Yesterday, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed House Bill (HB) 1411 to eliminate all state funding of any organization that performs abortions. The new law that takes effect July 1st also bans sale of aborted fetus remains and enacts requirements for fetus disposal. Planned Parenthood, which is spending about as much money fighting the legislation as it receives annually from the state, may contest the law in court as unconstitutional.
“Abortionists will finally be held to the same standard as all other physicians who perform invasive procedures in a non-hospital setting by the requirement to have admitting privileges or a transfer agreement with a nearby hospital. It is incomprehensible that opponents suggest the bill makes women less safe.” -- Ingrid Delgado, Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops
For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
State funding of abortion was already prohibited in Florida, but the law signed by the Republican governor also cut off funding for preventive services at clinics that also provide abortions.
The law appeared to be aimed at Planned Parenthood, which said on Friday that it could mean the end of birth control, cancer screenings, tests for diseases and other services for thousands of low-income women in Florida.
Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement that the new law seemed “designed to rip health care away from those most at risk.”
Starting July 1, abortion clinics will be required to have admitting privileges or transfer agreements with a nearby hospital. They also will face annual inspections by the state as part of a law that sponsor Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said is about ensuring women’s safety.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which has an ongoing lawsuit over a mandatory 24-hour abortion waiting period passed last year, said it hasn’t decided whether it will sue the state over the new law. The organization did decry Scott’s decision in a statement by executive director Howard Simon.
The law redefines the trimesters of a pregnancy, validating claims by state regulators last summer alleging Florida’s Planned Parenthood sites violated their licenses. And the funding cuts could affect six Planned Parenthood clinics.
The bill, which passed largely along party lines, restricts state agencies, local governments and Medicaid managed-care plans from contracting with organizations that own, operate or are affiliated with clinics that perform elective abortions. Duval County is one of the health departments with a Planned Parenthood contract that may be affected by that provision.
Senate sponsor Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said on the Senate floor that the bill would likely close six of Florida’s 65 abortion clinics.
Additionally, the bill changes the definition of a first trimester to the period from fertilization through the end of the 11th week of pregnancy. That’s a different definition than the state has used in the past, but it’s consistent with an administrative action last year by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which alleged that five clinics — including three Planned Parenthood facilities — performed second-trimester abortions without the proper licenses. Clinics have filed challenges, contending that the state changed the definition of a first trimester without notice.
“Would I like a bill that outlaws abortion? Sure. But that’s not what this bill does. Because that’s unconstitutional. Because we’re allowed to have a woman’s right to choose," Stargel argued prior to the bill passing the Senate.
Meanwhile, the Florida Family Policy Council is claiming a major victory. Last year the council’s John Stemberger criticized Governor Rick Scott for not banning state funding from flowing to Planned Parenthood after false accusations last summer that planned parenthood was illegally selling fetal remains caused a national uproar.
“We would have liked for him by executive order to de-fund Planned Parenthood without having to go through this process," Stemberger said. "But we are pleased he signed this today. He did the right thing, and so we’re happy about that. We wish he would have exercised leadership, but he followed the leadership of the legislature and the same result has occurred.”
Florida’s Planned Parenthood Clinics say they’ll weather the coming storm. Public dollars are already prohibited from funding abortions, but the bill would cut off reimbursements for routine preventive services as well if they are done by an abortion provider.
The law, which takes effect July 1, requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, requires annual licensure inspections for clinics and bans the purchase, sell or transfer of fetal remains. The law upgrades the failure to properly dispose of fetal tissue from a second-degree misdemeanor to a first-degree misdemeanor.
A similar law in Texas, which women’s health activists say has helped shut down several abortion clinics there, is under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. During a debate on the Senate floor earlier this year, sponsor Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said the bill would likely close six of Florida's 65 abortion clinics.
[Last year, Gov.] Scott’s investigation . . . did cite three clinics for performing abortions after the first trimester. Planned Parenthood disputed those allegations, and the case is still pending in court. A separate criminal investigation prompted by House Republicans turned up nothing.
The media entirely missed about 2,000 Catholics quietly surrounding Planned Parenthood in Stapleton, Colorado ten days ago with Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila leading a Eucharistic procession seven times around the murderous clinic praying for mothers, unborn children, and people who work there.
“Silence is an essential part of the procession as we unite our voices with those who have been silenced by abortion.” -- Father Scott Bailey
The many enthusiastic pro-lifers who joined the procession began to pour into the street as the event began, according to the report. Karna Swanson, communications director for the archdiocese, said the turn-out was much larger than they expected.
“We were honestly expecting 500-800 people,” Swanson said. “Three times that number showed up. This provided a bit of a challenge for us logistically, as 1,800 people don’t exactly fit on the sidewalk of a city block.”
Swanson continued, “We wanted to make sure everyone who wanted to participate could, but we also didn’t want to give any reason for the police department to shut the event down.” Fortunately, local off-duty police were there to ensure the crowd didn’t impede traffic, according to the report.
