Pensacola abortion business closed following report of 3 women hospitalized

By Deborah Laker, Op-ed contributor Saturday, May 28, 2022

Florida health officials issued an emergency order last Friday closing an abortion business in Pensacola after a report by Reprotection, a pro-life investigative organization. The group found that within the last nine months, three patients had been hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after their abortions. Extensive blood loss, a “big hole” in the uterine wall, and loss of pulse are just some of the horrors inflicted on patients that the report uncovered.

American Family Planning of Pensacola is the only operating abortion center on the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Tallahassee. But as of May 20, Florida’s Agency on Health Care Administration (AHCA) suspended the facility’s license and issued an immediate closure until an administrative hearing is held in the state capital. This news comes a month after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a new law that prohibits abortions after 15 weeks, effective on July 1.

Missy Martinez-Stone, CEO of Reprotection, who led the investigation into the abortion business said, “The standard of care at American Family Planning of Pensacola was non-existent, and we are elated that the clinic has been shut down before more women are seriously harmed.”

The report revealed that in November 2021, one patient’s abortion procedure was so badly botched that it later “required the repair of uterine perforation, a colon resection, a colostomy, a sigmoidectomy, and a cystoscopy.” The clinic failed to report these complications in accordance with Florida’s laws.

In March 2022, another patient who had a second-trimester abortion at 20 weeks experienced severe injuries. During the laminaria procedure to open the cervix she began to bleed excessively. The patient was given Pitocin and Methergine but there are no records of her vitals being monitored as required by law. When she was finally transferred to the ER, physicians discovered she had no pulse and there were two “big holes” on the left and right walls of the uterus. The patient was forced to undergo a total hysterectomy since doctors were unable to save any of her reproductive organs.

The third incident took place earlier this month with another patient who was 19 weeks pregnant. When she arrived at the abortion facility, she was given drugs and told to wait in the car with her husband. The patient’s vitals were not monitored. When she began to bleed excessively because of a uterine rupture and cervical lacerations, the clinic reportedly told her spouse to take her to a hospital an hour away in Mobile, Alabama rather than rushing to a hospital in Pensacola. According to the order, once they arrived at the hospital, she had “undetectable blood pressure” and her blood oxygen level was at 80%. Physicians were able to resuscitate her and perform a mass blood transfusion to save her life.

The abortionist who carried out the procedures on the last two patients told AHCA officials that he was “unfamiliar” with emergency medical procedures and sought guidance from the office manager, who had no medical or clinical licenses.

“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.”

Originally published at the Family Research Council.

Deborah Laker is a journalism and political science student at Oral Roberts University