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NRL News Most Abortions Done in Mega-Clinics According to the Guttmacher study, less than a quarter of abortion “providers” account for four of every five abortions performed each year in the U.S. The prominence of mega-clinics is not new, but more pronounced than ever. The impact of these huge killing facilities is noxious on any number of grounds, including the fact that they tempt smaller Planned Parenthood clinics to perform “chemical abortions” while referring women to the larger regional hubs for surgical abortions. Some 22% of abortion “providers” account for 80% of all abortions performed in the United States. Most of these were in clinics where “at least half” (in many cases, quite possibly, nearly all) of patient visits were for “abortion services.” In 2005, 12% of the nation’s abortions were done at the 20 clinics in the U.S. that do 5,000 abortions a year or more. Another 380 clinics performed between 1,000 and 4,999 abortions annually. These clinics accounted for 68% of all abortions. Though some of the abortions done at these mega-clinics are chemical abortions using abortifacients such as RU486, the vast majority are surgical. Only 7% of abortions at clinics doing 5,000 or more abortions were chemical. Only 14% of abortions done at locations performing 1,000–4,999 were chemical abortions. The slow, arduous process of chemical abortions (which involve RU486 and a labor-inducing prostaglandin) and the need for monitoring and follow-up visits is apparently at odds with the speed required by such abortion mills. In its study Guttmacher doesn’t record patient’s personal reactions. But women who have aborted at high-volume clinics report the experience of being “moved in and out of there like cattle” (Case Study 1697, www.priestsforlife.org). High “volume,” of course, means high profits. The average price paid by a woman obtaining an abortion at 10 weeks was $413 in 2006. An abortionist taking the lives of “just” a couple of babies an hour easily brings in thousands of dollars a day. Huge Incomes Income for a clinic that performs 5,000 abortions easily tops $2 million a year, even if one assumes all the abortions are easier, earlier surgical procedures. Given that these mega-clinics also advertise and perform much more expensive later-term abortions, revenues are likely to be much, much higher. With the enormous amounts of money to be made, it is not surprising to see marketers such as abortion giant Planned Parenthood increasingly investing in the construction of mega-clinics. In the past year or so, PPFA affiliates in Chicago, Sarasota, and Denver have all begun or completed construction of large abortion facilities. But it’s not just maximizing profits. A centrally located mega-clinic can operate as a hub for a regional affiliate. Smaller suburban storefront offices can draw clients in, dispense chemical abortifacients to those who want them, and refer those wanting surgical procedures to the main clinic, where the medical personnel and equipment are located. While known for their volume, these mega-clinics have not always been known to have had the best safety records. The state of New Jersey shut down Englewood’s Metropolitan Medical Associates in February 2007 after state health officials found problems “including but not limited to infection control, instruments, equipment used for the sterilization of patient care items and the processing of equipment,” according to the Bergen Record. State reports showed the clinic performing more than 10,000 abortions a year. Would-be customers were referred to other clinics in the local area (including one with the same owners) while the Englewood clinic underwent what one receptionist called “a little renovation” (Bergen Record, 2/28/07). Metropolitan was back in business before the end of the following month (AP, 3/23/07). |