“It was truly a moment of grace, a moment of blessing, a moment of praying to our Lord that hearts may be changed,” Archbishop Aquila said. “It was wonderful to see how many turned out today.”
To ensure the sacred nature of the Eucharistic procession, the archdiocesan liturgy office set the tone for the event and organized the logistics of the transferring the Eucharist to the site, in addition to providing prayer books for those in attendance.
Seminarians from St. John Vianney Theological Seminary led the people in the hymns and prayers each time the procession passed around the building. They also assisted with crowd management.
Families with young children were well-represented in the crowd, as well as religious sisters. The Nashville Dominicans, the Sisters of Life and the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo were all present. Dozens of seminarians were on hand from both of the seminaries of Denver, as well as many members of the clergy.
After a challenge from pro-life lawyers, police in Hollywood, Florida now claim they never told Christians that the government would support attempts by the local abortion clinic to force eviction of praying pro-lifers from the public sidewalk at the clinic.
"It's not loud prayer. It's simply praying for the unborn child and for women." -- John Hickey, Volunteer, 40 Days for Life Hollywood
Representatives from Hollywood, Florida's 40 Days for Life chapter say that five times over the past three years, the group has, successfully and without incident, held prayer vigils outside A Woman's Center of Hollywood, an abortion provider located on Hollywood Boulevard. During such vigils, group members pray and try to educate women about alternatives to abortion.
But on February 10, three group members claim, a Hollywood Police officer ordered them off a sidewalk, violating their constitutional rights of free speech and assembly. While they are now demanding an apology from the police department, the department claims the protesters had actually been trespassing on private property.
. . . The group provided documentation that shows it applied for a permit to assemble outside the center from February 10 to March 20.
The group says three or four people were praying outside the center for 12 hours a day, each day.
Thomas More Society attorneys have sent a letter to the City of Hollywood, Florida, and the Hollywood Police Department challenging a police officer’s recent order forbidding pro-lifers from standing on a public sidewalk in front of a clinic that performs abortions, apparently at the clinic’s request. On the first day of the Spring 40 Days for Life prayer vigil outside A Woman’s Center of Hollywood abortion facility, Officer Del Castillo of the Hollywood Police Department told pro-life volunteers that they could not stand on the public sidewalk in front of the abortion clinic. Thomas More Society contends that this demand is a blatant violation of the pro-lifers’ First Amendment rights.
This is the third year that volunteers participating in the 40 Days for Life Hollywood prayer vigils have had a peaceful presence on the public property – including both the sidewalk and swale (grassy area between the street and sidewalk) – outside A Woman’s Center. However, last week, on the first day of this years’ campaign, Officer Del Castillo of the Hollywood Police Department told the pro-lifers that they could not stand on the public sidewalk because the clinic had said they did not want the pro-lifers there. He stated that the abortion clinic has the right to determine who may and may not stand on the sidewalk in front of its building. He implied that if this order was not obeyed, pro-lifers could be ticketed.
"Forbidding pro-lifers from standing on public property violates 75 years of clear Supreme Court precedent that gives broad protections to those engaging in free speech in public places," said Corrina Konczal, Thomas More Society Associate Counsel. "We are confident that, once the city and Chief of Police are made aware of this officer's unconstitutional ban, that they will reverse this order and assure our clients of their rights to publicly pray and hold signs on any sidewalk in the city."
. . . The attorneys' missive notes specifically that "Officer Del Castillo's order is a clearly unconstitutional restriction of our clients' freedom of speech in a traditional public forum – a public sidewalk." The letter requests a response from the city and police department by this Friday.
"We should not be banned from the public sidewalk just because we're pro-life," said John Hickey, a 40 Days for Life Hollywood volunteer. "We're exercising our First Amendment rights by holding a peaceful prayer vigil to help women and unborn children. Hopefully, Officer Del Castillo's supervisors will reverse his incorrect order so that our free speech will be respected for the rest of the 40 Days vigil."
In accordance with Missouri law, state health officials prepared to revoke Planned Parenthood's license to perform abortions in Columbia because abortionist Colleen McNicholas lost her hospital admitting privileges, but yesterday U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey blocked the revocation to allow the clinic until May 1, 2016 to reestablish its hospital privileges.
After national anti-abortion activists released undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the handling of fetal tissue, Missouri Republican lawmakers began investigating abortion in the state. During those investigations, a panel of [University of Missouri] Health Care staff voted in September to discontinue the clinical privileges granted to Dr. Colleen McNicholas, ending the clinic's ability to provide abortions.
U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and mid-Missouri [PPKM] after the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said in September it would revoke the clinic's abortion license Dec. 1. Laughrey had issued a temporary restraining order, which was scheduled to expire Monday.
The Missouri Attorney General's office is reviewing the ruling, spokeswoman Nanci Gonder said.
The clinic, however, still cannot perform abortions until a physician affiliated with it has hospital privileges. That makes the St. Louis facility the only legal abortion clinic in the state.
To perform abortions, Planned Parenthood must be licensed as an ambulatory surgical center. Planned Parenthood argued that the department did not give it the same opportunity to correct the problem that has been extended to other surgical centers. Under state law, centers informed of a deficiency must develop and implement a plan of correction, approved by the department.
