Ohio Abortion Facility Can Stay Open Despite Legal Violation
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 19, 2003
Dayton, OH (LifeNews.com) — Despite not having arrangements with a local hospital to provide medical treatment for women who suffer from abortion complications, an abortion facility in Dayton, Ohio may stay open.
The Women’s Med. Center is operated by Martin Haskell, who invented the procedure that has been the subject of legislation in Congress and around the country.
U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley of Columbus ruled on Monday that the abortion business can remain open even though it has no official designation of who would treat women who have medical problems following an abortion.
The Ohio Department of Health requires free-standing outpatient surgical facilities to designate emergency medical providers through a "hospital transfer agreement," which the judge’s permanent injunction blocked ODH from enforcing in Haskell’s case.
No local hospital would agree to serve as the backup provider for Haskell’s abortion facility.
Denise Mackura, the director of Ohio Right to Life, told the Dayton Daily News that the ruling allows Haskell to emphasize profits over the safety of women.
"Abortion is a dangerous surgical procedure," Mackura said. "Thousands of women are injured every year in these facilities."
The ruling overturned an appeals court decision in August that Haskell’s center needed an ambulatory surgery license, for which a transfer agreement is a prerequisite.
Marbley claimed requiring Haskell to have the license would likely shut down his abortion facility causing "irreparable injury" to both Haskell and "women in Dayton seeking abortion."
The Ohio Department of Health is reviewing the ruling to determine if it applies only in Haskell’s case or to all abortion facilities across the state. The state may appeal the decision
