Shortly before the news broke that a judge had struck down a key part of the new Texas abortion law, RH Reality Check writer Andrea Grimes — the genius behind the “Taco and Beer Abortion Challenge” that was an utter flop — wrote about how horrible sterile abortion clinics are. According to Grimes, they’re just too cold and intimidating. And there’s no recliners or herbal tea!
In San Antonio, Whole Woman’s corporate vice president Andrea Ferrigno took me on a tour of their two-facility space: a small, purple-tinted clinic that feels like a cozy gynecologist’s office, and a fluorescent-lit surgical center with two icy operating rooms.
… In these rooms, the Whole Woman’s staff counsels patients through a process that, Ferrigno says, everyone understands and experiences differently. In years past, patients had been able to keep on much of their own clothing during abortion procedures performed in cozy exam rooms with inspirational quotes written on the walls.
They would then walk themselves down a short hallway to a sunny room filled with cushy recliners and fuzzy fleece blankets, where Whole Woman’s served a special herbal tea developed especially for their group in Austin. Patients’ partners, friends, mothers, sisters, or other supporters could join them in the recovery room for a short sojourn.
It’s like a day at the spa!
In recovery, when everyone’s wearing hospital gowns and laying on hospital-style stretchers, it’s more difficult to invite partners and friends to join patients after their procedures. There’s no herbal tea, no feeling of relaxing in a friend’s living room. Everything feels more medical, more sterile, more intimidating.
My gosh, abortion clinic operating rooms that feel medical and sterile? Heavens, no!
Which clinics does Grimes wish the new, more sterile, clinic was more like?
I thought of the warmth I’d experienced when visiting Whole Woman’s clinics in McAllen, Beaumont, and Austin to do interviews or take photographs for a story. I imagined myself driving to San Antonio, staying overnight to fulfill the 24-hour waiting period between a state-mandated ultrasound and a procedure.
It’s interesting that the Whole Woman’s Health in Beaumont got glowing reviews from Grimes, considering that, as pro-life blogger Saynsumthn points out, they were found to have multiple violations, including rusty equipment and expired medicine. It’s not their first time in violation of state medical standards, either.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz-sSpCqguc&w=450&h=253]
But hey, who cares about safety? The clinic felt warm, and maybe even served herbal tea with some fuzzy blankets. Most women would overlook rusty suction machines shoved up their cervix as long as they get a nice, hot cup of herbal tea afterwards — right, Ms. Grimes?
Here we have a pro-abortion writer complaining about higher safety standards, with sterile operating and recovery rooms, while simultaneously cheering a clinic found to have multiple violations. How much more information does a woman need to know when it really comes down to determining who has her best interests at heart, vs. who is just a slave to their agenda? Grimes and her ilk don’t care about women. They care about abortion, period, and as long as the clinics keep their violations and subpar standards wrapped up in a pretty bow, they’ll keep defending them and fight tooth and nail to prevent those standards from being raised.