“The Equal Protection Clause prohibits the government from irrationally discriminating between similarly situated entities,” Laughery wrote in her ruling. “Having reviewed the evidentiary record, the Court finds that it is likely that DHSS treated PPKM more harshly than other similarly situated institutions and thereby violated the Equal Protection Clause.”
Sen. Kurt Schaefer, also a candidate for attorney general, led the fight to revoke the license, and Laughery said Schaefer’s vocal involvement in the effort may have undermined it.
“The record also reflects that PPKM was treated disparately as a result of animus toward PPKM,” Laughery wrote. “Mr. [John] Langston… who has responsibility over ASCs at DHSS and whose staff would normally be in charge of generating notices of deficiencies and overseeing plans of correction submitted by ASCs… suggested that DHSS feared retaliation from Senator Schaefer if it did not act in accordance with the senator’s goals, as Senator Schaefer both chaired the Senate Interim Committee on Sanctity of Life and sat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.”
Yesterday, Ohio officials announced results of a five-month investigation finding that all of the Planned Parenthood abortion clinics violate Ohio Administrative Code 3701-47-05 by cooking babies and then sending them to a common landfill. Abortionist spokespersons responded saying that their handling of "waste tissue" meets the "humane manner" requirements of the law.
“Disposing of aborted fetuses from an abortion by sending them to a landfill is callous and completely inhumane.” -- Mike DeWine, Ohio Attorney General
The AG’s investigation focused on three facilities: Bedford Heights, Cincinnati and Columbus. DeWine launched the investigation to determine whether the facilities were selling fetal tissue, or abortion trafficking, in violation of Ohio law.
While the investigation did not find that fetal tissue was sold by any of the Planned Parenthood affiliates, the disposal methods used violate Ohio Administrative Code 3701-47-05, adopted in 1975, which requires that a “fetus shall be disposed of in a humane manner,” DeWine said.
According to his findings, all three affiliates sent fetal remains to companies which disposed of the fetuses in landfills.
According to the Attorney General's office, the three Planned Parenthood offices that perform abortions in the state contract with Stericycle, a medical and pharmaceutical waste management company, and [Marietta-based] Accu Medical Waste, a medical waste management disposal company.
Stericycle did not return CNN's calls. And a person answering the phone at Accu Medical Waste hung up on a CNN reporter.
Joe Schmansky, assistant attorney general for charitable law, said investigators found such a ["steam-cooking" pressure chamber] disposal system had been in place since at least January 2014, the earliest date of the records they studied.
"I think it will come as a shock to Ohioans to find out that fetuses are being cooked and then they're being put in a landfill and they're going to be mixed in with yesterday's garbage," DeWine said.
DeWine said his office, in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Health, would likely file court papers by Monday seeking an injunction for Planned Parenthood to dispose of fetal remains humanely. DeWine suggested "humane" disposal methods could include burial or cremation, though he said he didn't want to provide an exact definition.
A Planned Parenthood official defended the way her organization disposes of such remains and said DeWine's allegations were politically motivated.
State investigators found that Planned Parenthood affiliates in Columbus and Cincinnati contracted with Accu-Medical Waste Co., while a Bedford Heights clinic near Cleveland sent fetal remains to Stericyle, Inc. However, Stericyle officials said it was company policy not to accept fetal remains; DeWine said he did not know where those remains went.
Accu-Medical Waste confirmed to investigators that fetal remains and other biological waste are placed in auto-clave devices, which use high temperature and pressure to kill germs and infectious matter. The material is then taken to an unspecified landfill in Kentucky.
[Ohio Right to Life president Mike] Gonidakis said his organization is working with three Republican state lawmakers, Reps. Robert McColley of Napoleon and Kyle Koehler of Springfield, and Sen. Joe Uecker of Miami Township, make improper disposal a first-degree misdemeanor, add more oversight for humane burial and cremation, and require providers to inform women seeking an abortion about how the fetus would be disposed.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has ordered the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to terminate further payments to the state's Planned Parenthood clinics because their "consistent submission of improper billings should disqualify these Planned Parenthood providers from participation in the Oklahoma Medicaid program."
For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
The governor announced Thursday that she's asking the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to terminate contracts with Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma in Oklahoma City and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland in Tulsa.
Fallin said the authority reviewed payments to the two affiliates and found billing error rates of about 20 percent for Oklahoma City and 14 percent for Tulsa, though no improper use of state Medicaid funds was discovered.
"These results are alarming," the two-term Republican governor said in a letter to Nico Gomez, CEO of the authority. "More than one in every seven bills submitted for payment to your agency by these providers are inaccurately coded or insufficiently documented. These errors result in overbilling to the Oklahoma taxpayer."
Fallin asked Oklahoma's health department on Thursday to terminate its contracts with the group after an official review of the state’s two affiliates found billing error rates of 20 and 14 percent.
