For immediate release: For more information:
Wednesday, July 10, 2013 Mary Anne Buchanan, Communications Director (304) 594-9845
West Virginians for Life Supports Attorney General Morrisey
in Abortion Clinic Regulation Inquiry
West Virginians for Life (WVFL) supports the efforts of Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to protect the health and well-being of West Virginia women by initiating inquiries into the practices and regulation of abortion facilities in the state.
“This effort is long overdue,” said WVFL President Wanda Franz, Ph.D. “Sadly, over the 40 years since the Supreme Court legalized abortion for the entire nine months of pregnancy in the United States, insufficient concerns have been directed toward monitoring abortion facilities in West Virginia.”
Attorney General Morrisey justified his inquiry by pointing to the case of abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell in Pennsylvania, who was found to be presiding over a veritable “house of horrors” for many years as demonstrated by his lack of respect for women, the filthy clinic conditions and the brutal killing of sometimes six pound babies who were born alive during an abortion by “snipping” their spinal cords. The Grand Jury in the case “found that Gosnell’s crimes could have been prevented if various state and city regulatory agencies had properly enforced the law.” The Gosnell case prompted Pennsylvania state officials finally to begin enforcing the regulatory laws in place in the state. The experience in Pennsylvania and in other states demonstrates that we cannot expect the abortion industry to control itself in the complete absence of inspection and imposition of proper medical standards.
AG Morrisey pointed out that, in West Virginia, abortion facilities are “neither licensed nor regulated by the State.” According to the West Virginia State Department of Health and Human Services, “there is no state agency that specifically inspects clinics or facilities that perform abortion” (Charleston Daily Mail, 6/10/13). The refusal of West Virginia abortion clinics to answer Attorney General Morrisey’s questions about the practices in these clinics raises worrisome concerns about these clinics.
It is notable that a suit was filed on June 7, 2013, by the Family Policy Council of West Virginia on behalf of Itai Gravely, alleging that Women’s Health Center of WV and its abortionist, Rodney Stephens, committed medical malpractice by restraining Ms. Gravely, proceeding with the abortion against her wishes, and then leaving parts of the baby in her womb in a botched abortion attempt.
Given the lack of official oversight and this most recent malpractice suit, it is premature to assume that West Virginia women are receiving safe medical care in abortion clinics. What makes this situation worse is that the pro-life taxpayers of West Virginia are subsidizing these abortion clinics under the state’s Medicaid program.