, he also provided information about STD’s and “sexual health clinics.” He could tell me nothing about inspections of abortion clinics, because he had nothing.
Eventually, I was transferred to the Health Commissioner of the State of New York, Dr. Howard Zucker. I just e-mailed Dr. Zucker, detailing my questions and concerns about what is happening at the Planned Parenthood Margaret Sanger Center. Some of my key questions were:
1. When was the last time the Planned Parenthood Margaret Sanger Center was inspected?
2. What are the current rules regarding abortion clinic inspections in New York City and State? (What is the frequency of clinic inspections? Are inspections repeated if violations are found and how often? What do the inspectors look for? Are current licenses, malpractice claims and sanitary conditions notated, and how are violations assessed? What are the penalties for each infraction?)
3. Have you had reports of violations for the Margaret Sanger Center in the past?
4. Regarding the alarming number of emergency transports of women with potential injuries, how is The New York State Dept. of Health handling the situation?
I am hoping I hear back from Dr. Zucker. For anyone who is interested in e-mailing the Health Commissioner, the address is:
DOHWEB@Health.ny.gov. In the subject field, enter “Att: Dr. Zucker.”
I am appalled at the number of emergency transports form the Margaret Sanger Center. I am hoping that the New York State Department of Health will be proactive in addressing these recurring incidents.
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