Oklahoma reimbursed Planned Parenthood for about $100,000 worth of claims in 2015, totaling about 20,000 patient visits. In 2014, the state paid $200,000 for about 36,000 patient visits.
The move would impact six clinics in and around Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Fallin argued that ending the Medicaid contracts — which would force the clinics to accept fewer patients if not close altogether — would not impact a woman’s ability to choose her own provider, citing 120 other healthcare providers in the state.
“There are only two Planned Parenthood affiliates in the state operating in about six metropolitan locations in Oklahoma City and Tulsa,” according to [Fallin's] letter. “However, there are more than 120 other metropolitan and rural providers available … all of whom provide a broader spectrum of health care services than Planned Parenthood’s limited metropolitan locations.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been involved in several lawsuits alleging that Planned Parenthood affiliates overbilled Medicaid, praised Fallin’s actions Thursday in a press release.
“Governor Fallin is right to recognize that taxpayer money should go to fund local community health centers, not to subsidize a scandal-ridden, billion-dollar abortion business,” said ADF Legal Counsel Kellie Fiedorek. “Oklahomans shouldn’t be forced to give their money to Planned Parenthood, which has a long track record of abusive and potentially fraudulent billing practices, not to mention that it has also been caught in authenticated undercover videos trafficking aborted babies’ body parts and has repeatedly failed to report the sexual abuse of girls. That tax money should be redirected to trusted health care providers.”
[Gov. Fallin] also requested ending contracts with similar providers found to have a high billing error rate, have had past findings of over-billing or associate with other providers who do not adhere to the standards that are required to be granted access to public funds.
According to the news release, the state paid the two Planned Parenthood affiliates $100,145 for almost 20,000 claims in 2015, with the total payment being slightly more than $1 million because the majority of Planned Parenthood services qualify for a 90 percent federal match. Last year, Oklahoma paid $204,631 for more than 35,000 claims, making the federal matching funds slightly more than $2 million.
“We have a joint responsibility to the citizens in Oklahoma to hold providers to high standards that are imposed to allow an entity to receive taxpayer dollars,” Fallin wrote. “The recent behavior of the Planned Parenthood affiliates clearly demonstrates that these providers do not value the opportunity to serve their fellow Oklahomans with taxpayer funds. Indeed whether willful or simply negligent, the consistent submission of improper billings should disqualify these Planned Parenthood providers from participation in the Oklahoma Medicaid program.”
Planned Parenthood and two other abortion clinics face fines by the South Carolina public health agency for violations of regulations concerning the disposal of aborted fetuses (a.k.a. dead babies).
“Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our patients.” -- Jenny Black, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic
Catherine Heigel, head of the Department of Health and Environmental Control, said the agency proposed fines ranging from $2,200 to $21,150 for the state’s three abortion clinics and two waste-disposal companies after DHEC found the clinics were violating state regulations. The cited violations include paperwork issues and fetuses being sterilized with steam and taken to a landfill, rather than incinerated as required by law.
Planned Parenthood has previously called the investigations part of a national witch hunt by conservative Republicans.
State officials also are looking into whether Medicaid money is being used for abortions.
A report released by the Legislative Audit Council in May found the [DHEC] agency hadn’t consistently inspected the clinics as required by law and had imposed no penalties for violations, with the exception of an expired license.
Heigel, who took the DHEC’s helm a month later, said Thursday the agency has better trained staff and changed how inspections are conducted, including joint inspections by the agency’s infectious waste and health divisions.
“We are substantially better positioned to effectively regulate these facilities,” she said. “At the end of the day, our role as regulator is to protect the health and safety of patients who use these facilities.”
As for the Sept. 11 suspension orders, DHEC lifted sanctions Sept. 28 against the Greenville Women’s Clinic after it addressed its six violations, paid a $2,750 fine and submitted proof of staff training. Planned Parenthood paid a $7,500 penalty for 21 cited violations and submitted correction plans by the Sept. 28 deadline but asked DHEC to reconsider some of the violations, putting the suspension on hold. The cited violations included incomplete staff records and abortions performed sooner than 60 minutes after an ultrasound.
Maine Attorney General Janet Mills filed a civil rights lawsuit against Lisbon Pastor Brian Ingalls for peacefully preaching a pro-life message outside a Planned Parenthood facility in Portland. Abortionists appealed to the pro-abortion Democrat AG saying that pregnant mothers inside their facility could hear the pastor's concerns about “murdering babies, aborted babies’ blood and Jesus.”
"All patients have the right to receive medical services free of 'the cacophony of political protests,' in the words of the United States Supreme Court," Mills, a Democrat, said in a statement. "While protesters have every right to say anything they want in a public area in the vicinity of a medical facility, they are not permitted to disrupt another citizen's healthcare services."
Maine law protects the right of any person to receive "safe and effective" medical services without disruptions caused by loud noises.
According to the complaint, police warned Ingalls to keep his voice down so that he would not be heard inside, but he continued yelling anyway.
The lawsuit would prevent Ingalls, a regular protester at the clinic, from coming within 50 feet (15 m) of the facility.
