Abortion clinic inspection bill sponsor: instruments not sterilized properly

An Illinois bill requiring an annual abortion clinic inspection has been prompted by documentation that clinics and Planned Parenthood centers are rarely if ever inspected.

Bill sponsor Rep. Sheri Jesiel said that some Illinois abortion clinics are unsanitary.

“We know from some of the ones we have inspected,” said Jesiel , “that there’s evidence of instruments that are not being sterilized properly, procedures that don’t go well, and then you have emergency crews that can’t get in the facility.”

WICS has the story:

Recently, Pro-life Action League uploaded a 911 emergency call from the National Health Care abortion clinic in Peoria, Illinois.

“We need somebody very quickly,” said Margaret Vanduyn, the director of the abortion clinic, who made the call according to the pro-life group.

According to Operation Rescue , abortionists who work at the clinic include, Yogendra Shah, Mandy Gittler, a Planned Parenthood abortionist who was responsible for fatally botching Tonya Reaves’ second-trimester abortion in 2012, and Allen Palmer, an elderly “retired” Missouri abortionist that also currently works for Planned Parenthood in Overland Park, Kansas.

The pro-life group has the complete 911 call available here:

Illinois is the state where 24-year-old Tonya Reaves sought out an abortion at Planned Parenthood. Read how Tonya’s Planned Parenthood abortion cost her life – here.

Operation Rescue has documented at least eight abortion-related medical emergencies at Illinois abortion facilities that required hospital intervention in the past three years, including one patient death.

In January, Life Dynamics posted a blog about a report published by Illinois Right to Life which documented serious health violations and regulatory loopholes in abortion clinics that endanger women.

A review by The Associated Press later found some Illinois facilities had gone up to 15 years without an inspection until then. Two Illinois clinics closed because of health code violations when the inspections were stepped up, according the St Louis Post-Dispatch reports..

Read that here.

HB3274, which amends the Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center Act. reads:

Provides for the licensure of pregnancy termination specialty centers. Defines “pregnancy termination specialty center” as a facility that performs 50 or more surgical abortions in one calendar year. Provides that the definition of “ambulatory surgical treatment center” does not include a pregnancy termination specialty center. Contains certain requirements for pregnancy termination specialty centers. Provides that certain requirements pertaining to ambulatory surgical treatment centers do not apply to pregnancy termination specialty centers. Provides that the provisions of the Act apply to pregnancy termination specialty centers, but if a provision of the Act is in conflict with a provision concerning pregnancy termination specialty centers, then the provision concerning pregnancy termination specialty centers shall control. Requires the Department of Public Health to annually conduct at least one unannounced inspection of each pregnancy termination specialty center. Contains provisions requiring the notification of patients if the Department finds a violation of the Act that could threaten patients’ health.

In addition to requiring annual inspections, the St Louis Post-Dispatch explains that the measure seeks to expand the number of clinics subject to them.

Currently, the state regulates two types: “pregnancy termination specialty centers,” which are limited to first-trimester abortions, and ambulatory surgical treatment centers, which do a number of other procedures. The bill would add a third type, those operated by groups like Planned Parenthood, which are not licensed or inspected by the state, but rather treated like doctor’s offices.

Currently, the state regulates two types: “pregnancy termination specialty centers,” which are limited to first-trimester abortions, and ambulatory surgical treatment centers, which do a number of other procedures. The bill would add a third type, those operated by groups like Planned Parenthood, which are not licensed or inspected by the state, but rather treated like doctor’s offices.