The only abortion facility committing surgical abortions in Savannah, Georgia, has closed after operating for over 40 years.
A representative for the Savannah Medical Clinic told Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) that they saw their last patient after Roe v. Wade was overturned, even though abortion remains legal in Georgia. The website confirmed the news. “After 40 years of serving Coastal Georgia in providing abortion services, Savannah Medical Clinic is sad to announce we have closed our office and are no longer taking appointments,” the message read. “We thank you, the women of Savannah, and the surrounding communities, for trusting us with your healthcare over these many years.”
Vivienne Kerley-de la Cruz, the Georgia campaigns director at Planned Parenthood Southeast, told the Savannah Morning News that Planned Parenthood facilities will be happy to fill the void left behind. “Anytime that a healthcare provider closes, that has a huge impact on the community that it serves,” she said. “I think it’s important to note that Planned Parenthood is still here to serve folks in coastal Georgia. Our clinic in Savannah is open to taking appointments if you need care.”
Coco Papy, who serves on the policy board of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates, further spread falsehoods and misinformation in her statement to GPB, claiming late-term abortions are almost always medically necessary.
“When you’re having [abortion] in the 17th, 18th, or 19th week, no one is choosing to be in those situations,” Papy said. “That is someone who is seeking medical care who has probably got a nursery picked out, who has got a name picked out. That is a person who is in a situation where something went very, very wrong, where there has been a medical anomaly or something is unattached from the uterus. Something horrible has happened. I would not wish that upon my worst enemy.”
READ: Where does your state stand on abortion after Roe?
A 1988 Guttmacher study found that just two percent (2%) of women who had abortions did so because of a health problem with the baby. More than 20 years later, a 2013 study (also published by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute) said, “[D]ata suggest that most women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment.” Pro-abortion researcher Diana Greene Foster stated, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service, that abortions for fetal abnormalities “make up a small minority of later abortion.” And a 2010 paper from Julia Steinberg, of the pro-abortion Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, said, “Research suggests that the overwhelming majority of women having later abortions do so for reasons other than fetal anomaly (Drey et al., 2006; Finer et al., 2005, 2006; Foster et al., 2008).”
Additionally, many abortion facilities are kept in filthy conditions and are largely unregulated — putting women in danger every time they walk through the doors. Abortion is an intentional act of violence, which deliberately takes a human life, and it is never medically necessary. And women almost never undergo late-term abortions due to medical or health reasons.
The closure of this, or any abortion facility, is a victory for women’s safety and preborn lives alike.
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