{"id":87842,"date":"2016-02-15T15:50:12","date_gmt":"2016-02-15T20:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=87842"},"modified":"2016-02-15T15:50:12","modified_gmt":"2016-02-15T20:50:12","slug":"long-history-of-health-violations-at-abortion-chain-suing-over-pro-life-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/long-history-of-health-violations-at-abortion-chain-suing-over-pro-life-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Long history of health violations at abortion chain suing over pro-life law"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Whole Woman’s Health, a\u00a0Texas abortion chain whose centers have been cited by state health inspectors for numerous health violations, \u00a0is behind the\u00a0Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt<\/a><\/em> challenge to HB2, a 2013 Texas\u00a0law requiring\u00a0abortion\u00a0centers to be held to the\u00a0same standards\u00a0as ambulatory surgical centers and requiring abortionists to obtain\u00a0hospital admitting privileges. The case is set to be heard by the US Supreme Court, and\u00a0amicus briefs have been filed by several pro-life groups, documenting the dangerous conditions of abortion facilities in the state.<\/p>\n

HB2 requires a physician performing an abortion to have admitting privileges at a hospital within thirty miles of the location where the abortion\u00a0is performed\u00a0and – as pro-lifers have pointed out – simply\u00a0requires all abortion centers\u00a0to comply with the same regulations set for ambulatory surgical centers. Since HB2’s passage, several abortion facilities have closed due to their inability to comply with the law.<\/p>\n

In June of 2015, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld both provisions but made a narrow exception for the Whole Woman’s abortion facility\u00a0in McAllen, after they were unable to secure required hospital privileges for its abortionists.\u00a0The issues under review in the case<\/a> include:<\/p>\n

(1) Whether, when applying the \u201cundue burden\u201d standard of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a court errs by refusing to consider whether and to what extent laws that restrict abortion for the stated purpose of promoting health actually serve the government\u2019s interest in promoting health; and<\/p>\n

(2) whether the Fifth Circuit erred in concluding that this standard permits Texas to enforce, in nearly all circumstances, laws that would cause a significant reduction in the availability of abortion services while failing to advance the State\u2019s interest in promoting health – or any other valid interest.<\/p>\n

According to their website, Whole Woman’s Health (WWH) currently operates abortion facilities in Baltimore (MD), Fort Worth (TX), McAllen (TX), San Antonio (TX), Twin Cities (TX), New Mexico, and Peoria (IL). Prior to 2013, WWH operated abortion facilities in five different communities in Texas: McAllen, Beaumont, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin. But since HB2’s passage, WWH stopped performing\u00a0abortions in Austin and Beaumont.<\/p>\n

\"wwh-beaumont-abortion-clinic-13-health-violations\"<\/p>\n

Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Woman\u2019s Health, claims\u00a0her abortion facilities\u00a0do not need any more scrutiny\u00a0– but\u00a0the State of Texas has found some very concerning issues with WWH abortion facilities – both in the past and much more recently.<\/p>\n

2007<\/strong><\/span>: The state of Texas took\u00a0disciplinary action<\/a>\u00a0against Whole Woman’s Health of Beaumont for\u00a0“failure to have\u00a0licensed nursing staff at the facility,” among other violations.<\/p>\n

\"Whole<\/p>\n

2011<\/strong><\/span>: Pro-life group Operation Rescue released\u00a0information<\/a> documenting widespread abuses at a dozen Texas abortion facilities. Among the worst offenders at the time was WWH\u2019s McAllen facility, where bloody medical waste and\u00a0patient logs (including patient names) and other private information had been thrown in\u00a0a\u00a0dumpster outside the facility. (View photo documentation of the\u00a0evidence<\/a> with the name Whole Woman\u2019s Health clearly evident.) The documentation was turned over to the the attorney general and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. As a result, Operation Rescue was\u00a0notified<\/a> that WWH of McAllen was\u00a0fined<\/a>\u00a0a total of $17,430 and WWH\u00a0of Austin was\u00a0ordered<\/a> to pay a total of $22,980.<\/p>\n

Also in 2011<\/em><\/span>: Another review of Texas abortion\u00a0facilities\u00a0conducted by the pro-life group Texas Alliance for Life listed several disturbing violations cited by state health inspectors at Whole Woman’s Health in Beaumont. An inspection of WWH dated\u00a0November 17, 2011<\/a>,\u00a0found a long list of violations including (among other things):<\/p>\n