In 2011, after Pennsylvania’s Kermit Gosnell and his disgusting and dangerous “House of Horrors” abortion clinic first came to national attention due to a drug raid, some states felt compelled to look at their own abortion facilities. In the case of Illinois, what they found was complete and utter neglect. When Illinois decided to inspect its licensed abortion clinics between 2011 and 2014, it discovered that 40% of them had gone 14 and 17 years without health inspections, 26.7% 9-13 years, and 20% 5-7 years. Its five Planned Parenthood clinics were unlicensed and therefore not required to be inspected.
The Illinois inspections found 193 code violations in 13 of 14 clinics. Two clinics were shut down on an emergency basis. One of these clinics, the Women’s Aid Clinic had multiple violations including unsanitary conditions in the operating areas, expired medications on the anesthesia cart, no supervising registered nurse, failure to perform CPR on a woman who later died after her abortion, and the storage of 8 aborted fetuses, medications, and 3 frozen TV dinners all in the same refrigerator. Co-owner Larissa Rowansky complained that this surprise inspection after 15 years was unfair. She also claimed that the patient didn’t need CPR because she was speaking to emergency workers when she was taken to a hospital after her abortion. The patient “lied about her condition,” Rowansky added, saying the woman had bronchial pneumonia and was too ill to have an abortion. One would expect a qualified doctor, or a registered nurse (none was present,) to have noticed the pneumonia prior to the procedure, but certainly qualified doctors or nurses would not have treated her post-procedure symptoms, difficulty breathing and coughing up blood and fluid, by having her breathe into a paper bag. The patient’s estate was awarded $555,500 in the lawsuit that followed. Rowansky refused to pay the $36,000 in inspection citation fines, declared bankruptcy, and reopened a ‘new’ clinic soon after under the slightly changed name Women’s Aid Center, which somehow allowed her to pay only $77 of the original fines.
As I pointed out, Planned Parenthood continued to avoid inspections by remaining unlicensed. However, some insight into the lack of safety of Illinois PP clinics can be found in these reports of malpractice.
In 1/3/13, Illinois Planned Parenthood unlicensed abortion provider was sued for medical malpractice following the death of a 24-year-old woman after an abortion. Court documents state the clinic failed to transport this hemorrhaging woman to the hospital until 5 hours after her abortion where she died 11 hours after her scheduled abortion as a result of a torn uterus. She left behind a one-year-old son. On 1/24/14, a settlement agreement was reached for $2 million.
On 2/13/09, Illinois Planned Parenthood unlicensed abortion provider was sued for medical malpractice. The lawsuit charged the patient died as a result of a torn uterus during the abortion procedure. On 1/23/12, a settlement was reached for $245,000.
On 4/3/08, Illinois Planned Parenthood unlicensed abortion provider was sued for medical malpractice. On 3/11/10, an undisclosed settlement was reached.
On 5/18/04, Illinois Planned Parenthood unlicensed abortion provider was sued for medical malpractice. The lawsuit charged the patient suffered a ruptured uterus requiring a subtotal hysterectomy. On 4/14/09, an undisclosed settlement was reached.
On 12/17/02, Illinois Planned Parenthood unlicensed abortion provider was sued for medical malpractice following the death of a female patient. The lawsuit charges the clinic failed to remove all fetal parts from the patient’s uterus causing severe pain and death. On 12/08/06, a settlement agreement was reached for $4 million.
On 11/13/00, Illinois Planned Parenthood unlicensed abortion provider was sued for medical malpractice. The lawsuit charges surgical tools were improperly used, tearing the right uterine artery. As a result, the female patient suffered amputation of the uterus and cervix and permanent loss of reproductive capabilities. On 5/15/01, an undisclosed settlement was reached.
Another warning sign of the risks of the abortion business in Illinois is the egregious underreporting of the number of abortions, the number and type of complications, and even an accounting of abortion providers themselves. The Chicago Tribune investigated poor reporting of abortions and complications in Illinois and found state regulators had documented between 7,000 and 17,000 fewer abortions a year than an abortion rights research group called the Guttmacher Institute counted. Almost 4,000 reports of abortion complications involving Illinois residents in 2009 were missing the required description. Also, regulators collect reports from only 26 providers, but the Guttmacher Institute has identified 37 providers in the state.
Health care providers who intentionally fail to submit accurate and complete reports are committing a criminal act, and a failure to report abortion complications is grounds for revoking their licenses, but the Department of Public Health has never sought disciplinary action against any provider. Stanley Henshaw, a Guttmacher researcher, has explored abortion reporting problems and “lax enforcement” across the country and theorizes it is the shoddiest operators who are not reporting the abortions they perform.” I theorize that it is also possible that even the best of these providers fail to report their worst outcomes. Maurice Stevenson, whose wife died in 2002 from infection following an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Chicago was outraged, saying, “These procedures, complications and deaths should be public record.” Planned Parenthood claimed that it was diligent in complying, but was unable to confirm whether it had reported Stevenson’s wife’s death because its records were in storage. (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-06-16/news/ct-met-abortion-reporting-20110615_1_abortion-providers-fewer-abortions-national-abortion-federation)
The combination of being unlicensed and uninspected, along with the unanswered question of the degree of underreporting of complications or even deaths, makes Planned Parenthood of Illinois a risky choice for women. Go someplace else for your healthcare or procedure and recommend that others do the same for their own safety.
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