Amy Gehrke

Vice President of Strategic Partnerships

Center for Client Safety   |  01 October 2024

The presence of Planned Parenthood’s mobile abortion unit a few blocks from the Democratic National Convention last month was shocking, but not surprising. It only made sense that an RV dedicated to ending and preventing life via chemical abortions and vasectomies was showcased at this event.  After all, the most pro-abortion candidate in our nation’s history was nominated by the political party that has come to resemble a death cult with its brazen acceptance of unlimited abortion.

 

 

From the abortion van to women dressed as abortion pills dancing in the streets to misleading and patently false information coming from speakers on the convention stage, the Democratic Convention was a wholesale embrace of abortion on demand without apology. Beyond being a tragedy for the millions of preborn children who are being killed, what is the growing success of the pro-abortion movement doing to women, and our nation as a whole?

 

 

As has always been the case, women and their children are the ones being harmed by unrestricted abortion. Illinois, which hosted the Democratic convention, serves as a blueprint for what Democrats would like national abortion policy to be.

 

 

Thanks to Illinois’s 2019 Reproductive Health Act[1] abortions can technically be performed at any time throughout pregnancy. Beauty parlors and tanning salons face tougher regulatory oversight than abortion facilities, all in the name of not hindering access to “reproductive healthcare.” In Illinois, abortion facilities are not subject to regular inspections by the health department. They are not required to be licensed by the state. Abortion clinics are not required to notify a coroner when a woman dies at their facilities. This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many ways women’s health is jeopardized by the Illinois law.[2]

 

 

Since the end of Roe in 2022, a growing number of states have enacted laws very similar to the Illinois Reproductive Health Act.[3] This allows the seedy abortion industry, which often attracts medical professionals not competent to be hired by legitimate medical providers, to operate without oversight. Even in states with pro-life laws on the books, abortion providers are harming women.

 

 

At the Center for Client Safety, we investigate dangerous abortion facilities, report all laws they are breaking (from zoning laws to tax fraud to ignoring basic health and safety standards) then report this wrongdoing to the proper authorities then work to ensure these authorities take appropriate action. We have seen dozens of cases from across the country in which women have been harmed by abortion providers’ negligence. One example is American Family Planning in Pensacola, Florida. Christine Smith of the Center for Client Safety recently shared what we uncovered at that facility:

 

 

Sidewalk counselors outside American Family Planning were alarmed at what they were witnessing at the abortion facility. The Center for Client Safety was alerted of the potential wrongdoing at the facility and we quickly launched an investigation. We alerted state officials that AFP had lied on its application with the state. This led to a full investigation that revealed that three women had nearly died at the hands of the clinic abortionist, Christopher Saputa.

 

 

Patient 1 came in for a second-trimester abortion at 19.6 weeks on May 5, 2022. The abortion was not completed due to possible uterine rupture and cervical lacerations. The patient lost a tremendous amount of blood and needed emergency care but, despite this, clinic employees told the patient’s husband to drive to a hospital one hour away. No records of this incident were found at American Family Planning, as required by law.[4]

 

 

Patient 2 came in for a second-trimester abortion. During the laminaria procedure to open the cervix, she hemorrhaged. She was given Pitocin and Methergine, but there were no records of her vitals being monitored as required by law. By the time she was transferred to the ER, she had no pulse. Records indicate there were "pools of blood" at American Family Planning when emergency personnel arrived. Doctors were unable to save any of her reproductive organs, and she underwent a total hysterectomy.[5]

 

 

Patient 3 had an abortion in November 2021 and required the repair of uterine perforation, a colon resection, a colostomy, a sigmoidectomy, and a cystoscopy. Despite the legal requirement to report complications, the clinic did not report this or any other injuries.[6]

 

In a July 13, 2022 report from the State of Florida Department of Health, authorities stated that the abortionist, Christopher Saputa’s, extreme incompetence was because he was a family practice physician and did not have training as an OB/GYN:

 

 

“Dr. Saputa is not a trained gynecological surgeon.” The report goes on to say, “An independent medical expert reviewed Dr. Saputa’s curriculum vitae and determined that Dr. Saputa does not have the education, training, or experience to be competent to perform gynecological surgeries or procedures and that his continued performance of these surgeries is a public safety hazard.”[7]

 

 

As a result of our reporting and repeated follow-up, Florida’s Agency of Health Care Administration (ACHA) emergency suspended the facility’s operating license, resulting in its immediate closure. American Family Planning remains permanently closed.

 

 

The gross mistreatment of women at American Family Planning of Pensacola was not an isolated incident. Furthermore, this mistreatment occurred in a more pro-life state with protective laws on its books. With a growing number of states not regulating abortion facilities, it is hard to know how many women are being endangered each day at seedy abortion businesses.

 

 

At the Center for Client Safety, our case backlog is growing. We have dozens of reports of abortion facility wrongdoing that we simply do not have the manpower to investigate.

 

 

While abortion vans like the one at the Democratic Convention are evidence of the abortion industry’s disregard for women's health and safety, there is another way they are harming women.

 

 

There has long been scientific proof that abortion can cause tremendous mental anguish for women. Women who have had abortions are more likely to suffer from substance abuse, anxiety, and depression. The likelihood of suicide is higher in women who have had abortions. According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, each exposure to abortion increases the risk of mental disorders by 23 percent.[8]

 

 

What does the cavalier attitude of an abortion van say to women who are suffering the after-effects of abortion? How do women dressed as abortion pills dancing in the streets affect women devastated by their own chemical abortions?

 

 

The abortion industry, aided and abetted by their friends in the Democratic party, continues to expose itself not only as the enemy of preborn children but of their mothers, as well. The growing number of laws that are removing any oversight of the abortion industry combined with the indifference towards the physical and psychological impacts of the procedure are not just endangering women, but the soul of our nation.

 

 

For over 50 years, pro-life advocates have warned that killing the most innocent members of the

human race will have far-reaching effects. One of these effects has clearly become a cold indifference to those abortion was supposed to help: Women.

 

 

The Democratic Convention saw the nomination of the first woman for President of the United States. The cold irony is that the policies of the Democratic Party and their friends in the abortion industry are destroying the soul of America.

 

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[1] (775 ILCS 55/) Reproductive Health Act. Illinois General Assembly, accessed September 13, 2024. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs5.asp?ActID=3987&ChapterID=64

[2]“Facts About the Illinois Reproductive Health Act” Illinois Right to Life, accessed September 13, 2024. https://illinoisrighttolifeaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/UPDATED-RHA-Factsheet.pdf

[3] “Map Shows Abortion Laws Across the U.S.” Newsweek June 24, 2024 https://www.newsweek.com/map-abortion-laws-across-us-1914135

[4] “How We Did It: A Conversation with Christine Smith, CCS Vice President of Investigations” accessed September 15, 2024 https://www.centerforclientsafety.org/blog/how-we-did-it-a-conversation-with-christine-smith-ccs-vice-president-of-investigations

[5] Ibid

[6] Ibid

[7] Jennie McKeon, “Florida Department of Health Suspends Pensacola Abortion Clinic Doctor Calling Him a ‘Grave Public Danger,’” published July 26, 2022, https://www.wuwf.org/local-news/2022-07-26/florida-department-of-health-suspends-pensacola-abortion-clinic-doctor-for-extraordinary-poor-judgement-in-emergency-care

[8] “Fact Sheet: Abortion and Mental Health,” Charlotte Lozier Institute, accessed September 15, 2024.

https://lozierinstitute.org/fact-sheet-abortion-and-mental-health/

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