Attorney General Janet Mills filed the complaint against Brian Ingalls, 26, under the state's civil rights act. Mills said he violated the rights of patients at the Portland facility on Oct. 23 when the sound of his voice directed to the second floor disrupted counseling sessions between staff and patients.
Ingalls, of Lisbon, declined to comment when reached by email. His attorney, Erin Kuenzig, said it's a "baseless lawsuit" filed to circumvent a U.S. Supreme Court ruling about protester buffer zones. . . . The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that similar buffer zones in Massachusetts violated free speech rights.
"They're trying to claim that it's some kind of safety concern that he was preaching the Bible on a public sidewalk," Kuenzig said. "Just completely meritless."
The suit filed in Cumberland County Superior Court alleges that Ingalls frequently is a protester at the Portland Planned Parenthood location and on Oct. 23 “was yelling up toward the second floor of the building at 443 Congress St. about murdering babies, aborted babies’ blood and Jesus.”
Erin Kuenzig is with the Thomas More Law Center, which is representing Ingalls in this suit. She said that Mills’ suit is an attempt to rehash a prior legal battle the law center fought against Portland when the city tried and ultimately failed to implement a 39-foot buffer zone for protests around Planned Parenthood’s Congress Street location.
“The complaint that was filed was completely meritless and just an attempt to circumvent the court ruling issued in October,” Kuenzig said by phone Tuesday. “This is essentially another buffer zone. … It’s clear that Planned Parenthood doesn’t like what Mr. Ingalls is saying, and he’s simply a Christian who is preaching from the Bible.”
Kuenzig said one flaw in the complaint is that there is no guideline about how loud someone can protest.
“There’s no way to judge that,” she said. “This is just another way to try to silence pro-life advocates outside the abortion clinic.”
As a result of a consent judgment approved by Judge Nancy Torresen of the U.S. District Court in Portland, Maine, the city of Portland will pay legal fees of pro-lifers who were barred from public property near the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic by an unconstitutional ordinance.
“This judgment is significant because it is a formal and binding legal recognition that the city of Portland violated the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights through its ‘buffer zone’ ordinance. There was no legitimate basis for banning the plaintiffs and other law-abiding citizens from using the public sidewalk surrounding Planned Parenthood’s abortion clinic during the company’s business hours.” -- Erin Kuenzig, Attorney with the Thomas More Law Center in Michigan
The city of Portland has settled a lawsuit filed by anti-abortion activists challenging an ordinance that established a 39-foot no-protest zone around a clinic providing abortions.
The suit alleged that the ordinance, responsible for creating the buffer zone around a Planned Parenthood location's entrance, violated their free speech rights. A 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling established that a similar no-protest zone in Massachusetts was in violation of free speech rights.
The Portland City Council repealed the ordinance in question soon after, but a judge determined that protesters could still seek damages for when the buffer zone was in effect.
Jessica Grondin, spokeswoman for the city of Portland, said the City Council “acted swiftly” by repealing the city ordinance at its first meeting after the Supreme Court ruled in the Massachusetts case.
An attorney for the activists – Daniel and Marguerite Fitzgerald of Shapleigh and their children and Richmond resident Leslie Sneddon – said last year, after the city repealed its buffer zone ordinance, that they wanted to continue the federal court litigation against the city to set a precedent.
The Supreme Court unanimously struck down the 35-foot protest-free zone outside abortion clinics in Massachusetts Thursday [June 2014], declaring it an unconstitutional restraint on the free-speech rights of protesters.
While the court was unanimous in the overall outcome, [Chief Justice John] Roberts joined with the four liberal justices to strike down the buffer zone on narrower grounds than the other, more conservative justices wanted.
In a separate opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia criticized Roberts’ opinion as carrying forward “this court’s practice of giving abortion-rights advocates a pass when it comes to suppressing the free-speech rights of their opponents.”
Scalia said state and local governments around the country would continue to be able to “restrict antiabortion speech without fear of rigorous constitutional review.” Joined by Justices Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas, Scalia dissented from the Colorado decision and said Thursday he would have overturned it.
A federal judge on Monday declared most aspects of a lawsuit against the city of Portland moot, pointing out that the abortion clinic buffer zone being challenged in the lawsuit was repealed by the city months ago.
But U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Torresen stopped short of dismissing the lawsuit in its entirety, leaving alive a motion by the plaintiffs, a group of anti-abortion protesters, to seek nominal damages from the city for the period of time in which they weren’t allowed to demonstrate near the clinic on Congress Street.
City officials and Planned Parenthood representatives said the buffer zone protected the civil rights of patients to access health care services, and they accused the anti-abortion demonstrators of being intimidating and belligerent to individuals approaching the facility.
The protesters argued the buffer zone infringed upon their constitutionally protected right to free speech. The demonstrators said allegations of aggressive behavior were overblown, as evidenced by the fact that police never issued them any summonses for impeding public ways or disorderly conduct.
