Extensive blood loss, “big hole” in uterine wall, patient without a pulse are just the beginning of the horrors inside Pensacola abortion clinic
PENSACOLA, FL – May 23, 2022 – Reprotection, a national anti-abortion watchdog group seeking to protect women from dangerous abortion clinics, spearheaded an investigation that led to the emergency suspension of an abortion clinic’s license in Pensacola, FL. The order suspending the license of the American Family Planning Abortion Clinic on 6115 Village Oaks Drive was issued this past Friday, May 20th, by Florida’s Agency of Health Care Administration (AHCA).
“The standard of care at the American Family Planning Abortion Clinic was non-existent and we are elated the clinic has shut down before more women are seriously harmed,” said Missy Martinez- Stone, CEO of Reprotection, who led the investigation into the abortion clinic’s emergency medical procedures.
The order to suspend the clinic’s license reads like a horror movie as the clinic and abortion doctor failed to follow standard medical operating procedures and patient documentation. Three cases are listed in the order:
- Patient 1 came in for a second-trimester abortion at 19.6 weeks on May 5, 2022. The abortion was not completed due to possible uterine rupture and cervical lacerations. She lost a lot of blood but no one knows how much because the writing on her chart is illegible. She sat in the car with her spouse afterward and was not being monitored according to proper procedure yet was in dire need of emergency care. The clinic told her husband to drive an hour away to a hospital for care instead of using a hospital in Pensacola. By the time the woman received care at the hospital, she had “undetectable blood pressure” and “required resuscitation and mass transfusion.” No records of this are at the abortion clinic, which are required by law.
- Patient 2 also came in for a second-trimester abortion at 20.2 weeks on March 23, 2022. She started experiencing bleeding during the laminaria procedure to open the cervix. She was given Pitocin and Methergine but there are no records of her vitals being monitored as required by law. By the time she was transferred to the ER, she had no pulse and had lost an unknown amount of blood. Records indicate there were “pools of blood” at the abortion clinic when emergency personnel arrived. Two “big hole[s]” were discovered on the left and right walls of the uterus plus cervical lacerations. Doctors weren’t able to save any of her reproductive organs and she underwent a total hysterectomy.
- Patient 3 had an abortion in November 2021 and “required the repair of uterine perforation, a colon resection, a colostomy, a sigmoidectomy, and a cystoscopy.” The clinic, as required by law to report complications, did not report this, or any of the others, in accordance with the law.
The abortionist who performed the procedure on both patients 1 and 2 told investigators he was unfamiliar with emergency medical procedures and looked to the office manager of the clinic, who had no medical or clinical licensure, for direction. The order says these instances are “not isolated events” and that the failure to comply with the laws by this abortion clinic “places patient health, safety, and welfare at immediate risk.”
“Our investigation into this specific abortion clinic has been going on for two years and we have utilized every avenue possible to work to protect the health and safety of women from dangerous abortion clinics like this one,” said Martinez-Stone. “While we don’t know why AHCA did not shut them down earlier, we are grateful the state of Florida has taken decisive action to protect women from dangerous abortion clinics who seek profit over safety. ”
For more information about Reprotection, please visit their website at https://centerforclientsafety.org.
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