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May 21, 2006

This is disturbing...

Alabama women's clinic probed for late-term abortions, violations
PHILLIP RAWLS
Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A state medical board has taken action against a doctor and nurse practitioner at a Birmingham abortion clinic where state health officials found women were getting second trimester abortions without a doctor determining the viability of the fetus.

Determining viability is a state law in Alabama. I don't believe the law prevents abortions after the second trimester. It just requires that viability be determine before an abortion can be performed. Jeff lives in Alabama and maybe he can shed more light on this.

On Wednesday, the state Board of Health issued an emergency license suspension for the clinic located on Birmingham's Southside. Health officials said a woman was told she was six weeks pregnant but, after an abortion was induced, she went to an emergency room and delivered a nearly full-term stillborn infant whose head was protruding.

In a report released Friday, state health officials said they found "egregious lapses in care, including non-physicians performing abortions, severely underestimating the gestational age of a fetus, failure to appropriately refer or treat a patient with a dangerously elevated blood pressure, and performing an abortion on a late-term pregnancy."

"This is the first time I've ever issued an emergency order to close an abortion clinic," said Don Williamson, Alabama's health officer for 14 years.

From the description it sure sounds like some pretty serious medical malpractice was taking place there.

It'll be interesting to see how NARAL and Planned Parenthood respond, if at all.

Posted by Kevin at May 21, 2006 11:19 AM

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