Don’t shut down abortion clinics
If South Carolina’s three clinics that provide abortion services have violated state regulations, they need to do whatever is necessary to comply with the law. But we hope clinic officials can work with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to ensure that patients will continue to receive uninterrupted access to all the clinics’ health services.
On Friday, DHEC notified the Greenville Women’s Clinic, Planned Parenthood of South Atlantic in Columbia and Charleston Women’s Medical Center that actions would be taken against each as a result of on-site inspections. Both the Greenville Women’s Clinic and Panned Parenthood’s Columbia clinic were issued suspension orders, while the Charleston clinic will be required to submit a plan to correct four minor violations.
The two clinics with suspension orders have the right to appeal. If they do not appeal, the suspension will go into effect on Sept. 28 unless they can come into compliance before then.
It should not be difficult for the clinics to work with inspectors to ensure that they are in compliance before the Sept. 28 deadline. But the more pressing issue is whether the political pressure that sparked the inspections is designed to thwart the clinics’ ability to perform any abortions at all.
A finding by the state’s Legislative Audit Council last spring accused DHEC of not following state law regarding inspections of abortion clinics. The audit said DHEC had not done enough inspections, did a poor job of handling complaints and had inadequate staffing and training to oversee the clinics.
So, DHEC has been under the gun for months to step up inspections at the state’s three clinics that administer abortions. Pressure increased even more after a so-called “sting” operation produced videos of Planned Parenthood officials in other states talking about providing fetal tissue to researchers.
Gov. Nikki Haley requested that DHEC investigate the three clinics on Aug. 18 after the Planned Parenthood videos had been made public. Haley, in a letter to DHEC Director Catherine Heigel, addressed the accounts from the videos: “These practices are not consistent with the laws or character of our state, and I believe this should make us pause and review Planned Parenthood’s operations in South Carolina.”
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., offered this comment on DHEC’s actions: “I strongly support the enforcement actions announced by DHEC and appreciate the leadership shown by Gov. Haley in pushing this issue forward. The Planned Parenthood videos have shocked the nation’s conscience.”
S.C. Attorney Gen. Alan Wilson, meanwhile, is working with the S.C. Law Enforcement Division to determine if criminal action is warranted against the clinics.
It appears that inspections supposedly designed to protect public health could actually represent a vendetta against the states’ abortion clinics.
Jenny Black, Planned Parenthood’s regional CEO, called the actions by the state “extreme” and said the violations “do not rise to the level of shutting down health centers.” She noted that DHEC found the clinic 100 percent in compliance with state regulations less than a year ago.
National Planned Parenthood officials report that abortion services account for only about 3 percent of the organization’s activities. By contrast, cancer screening and prevention accounts for 16 percent.
STD testing for men and women and contraception account for 35 percent each of Planned Parenthood’s services. The organization estimates it prevents more than 620,000 unintended pregnancies each year, and 220,000 abortions.
It also is important to note that about 75 percent of Planned Parenthood’s users nationally have incomes below 150 percent of the poverty line. If its South Carolina clinic closes, hundreds of low-income patients will suffer.
Shutting down the state’s abortion clinics might be emotionally satisfying for critics of Planned Parenthood but it does nothing to improve women’s health or, when you do the math, to prevent abortions. We hope the clinics will be in compliance by Sept. 28 and will remain open.
This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Don’t shut down abortion clinics."