Earlier this month, Florida abortionist Ali Azima’s Venice Woman’s Health Center permanently closed following a yearlong investigation led by the pro-life watchdog group, Reprotection, Inc. According to his website, the abortionist has retired.
Working in collaboration with the Thomas More Society, the group drew attention to the facility’s unscrupulous practices by filing multiple complaints with the Florida Department of Health’s Division of Medical Quality Assurance and Division of Health Quality Assurance.
One such complaint, filed in October last year, alleges that Azima and his staff initially refused to call an ambulance for a patient who experienced difficulty breathing after receiving anesthesia for a surgical abortion. Before the ambulance arrived, witnesses also described seeing blood running down the woman’s thighs after she ran out of the clinic, screaming, “Call 911! Call 911!”
It appears the incident was not an isolated one, with Reprotection noting that Azima has a “history of medical negligence.”
The Florida abortionist’s medical license was suspended in 1985 for a year due to repeated medical malpractice. As the Thomas More Society noted, Azima’s license was suspended due to multiple incidents “in which he placed patients at great risk with sometimes disastrous results.”
Some of the ways that Azima was found to have mistreated women included not even bothering to review his patient’s medical history or check the Rh blood factor before conducting a surgical abortion (which can affect future fertility). Other complaints accused Azima of using alcohol strong enough to burn a patient’s cervix and vagina, failing to counsel abortion-minded or post-abortive patients, and failing to ensure all fetal body parts had been removed during the abortion.
In another horrifying incident, a woman had to have emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancy after Azima failed to realize the abortion was incomplete.
READ: Florida abortionist pays $9000 for falsely advertising abortions in Indiana
According to Reprotection, Azima “displayed signs of mental and physical impairment” and shaky hands due to his age, which may have been a factor in his negligent treatment of women.
Still, that raises the question as to why the state allowed such a dangerous abortionist to continue his operations.
“We are so glad that Ali Azima has retired and stopped harming women and killing children in Florida,” said Missy Stone, Senior Analyst at Reprotection. “With one more abortion business shut down, lives will be saved and women’s health will no longer be endangered. Reprotection will continue to investigate dangerous doctors and abortion businesses nationwide and hold them accountable.”
“It is cases like this one that makes the work of Reprotection so important. I assume Azima shut his shop at least in part because Reprotection kept documenting his atrocious failures,” stated Senior Counsel Matt Heffron of the Thomas More Society which often works with Stone and her team.
“But this highlights a question that must be answered: Why do so many governmental units avoid their duties to regulate abortion facilities?” asked Heffron. “If Azima had been in any other business, you can be assured there would have been swift action to protect the public. The fact that he was still in business after so many complaints and verified violations is astounding.”
“Like” Live Action News on Facebook for more pro-life news and commentary!
