Issues

‘Partial birth abortion’ creator’s facility stays open for now, despite Ohio Supreme Court decision

abortion, Ohio, DIY abortions, abortion

The Ohio Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of Women’s Med Center of Dayton, the only abortion facility in the city, regarding the Ohio Department of Health’s decision not to renew its license. Abortions are committed through all nine months of pregnancy at this facility, which has been operating with an expired license for years.

Now they have 10 days to file a motion to ask the Ohio Supreme Court to reconsider. Regardless, the facility will not be forced to close because they have a similar case set for 2020 in federal court. Unfortunately, the facility has a history of injuring women, and while the facility waits for its court date, it is able to operate without a license. As Operation Rescue has reported, Women’s Med Center has had to call 911 for several patients and even committed an abortion on a woman who was too impaired by drugs to actually agree to the abortion. The owner of the facility, Martin Haskell, is the man behind the creation of the D&X “partial-birth abortion” and has also failed to report possible sexual abuse of minors as young as 12. Reporting is required by law.

Women’s Med Center had asked the Ohio Supreme Court to hear its case and reverse the Health Department’s decision after the 2nd Ohio District Court of Appeals sided against the facility in the spring. Women’s Med Center has been open nearly three decades, but when the Ohio General Assembly began to require that ambulatory surgical facilities have written transfer agreements with local hospitals in case of emergencies, the abortion facility began to have issues. According to Cleveland.com, the facility briefly held an agreement with a local hospital in 2002 but lost it and was unable to secure another agreement with a hospital.

READ: Ohio abortion facility botches abortion for second time in four weeks

From 2008 to 2011, the facility’s license was renewed consistently after the Health Department approved the variance the facility had applied for. But in 2015, a new Health Department director denied the variance retroactively to 2012 and the Health Department revoked the clinic’s license. Since then, Women’s Med Center has been appealing while operating with an expired license and injuring several women in the meantime.

If Women’s Med Center fails in federal court, they may have to close for good, which Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis told Cleveland.com he thinks will happen. “Women’s Med Center is on borrowed time right now,” he said.

The abortion industry claims that rules such as transfer agreements with local hospitals are unnecessary and create a barrier to abortion; however, this rule is vital to keeping women safe. When a woman is injured by an abortionist and the abortion facility is ill-equipped to help her, there must be a hospital where she can be admitted. Without a transfer agreement, emergency room doctors are at a disadvantage, having little to no background on the patient’s condition or injuries. Injuries such as perforated uterus are quite common in second-trimester abortions and are life-threatening. In addition, if a woman has trouble breathing, begins have seizures, or is hemorrhaging, abortion facilities are simply unable to provide her proper care. They exist for one purpose — abortion — not women’s health.

“Like” Live Action News on Facebook for more pro-life news and commentary!

What is Live Action News?

Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective. Learn More

Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.

GUEST ARTICLES: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated. (See here for Open License Agreement.) Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!



To Top