Adding to public outrage of abortionists peddling aborted babies, an investigation conducted by the South Carolina public health agency has resulted in suspension of the license of two of the state's three abortion clinics, which may lead to closures, due to numerous statutory violations as well as possible criminality for “callous treatment of human life” including improper disposal of waste babies.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control [DHEC] issued suspension orders for Planned Parenthood's Columbia clinic and the Greenville Women's Clinic, citing violations found during recent inspections. . . . The Columbia clinic was cited for 21 violations and the Greenville clinic for six.
DHEC also issued "notices of alleged violation" to two companies that transport waste for the suspended clinics. Officials with Stericycle and MedSharps have 15 days to meet with agency staff to discuss the allegations and possible fines. Allegations include insufficient documentation of waste disposal practices and improper disposal through steam sterilization.
Attorney General Alan Wilson, who announced last month that his office is looking into Medicaid payments to the clinics, said he's reviewing DHEC's findings with state law enforcement to determine whether to pursue a criminal investigation.
Both facilities have until Sept. 28 to come into compliance or they will be shut down.
The review of the state’s three abortion clinics came after [Gov. Nikki] Haley instructed DHEC’s chief Catherine Heigel on Aug. 18 to review the policies and the practices of the state’s abortion clinics, while making those owned by or affiliated with Planned Parenthood a priority.
Most recently, a legislative panel voted to investigate the state agencies that have dealings with Planned Parenthood because Rep. Donna Hicks, R-Boiling Springs, argued some like DHEC had not been regulating the state’s abortion clinics properly.
. . . [Gov. Nikki] Haley applauded DHEC’s efforts to look into practices and procedures at clinics in Columbia, Greenville and Charleston and to seek help from the State Law Enforcement Division [SLED].
“This is completely unacceptable,” Haley said of the violations.
“I fully support DHEC’s actions, including its referral of the matter to SLED,” Haley’s statement said. “South Carolina is a compassionate state, and we are a state of laws. We will not tolerate law breaking of any kind, particularly as it relates to the callous treatment of human life."
DHEC’s swift action to suspend licenses is unusual for the agency. The department, overseen by a Haley-appointed board, is often criticized for moving too slowly to correct public health problems or stop pollution.
According to records of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, the violations at the Greenville Women’s Clinic included improper disposal of infectious waste, failure to list the names of fathers in eight abortions, permitting an abortion sooner than 60 minutes following an ultrasound, and discrepancies between the drugs listed in the center’s emergency kit and what inspectors actually found.
Planned Parenthood, which operates the Columbia facility, issued a statement saying it would come into compliance and fix the violations. Its statement also expressed surprise at DHEC’s “extreme action” and voiced concern that politics are involved.
[Gov.] Haley ordered the inspections by DHEC on Aug. 18, following the public release of videos secretly recorded by abortion opponents showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the transfer of fetal tissue to medical researchers.
Also Friday, 31 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including three from South Carolina, joined an effort to defund Planned Parenthood. The South Carolina congressmen joining the effort were Rep. Mick Mulvaney, Rep. Trey Gowdy and Rep. Jeff Duncan, all Republicans.
As tens of thousands of people gathered in hundreds of cities across America to protest taxpayer dollars funding Planned Parenthood, the mainstream media covered yesterday's national day of unity as just isolated local events. Meanwhile, the latest undercover video by the Center for Medical Progress exposes Planned Parenthood's sale of intact dead babies.
“We now know that Planned Parenthood not only perpetrates over 300,000 abortions each year, but harvests the organs of the unborn children it destroys. Whether this trafficking is called a sale or the coverage of expenses, PP is compensated for this harvesting.” -- C.J. Doyle, Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
The demonstrations unfolded at about 320 clinics around the nation, according to organizers, with some gatherings drawing a few dozen protesters and others drawing hundreds and perhaps thousands more.
The protests kicked off at 9 a.m. Saturday and included speakers, prayer groups and chants, as well as signs distributed by organizers that said “Planned Parenthood sells baby parts.”
Though the official number of protesters was not immediately available, organizers billed the effort as the largest-ever rally against the health-care provider. Monica Miller, the director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, one of the participating groups, told USA Today that previous protests have drawn thousands of protesters, but hundreds of simultaneous protests have never taken place on the same day.
Protests were held at 14 Michigan sites of Planned Parenthood, part of nationwide protests at 290 locations. A coalition of more than 50 pro-life groups looked to create awareness of abortion and the sale of aborted materials.
Protester Barb Yagley of Troy, campaign director for 40-Days for Life, was at a protest in Ferndale.
“The short-term goal here really is to educate the American public about what abortion actually does to the child that’s within the womb and that it’s not just a blob of tissue, and to ask Planned Parenthood to reform themselves,” Yagley said.
A push to defund Planned Parenthood is underway in Lansing as state Senator Patrick Colbeck of Canton is sponsoring a bill to cut off taxpayer funding.
Tens of thousands of pro-life advocates across the country — perhaps as many as 50-75,000 people in all — protested at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics across the country today. They protested to raise national attention to the massive scandal at Planned Parenthood, where its staff and officials have been caught selling aborted babies and their body parts.
