Reprotection has worked tirelessly to expose the horrific misconduct taking place behind closed doors at abortion facilities, showcasing the tragic loss of life and irreparable harm inflicted by an unregulated, profit-driven industry. There is nothing celebratory about an entire group of innocent children being denied their right to be protected from violence, and those who exploit their mother’s pain for money are undeserving of praise.
According to the Abortion Care Network, however, March 10 is a day to “honor” the “courageous, compassionate people who provide abortion care.” The annual tradition began in 1996 in response to the murder of abortionist David Gunn a few years prior.
Let’s be clear: Gunn’s murder was an unjustifiable act of homicide, and Reprotection does not condone any form of violence against abortionists or abortion proponents. We also don’t believe that it’s right to have a day of appreciation to honor another inexcusable act of violence that has led to the victimization and exploitation of women.
Consider the American Family Planning abortion facility in Pensacola, Florida, that Reprotection just shut down earlier this year. Our efforts successfully led to a suspension of the facility’s license in May 2022, with the clinic’s doors later closing for good.
The months-long investigation exposed how the clinic’s abortionist, Dr. Christopher Saputa, failed to comply with even the most basic medical standards intended to protect women.
In the order to suspend the clinic’s license, the document describes a woman known as patient 1, who visited the facility for a second-trimester abortion at 19.6 weeks on May 5, 2022. However, due to possible uterine rupture and cervical lacerations, the abortion was not completed.
The woman lost a lot of blood, but the amount is unknown because of the illegible writing on her chart. Even though she was in dire need of emergency care, the woman sat in her car with her husband and was not being monitored according to proper procedure. The clinic eventually told the woman’s husband to drive her to a hospital located an hour away.
By the time the woman arrived at the hospital, she had “undetectable blood pressure” and “required resuscitation and mass transfusion.”
But the Florida clinic is not the only abortion facility caught recklessly endangering women’s lives.
In 2016, Cree-Erwin Sheppard died after a botched abortion at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The woman’s brother, Tyler Erwin-Sheppard, expressed shock that his sister was released even though an ultrasound of her abdomen had revealed a “clot and/or retained products of conception.”
“They saw baby parts still inside of my sister and they still sent her home,” he said. “I want to know what happened.
Abortionist Leroy Carhart’s negligence led to the death of 29-year-old Jennifer Morbelli in 2013. The substitute teacher had undergone a late-term abortion at Carhart’s abortion facility in Maryland, later dying from the complications.
The Chief Medical Examiner of Maryland ruled that Morbelli died from “Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation,” which may have been caused by the amniotic fluid in her womb spilling into her bloodstream, preventing her blood from clotting. While Morbelli was experiencing deadly side effects from the abortion, Carhart could not be reached to provide assistance, even though Morbelli’s family made numerous attempts to contact him.
We sincerely hope that abortionists who are currently practicing will come to see the error of their ways and pursue a different career path. And while we hate to be a party pooper, we can’t help but find it a little bit difficult to celebrate the human rights abuses and corruption in the abortion industry that, far too often, go unpunished by the law.
That’s why Abortion Provider Appreciation Day is one holiday we’ll definitely skip.