A summer of judgment for abortion clinics continues as operations at six more abortion clinics were shut down recently in Alabama and Florida, maintaining a pattern that began developing in mid-June.
The Alabama Department of Public Health announced Aug. 15 the suspension of the license of Reproductive Health Services in Montgomery for failing to have a backup physician in case one is needed after an abortion, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration ordered abortions halted at five clinics by Aug. 16 and suspended the medical license of their owner, James Pendergraft, on charges he had performed illegal, third-trimester abortions, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The state stopped abortions indefinitely at two Orlando clinics owned by Pendergraft. It lifted the restrictions on his clinics in Fort Lauderdale, Ocala and Tampa Aug. 23.
The actions followed abortion clinic closings earlier this summer in Birmingham; Hialeah, Fla.; Wichita, Kan.; and Omaha, Neb.
The closings continue a trend for abortion providers during the last two decades.
The number of abortion providers in the United States has decreased by 37 percent since 1982, according to a 2003 report published by the Guttmacher Institute. That same study showed 87 percent of U.S. counties do not have an abortion provider.
The Montgomery clinic will be able to respond to the suspension in a Sept. 18 hearing, according to the Advertiser.
Alabama state health officer Don Williamson said the failure to have a second doctor to care for post-abortive women was “a very, very serious violation,” the newspaper reported.
The closings of two clinics have prompted Alabama to begin inspecting abortion providers at least once a year, Williamson said.
“Abortion clinics haven’t been a priority because there isn’t a federal law that requires frequent inspections,” he said, according to the Advertiser. “But now we’re going to put them at a high priority, equivalent to nursing homes.” (BP)
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