The protests took place in over 350 cities in 47 states and 5 countries — with hundreds of people in many cities and over 6,000 in the Twin Cities in Minnesota alone.
Organizers of the protests say they are the outgrowth of recently released Planned Parenthood expose videos showing the abortion company trafficking in aborted baby body parts and showing a complete disregard for women and unborn children.
While the videos have focused on the Planned Parenthood abortion business, the biotech firm StemExpress, which buys and resells aborted baby body parts from the abortion giant . . .
In the video, Cate Dyer, the CEO of StemExpress, is shown in a lunch meeting with undercover operatives posing as representatives of a biotech firm. Dyer is laughing about how StemExpress purchases fully intact aborted babies from Planned Parenthood. She laughs about how shippers of the aborted babies would give a warning to lab workers to expect such a baby.
“Oh yeah, if you have intact cases — which we’ve done a lot — we sometimes ship those back to our lab in its entirety,” she says.
“Tell the lab its coming,” she laughs about the intact unborn babies. “You know, open the box and go ‘Oh my God,'” Dyer adds.
The controversy over videos purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of body parts from aborted fetuses drew hundreds of people to a protest outside of the group’s Aurora clinic this morning.
Protest organizer Eric Scheidler said he saw people protesting he hadn’t seen in years, and said was easily the largest protest outside of the Aurora clinic since it opened in 2007.
The protesters ranged in age from their teens to their 80s. Living Hope Bible Church of Roselle Associate Pastor Mike Tiberi said the videos showing Planned Parenthood executives discussing the sale of body parts left by abortions make him more determined than ever to see abortion stopped.
Hundreds of abortion opponents protested outside the Boston Planned Parenthood clinic Saturday, bearing crucifixes and graphic images and calling for an end to government funding for the organization.
The Boston demonstration was one of approximately 300 organized across the country. The protests come after pro-life advocates released footage of Planned Parenthood officials discussing the harvesting of fetal tissue.
Planned Parenthood defended itself from what protest organizers say is the largest coordinated day of protest against the group.
Pro-life advocates want an end to public funding for Planned Parenthood. In 2014, the group received over $528.4 million in government dollars.
A crowd of some 200 anti-abortion activists demonstrated outside the offices of Planned Parenthood in San Diego on Saturday morning, calling for the elimination of federal funding to the nonprofit health care organization.
The protest near downtown was one of 320 similar gatherings staged outside Planned Parenthood offices across the country, according to organizers. In San Diego, protesters lined the sidewalks at the corner of First Avenue and Grape Street, chanting and holding signs.
A similar protest in Escondido also drew about 200 participants Saturday, according to police, while another rally of about 100 people was staged in Vista.
Saturday’s peaceful rally in San Diego drew a range of participants, including students from local colleges, as well as members of church groups from around the county. Several protesters brought children and infants.
The event’s organizer, Silas McClufor with Advocates for Justice, said they counted more than 500 men, women and children standing outside the city’s Planned Parenthood facility.
“Planned Parenthood is lying to women and not giving information that they are using the body parts of the aborted babies. They are not telling mothers they are selling these for a profit and we cannot stand for this. Planned Parenthood does not honor women and it doesn’t have respect for human life in the womb,” McClufor explained.
“Multiple times in multiple videos, [Planned Parenthood] is seen discussing how to get higher compensation for this fetal tissue. And in fact, a flyer given to Planned Parenthood by StemExpress states that sale of tissue will benefit them financially,” Dr. Francis, who is also a board member with the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said.
More than 1,000 abortion opponents protested in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Mt. Auburn as part of a nationwide protest against the organization Saturday morning.
The protests were organized by a coalition of anti-abortion groups, including American Life League and Stop Planned Parenthood International, in 47 states and more than 300 cities to call for cutting off Planned Parenthood's federal funding and putting a stop to abortions.
The protest had multiple speakers including Cincinnati City Councilman Charles Winburn and Ohio State Senator Joe Uecker. Local clergy, including Revered Chuck Hickey of the Trinity Presbyterian Church, led the protesters in prayer.
"It still surprised me that more people aren't upset about this," said Corrine Groh, who attended the protest with her two children. "They say that it's a woman's right to choose, well you made the choice to get pregnant."
At a rally Saturday morning outside Planned Parenthood in north Spokane, state Rep. Matt Shea called the group “an evil organization” committing acts on par with Nazi Germany.
Jami Cary held a sign reading “#PPSellsBabyParts,” a reference to the videos released by the Center for Medical Progress, an organization opposed to abortion. . . . “I think the majority of people are apathetic about it,” said Cary, who was at the rally with her husband, Kevin, and four children. “I think, with the videos coming out, your basic human alarm clock is dinging. I think there’s more momentum now.”
Alex Barron, who traveled to Spokane from Post Falls to attend the rally sponsored by the Priest Lake-based Selkirk Pro-Life Alliance, said abortion decisions in the courts were an extension of rulings in the 19th century that defined personhood.
