Twice last month, pro-lifers outside a California Planned Parenthood watched in horror as young women were taken from the abortion mill by ambulance. In the first incident, a 20-year-old woman suffered uncontrolled bleeding after a surgical abortion. In the second, a 21-year-old woman was unresponsive and barely breathing after PP staff “had to give” her a combination of sedatives.
Operation Rescue has details about the incidents, including 911 recordings and reports, here.
Life Legal has been involved with the pro-lifers who hold vigil at this Planned Parenthood for decades. We have defended them in court and regularly provide guidance as to their rights outside the clinic. Last year, we helped them navigate hostile and potentially violent antifa protests.
While Planned Parenthood and its abortion allies want women to believe abortion is safe and easy, the reality is that botched abortions occur with alarming frequency. All too often, abortionists are not held to the same standard as other surgical providers because many public health officials responsible for oversight either ignore violations or fail to inspect abortion clinics entirely.
Just look at Kermit Gosnell, Steven Brigham, and Ulrich Klopfer. Gosnell ran a squalid abortion mill and routinely killed full-term babies after they were delivered alive. Bingham continued to operate abortion facilities even after his medical licenses in 7 states were revoked for gross negligence. Klopfer did abortions for over 40 years using outdated, shoddy methods. His colleagues knew of his substandard practices for decades, yet his clinics remained open until 2016. He was finally shut down for failing to notify authorities after performing abortions on rape victims as young as 10 years old. When Klopfer died in 2019, authorities found over 2,400 dead babies in bags and Styrofoam coolers in his garage and the trunk of his car.
To the extent that abortionists are held accountable for flouting the law and injuring women, it is largely due to pro-lifers who stand vigil outside abortion clinics. In Alabama, for example, pro-lifers reported that a young woman was seen leaving West Alabama Women’s Center (WAWC) last May appearing extremely pale and weak. She died a few hours later at a local hospital. Sheriffs investigated and Life Legal is working with local pro-life groups to ensure that authorities conduct thorough inspections of WAWC and other abortion mills in the state.
Life Legal was founded to support the work of sidewalk counselors who pray with and for women entering abortion clinics and who are often the only ones holding abortionists and their pro-abort accomplices accountable. If you are a sidewalk counselor needing help to protect your First Amendment rights or to report an abortion clinic violation, please contact us.