July 13, 2012 the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) considered an administrative appeal by Marianne Kelley Rain-Water and Ochata Managing, whose application for a license to operate the clinic known as New Woman All Woman (NWAW) was denied.
NWAW’s license was revoked due to 76 pages of health code violations and the new application for a license followed. However, the applicant has ties to the clinic’s owner Diane Derzis, even though the ADPH Consent Order where Derzis agreed to surrender her license states that “the applying entity or individual must be ‘independent from and not affiliated with New Woman or its officers or directors…’.”
The letter sent by Life Legal Staff Attorney Allison Aranda to the ADPH to ensure that the Consent Order be strictly followed is available at this link.
Appellants Marianne Kelley Rain-Water and Ochata Managing do not meet the Consent Order criteria. Ms. Rain-Water resides in a home owned by Derzis; Derzis owns the clinic building. At the hearing today Ms. Rain-Water admitted to knowing Ms. Derzis for 20 years. The affiliation is obvious, and women who walk through the clinic doors will continue to be in danger should the ADPH grant licensure to Rain-Water.
“Women deserve better than abortion, and they certainly deserve better than a clinic still affiliated with an individual who has a total disregard for proper medical protocols and procedures that endanger women’s lives. We are confident that the administrative law judge will make a decision that protects women,” states Dana Cody, Life Legal Defense Foundation’s President and Executive Director. “LLDF will continue to monitor this appeal, and will do everything possible to protect the lives of women and children from this threat.”
More on this story at Birmingham, Alabama Clinic Closes