“I believe that this country has made the same decision that it made in Dred Scott, when it said that blacks were not human,” said Barron, a black man, referring to the 1857 Supreme Court decision that ruled slaves had no legal protections as citizens. “When that (Roe v. Wade) Supreme Court decision was made a few years ago, we did not have the same science, we did not have the same clarity, we did not have the same sonograms that we have now.”
Barron said that taxpayer dollars should not go to Planned Parenthood, but should be directed instead to other organizations that provide similar services without facilitating abortions.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the Salem Planned Parenthood clinic Saturday morning to protest the organization, which offers health services, including abortions, to women.
The protest in Salem began with a service led by Father Tim Mockaitis of Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Salem. After the service, Gary Carignan, 69, a member of Queen of Peace and one of the speakers at the protest, called for a 10-minute break before state Rep. Bill Post, R-Keizer, spoke.
[Rep. Post] cited a report by the state Division of Medical Assistance Programs that shows that the state spent more than $20 million on abortions in the past 12 years, all funded by the Oregon Health Plan.
The peaceful protest was mainly led by prayer and was without incident or violence.
Providence police blocked off Chestnut Street as several hundred protestors, led by Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, demonstrated outside. Private security and volunteers kept the building accessible to visitors.
“There is nothing about Planned Parenthood that involves parenthood at all. It involves prevention and death,” said Kathleen Kelly of Silent No More, a Christian campaign.
“All life is precious. And I don’t want to look back on my life saying that I knew this was going on and that I didn’t try to do something about it,” said Jessica Baeckel. Baeckel came to the protest with her husband and two of her four children.
Several local lawmakers have also appealed to Attorney General Peter Kilmartin to investigate Planned Parenthood, but no such investigation is underway in Rhode Island, according to a spokesperson for Kilmartin.
On Saturday, racial diversity led the march across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge bridge in Selma, Alabama as pro-lifers from across America protested Dr. Samuel Lett who continues to perform unlicensed abortions in Selma.
“If anyone wants to know why we are here today, it’s because black women matter, black lives matter, black babies matter, all lives matter to God.” -- Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr.
“We don’t believe the Alabama Department of Public Health actually did an investigation.” -- Catherine Davis, National Black Pro-Life Coalition
Organizers [of The Selma Project] said they have evidence that the [Central Alabama Women's Clinic] performs more than nine abortions monthly, which would require it to come under strict state regulations as an abortion clinic.
Individuals working with abortion opponents repeatedly called the office without identifying themselves and scheduled appointments for abortion procedures, activists said. Audio clips of some phone calls were previously made public by abortion opponents.
While doctor's offices are required to report the number of abortions they perform to the state, those reports are not public.
Dr. Samuel C. Lett, who operates the clinic, did not return a phone message seeking comment.
Brian Hale, who serves as general counsel for the ADPH, responded to an email request for comment Saturday afternoon.
“ADPH did receive and investigate a complaint alleging that this clinic was performing a number of abortions that would require it to be licensed by this agency as an abortion or reproductive health center,” Hale’s statement said. “State Board of Health regulations require a license when a facility performs 10 or more abortions in any month, or 100 or more in any calendar year. ADPH was unable to establish that this clinic performed a number of abortions that would require it to be licensed as an abortion or reproductive health center. State law — § 22-9A-13, Ala. Code 1975 — prohibits ADPH from disclosing information relating to the number of abortions performed by a physician.”
Alveda King, the niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was among those who marched across the bridge in protest Saturday. She said some have accused the protesters of using Selma for national attention after Oprah Winfrey’s movie “Selma” and President Barack Obama visited the city earlier this year. King said that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Anti-abortion activists are focusing their attention on Selma and a clinic they say is violating state laws. A coalition of pro-life ministries from all over the country made their way to the historic city Friday night, gathering at Christ the King Episcopal Church.
“We know that women have been injured in this clinic. We know for sure [Dr. Samuel Lett] scheduled more abortions than he's allowed to do, according to state law,” said Father Terry Gensemer, Director of CEC For Life and an urban pastor in Alabama for more than 20 years.
“We're here to say to the health department and to the nation that women, particularly black women, are targeted in this area, in Selma and that babies are being killed here. We want the city of Selma to know what's going on, we want the state of Alabama to know that its citizens are not being protected the Alabama Department of Public Health, and we want justice to be done for the victims of this doctor,” Fr. Gensemer added.
A leader with the National Black Pro-Life Coalition, Catherine Davis, said the following about Lett’s abortion facility: “He has preyed, likely for years, mainly on poor, black women who feel they have no options. While the state stands back and allows Lett to do as he pleases, the black women of Selma are left to carry the injuries and sorrow that so frequently accompany abortion. They have absolutely no protection from the state.”
[President of Americans United for Life, Charmaine Yoest said], “Abortion harms women, and African-American women suffer more than others because of the tragic number of abortions in their community. Black women account for 37% of abortions and are 5 times more likely than white women to have an abortion. We stand here in Selma to note once again that when laws that protect health and safety are not enforced, African Americans bear too heavy a burden. Life-saving health and safety standards must be enforced to protect women from the negligence of abortionists.”
