The UK Sun reported today that the Care Quality Commission (CQC), charged with overseeing abortion facilities in Britain, has found that staff members at Marie Stopes International (MSI), one of the largest abortion clinics in the United Kingdom, were paid bonuses for “encouraging women to have [abortion] procedures.” When inspectors visited the Maidstone branch of MSI in May 2016, staffers compared it to a ‘cattle market’ where women were often pressured to have abortions, which the facility committed up to 14 weeks gestation.
If this sounds familiar, it’s probably because when it comes to abortion facilities, no matter where they are located or which abortion conglomerate they belong to, some things remain the same. Only months ago, Live Action interviewed former Planned Parenthood staffer Ramona Treviño, a former Sherman, Texas, Planned Parenthood manager who stated, “It was a struggle because I felt like Planned Parenthood treated women like cattle. We talked about reducing the amount of time that we saw our … new patients,” she explained in the video below:
The Marie Stopes inspection report, published in February 2017, notes what inspectors observed as women were counseled at the Maidstone branch about their abortion decision. They write, “the consultation felt very rushed to the inspector. The nurse was doing other tasks such as cleaning rather than paying attention to the patient.”
Marie Stopes Maidstone Centre abortion clinic
“We observed a member of staff passing the consent form to the patient to read and sign whilst they cleaned the room. There was no opportunity given for discussion or questions and when questioned the member of staff felt this was because of a lack of time.”
Inspectors were told how Marie Stopes evaluated staff based on Key Performance Indicators (KPS), which were tied to the abortion facility employees’ bonuses. If a patient “did not proceed” to have the abortion (or other) procedure, staff would be penalized, with their bonuses negatively affected.
According to the report, “Staff were concerned that ‘Did Not Proceed’, the term used when women decided not to proceed with treatment, was measured as a KPI and linked to their performance bonus. They felt that this encouraged staff to ensure that patients underwent procedures.”
Inspectors were told that some of the outcomes were even logged against the wrong staff and didn’t reflect who had actually done the work. “Staff were also concerned that the pressurised environment and linking of KPIs to perfomance bonuses meant that there was a culture that worked against patient choice,” the report states.
“One staff member describe it as ‘feeling like a hamster in a wheel’ and said the word, “Cattle market” came up quite a lot,” the report states.
READ: Shock report: Marie Stopes UK clinics coerced women to abort, threw babies in the trash
The report suggested that patients were treated disrespectfully, stating that “staff failed to consider the privacy and dignity of patients,” walking in while patients were “being treated.” In addition, “There were no curtains in the recovery area and no way to protect the patient’s privacy whilst providing care.” Minutes from a May 2016 team meeting showed that “complaints had been received about staff being blunt and abrupt,” but no action was recorded in response.
Of course, this type of poor treatment of women entering abortion facilities is not isolated to the United Kingdom. When focus is on profit, patient care will suffer. Planned Parenthood, the United States’ most profitable abortion provider, has abortion quotas, and receives acknowledgement and incentives for fulfilling projected numbers.
On February 8, 2017, President and Founder of Live Action, Lila Rose, posted a photo of a certificate awarded to a Colorado Planned Parenthood for exceeding its abortion visits from the previous year, a fact previously reported by Live Action News.
Planned Parenthood itself admitted to the validity of the award in a blog post from July 2014.
Sue Thayer, a former Planned Parenthood manager from Iowa, discussed Planned Parenthood’s abortion quotas in an interview with Live Action president Lila Rose. “Every center had a goal for how many abortions were done, so we were very goal-oriented,” Thayer said. “I trained my staff the way that I was trained, which was to really encourage women to choose abortion, to have it at Planned Parenthood, because that counts – you know – towards our goal.”
But abortion quotas are not the only similarities between Marie Stopes in the UK and Planned Parenthood in the U.S.
The UK Sun notes that inspectors at MSI also found serious safeguarding concerns, including a lack of up-to-date guidance on child sexual exploitation: “The safeguarding procedures at MSI Maidstone were not sufficient to protect patients, particularly children, from the risk of abuse.”
According to the inspection report, at times, “staff also said they would ask the counsellor if they [the child] weren’t certain and ask them, “To help the child make the decision.” Most consultations with the counsellor were made by telephone, the counsellor did not see the child and had no way of knowing whether the person they were speaking with was the child presenting for an abortion. Consent was routinely accepted from children without proper assessment of their ability to understand the risks.”
“Staff were clear that they felt parental involvement was not a good thing. One said, “The trouble is parents might not react as you think and might be disappointed” and “Parents get upset, we don’t involve them.”
This mirrors the way that Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry regularly violate mandatory reporting laws and turn vulnerable girls — some victims of rape or sexual abuse — back to their abusers. This kind of unlawful behavior is systemic within Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.
Ambulance outside Marie Stopes facility
The inspection report also indicated that failed abortions are not being reported as required. “Staff told us that not all incidents were reported or recorded on an incident log, for example failed abortions. Managers and staff acknowledged there was under reporting of incidents.”
Inspectors at the abortion facility were also told by nursing staff that when it came to discussing what to do with the aborted child’s remains, the issue was not brought up by facility staff: “Relevant information about pregnancy remains was not included in any patient information leaflets that we saw. Staff we spoke with told us they discussed options on an individual basis but only if a woman raised this issue.”
“All pregnancy remains went into a bucket after being signed and checked. There was no recording of which ID number was in which bag so a late decision to take the remains for personal disposal was not possible. If a patient had made it clear prior to the operation that they wanted to dispose of their own remains, they were put into an opaque pot and a release form signed.” But here’s the thing: those remains weren’t the woman’s “own remains.” They were the remains of her aborted baby, a fully distinct human being, following a procedure like the one explained below by Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former abortionist responsible for more than 1200 abortions:
According to The Sun, this was not the first time a report found serious safeguarding concerns at a Marie Stopes facility: “Last year, inspectors visiting the Norwich branch were forced to intervene after the clinic tried to give a vulnerable women with learning difficulties an abortion – without her consent.”
According to the CQC report, three complaints were raised during the reporting period. All raised similar concerns of staff attitude, poor facilities and environment, and a rushed service.
In March 2017, several pro-life agencies called for the revocation of the abortion chain’s license, citing safety concerns. According to the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, the CQC report revealed serious safety failings such as a lack of staff trained to assist in anaesthesia, a lack of staff present able to administer medication in cases of hemorrhage, and lack of consent training.
“In view of such appalling treatment of women, treatment which is perhaps not surprising in view of their callous disregard for unborn children, we are calling on the Secretary of State for Health to withdraw from Marie Stopes International (MSI) their licence to carry out abortions,” SPUC stated.
