Abortion Business in Louisiana Loses License for Poor Health, Safety Standards
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 20, 2010
New Orleans, LA (LifeNews.com) — The Louisiana health department yesterday revoked the medical license of an abortion business for failure to comply with the Louisiana’s abortion facility standards. Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals officials yanked the license of the Gentilly Medical Clinic for Women.
DHH Secretary Alan Levine indicated the license revocation came after the abortion center failed to comply with several state regulations protecting the health and safety of women.
Levine noted the Gentilly Medical Clinic for Women abortion center operated without a trained nurse on staff, without a site-specific Louisiana controlled dangerous substance license, and without a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration controlled substance registration.
All three are required for an abortion center in Louisiana to be run with proper approval from the state health department.
"Louisiana law is very clear on the requirements to maintain a safe medical environment for women seeking abortion services,” said Levine, according to WWLT.
“We have a duty to ensure women have safe choices for the services they are legally entitled to," he continued. "This clinic has been in clear violation of our state’s health standards and we cannot allow Louisiana citizens to get inadequate or unsafe care."
Ifeanyi Charles Anthony Okpalobi runs the abortion business and he has operated an abortion center either in New Orleans or the suburb of Metairie for approximately the last 15 years.
An employee told AP he would have no comment on the move.
But Benjamin Clapper, the head of Louisiana Right to Life, told LifeNews.com he is pleased with the decision.
"We are very thankful to Secretary Alan Levine, the Department of Health and Hospitals, and the Jindal Administration for enforcing the Louisiana laws that regulate the operations of abortion facilities," he said. "We encourage our government to continue to inspect and regulate the other seven abortion facilities located in Louisiana."
"We rejoice that this facility, which has exploited women and taken the lives of so many unborn children, can no longer operate in Louisiana. We hope it remains that way," Clapper added.
Related web sites:
Louisiana Right to Life – https://www.prolifelouisiana.org
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