Where are the fines or penalties – and complaint forms – on abortion facilities with all of these repeated and significant infractions?
(HARRISBURG, PA) In 2023, the majority of women who had an elective abortion in Pennsylvania did so at a facility that failed at least one state health inspection conducted this year, an alarming yet all-too-common pattern for PA’s abortion industry that has faced zero fines or penalties by state agencies as a result of failed inspections.
“These abortion facilities that profit from women’s elective abortions (and are supplemented with millions of tax dollars), continue to fail health inspections – putting the life safety of women at risk, not to mention their unborn babies” states Dan Bartkowiak with PA Family Institute. “While Gov. Josh Shapiro is busy taking money away from pro-life maternity homes and pregnancy centers, he has done nothing to address the severe infractions by abortion centers outlined in these failed inspections.”
The many infractions by abortion facilities in Pennsylvania include:
- “Serious event” – Planned Parenthood York “failed to report a serious event” – likely from a botched abortion, and yet faced no disciplinary action. On another date, this central PA facility failed an inspection for not performing required evaluations of their abortionists.
- Unsafe discharge of women post-abortion surgery – Philadelphia Women’s Center, which performs more abortions than any other facility in the state, was found discharging patients without proper protocols. This facility had numerous infractions, including failed reports for determining the gestational age of the baby being aborted.
- Parts of aborted babies stored for over a year in a freezer – Planned Parenthood Philadelphia on Locust St., which performs more abortions than any other Planned Parenthood in the state, had numerous infractions identified in their failed inspection, including bags of “human pathological waste” that were being stored for over a year in a freezer, as well as needles removed from sanitary packaging.
Gov. Shapiro has already gone after funding of pregnancy centers and pro-life maternity homes by acting unilaterally to remove funding for Pennsylvania’s Alternatives to Abortion state program administered through Real Alternatives – funding that has been in place for decades under both Democrat and Republican administrations. And now, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, has set up a webform specifically for complaints against pregnancy centers, spreading a host of misinformation in the announcement of this form.
“Gov. Shapiro’s administration claims abortion “remains safe” in Pennsylvania, but not only is abortion unsafe for the unborn baby being aborted or for women facing complications from their abortion and post-abortion trauma, it’s unsafe for women when half of PA’s abortion facilities are failing health inspections,” added Bartkowiak.
Here are the nine abortion facilities which failed a health inspection in 2023, along with their 2022 total of the number of abortions performed:
- Allentown Women’s Center (2,398)
- Philadelphia Women’s Center (5,928)
- Planned Parenthood Lancaster
- Planned Parenthood Norristown (864)
- Planned Parenthood Philadelphia, Comly Rd. (2,530)
- Planned Parenthood Philadelphia, Locust St. (3,198)
- Planned Parenthood Reading (1,057)
- Planned Parenthood Wilkes Barre (749)
- Planned Parenthood York (1,841)
Health inspection results for abortion facilities, which are rightly classified as Ambulatory Surgical Facilities, are provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. A broad summary of infractions is as follows:
Failure #1: Allentown Women’s Center – Failed state licensure survey, 9/21/23.
- Caught using ketamine as a general anesthetic.
Failure #2: Philadelphia Women’s Center – Failed annual registration survey, 3/10/23.
- “failed to ensure the findings of tissue analysis in an abortion performed after the first trimester…”
- “Products of Conception greater than and equal to 14 weeks…shall be properly labeled and sent to a laboratory for examination by a pathologist.” Abortion on a 15-week-old baby had no analysis.
- Patients being discharged without a written signed order of a practitioner
- “failed to document a postoperative anesthesia recovery evaluation…”
Failure #3: Planned Parenthood Lancaster – Failed annual registration survey, 9/13/23.
- Failed to have updated Certification of Clinical Privileges forms for one of four abortionists.
Failure #4: Planned Parenthood Reading – Failed annual registration survey, 4/27/23; & failed unannounced revisit, 6/21/23.
- Failed to complete annual performance evaluations for all abortionists.
Failure #5: Planned Parenthood Wilkes Barre – Failed annual registration survey, 10/23/23.
- Failed to document informed consent for minors.
Failure #6: Planned Parenthood York – Failed unannounced special monitoring survey, 6/22/23.
- Failed to complete annual performance evaluations for 3 of 4 abortionists.
- On March 6th: “It was determined that the allegation that the facility failed to report a serious event was substantiated.”
Failure #7: Planned Parenthood Norristown – Failed annual registration survey, 3/30/23.
- Failed to approve credentialing of abortionists.
Failure #8: Planned Parenthood Philadelphia, Comly Rd – Failed unannounced onsite special monitoring survey, 8/4/23, and failed state licensure survey, 8/23/23.
- Failed to certify Recovery Room Registered Nurse
- No documentation for clinical privileges – anesthesia
- “failed to have a sanitary environment for storage of human pathology waste…measuring cup lined with an unsealed red bag was used to collect human pathology waste throughout the day. Further interview confirmed the facility failed to bag, seal, and freeze or package the human pathological waste in formalin and securely store it until it was picked up by the waste hauler.”
- Failed to ensure staff received an assessment of tuberculosis status.
- [Repeated failure] “…no measures in place to prevent cross contamination between the clinical sink and the area utilized for decontamination and processing of surgical instruments.”
Failure #9: Planned Parenthood Philadelphia, Locust St – Failed state licensure survey, 9/11/23.
- “Preoperative Instructions/Pre-Abortion Instructions did not contain the required element, an understanding that the patient may require admission to the hospital in the event of medical need.”
- Patients receiving Versed and Propofol for sedation – no documentation of blood pressure and oxygen saturation…”
- Needles removed from sterile packaging and storage in a supply cart.
- Red biohazard bags in a freezer for a year [from Sept 2022].
