Planned Parenthood in California Opens Abortion Center After Affiliate Dumped

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Dec 1, 2010   |   1:16PM   |   Santa Rosa, CA

Planned Parenthood has opened a new abortion center north of San Francisco after the national abortion business dumped one of its local affiliates following significant financial and management problems.

The regional affiliate of Planned Parenthood where teenager Holly Patterson died from using the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug first lost its affiliation with Planned Parenthood in early August.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America board voted in early August to remove their trademark from the Planned Parenthood Golden Gate  affiliate, which runs centers in San Francisco, Sonoma, Marin, Alameda and San Mateo counties.

“They were not meeting our standards for administrative and fiscal management,” said Karen Ruffato, VP of affiliate services, told the Bay Citizen newspaper.

Now, the Press Democrat newspaper indicates Planned Parenthood will resume operations at a refurbished clinic in Santa Rosa that will be operated by Concord-based Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific that operates 30 centers in 13 counties in and around the Bay Area.

“We will start here and grow as needed,” Heather Estes, president and CEO of the Shasta Pacific affiliate, told the newspaper.

The new center will not initially do abortions but Estes confirmed they will be added at a later date.

The newspaper also confirmed the Planned Parenthood affiliate will open a new San Francisco clinic in January and will probably open up a center in Ukiah in Mendocino County.

Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, which has changed its name to Gate Community Health following the disaffiliation, faces an audit from the criminal division of the Internal Revenue Service.

The New York Times released a new report in September detailing how an unnamed former employee interviewed with the Oakland field office of the IRS.

Therese Wilson, interim chief executive of the abortion business, told the newspaper she brought in a forensics accountant to review its books and search for problems.

“There’s been no evidence to date of any of that,” she said, though she admitted the accountants found “inaccurate information.”

Wilson told the Times the newly-named abortion business is “exactly the same entity with just a different name.”

Jill Stanek, a pro-life blogger and nurse, noted the disaffiliation and said it is the third time a local Planned Parenthood affiliate has been kicked out of the national abortion business.

“This is big news. PPGG is the most renowned if not biggest Planned Parenthood Federation of America affiliate to fall to date,” she said. “PPFA severed ties with PP of South Palm Beach and Broward Counties [Florida] in June 2008.”

The first affiliate to lose its standing was a Planned Parenthood operating in Hawaii about 10 years ago.

In September 2003, 18-year-old Holly Patterson died after receiving the abortion drug Mifeprex, also known as RU-486, from the Planned Parenthood chapter.

PPGG came under fire for telling patients to take one part of the drug vaginally instead of orally, as recommended by the FDA. That resulted in the deaths of four California women who developed deadly bacterial infections as a result.

In December 2005, PPGG was accused of hiding an 11-year-old’s rape.

A testimonial posted on a California Planned Parenthood abortion business’ website regarding an 11-year-old rape victim sparked a call for an investigation into the organization’s handling of sexual abuse cases.

In the “Shared Stories” section of Planned Parenthood Golden Gate’s website, a client’s shared her story.

“I was raped at 11, by my 17 year old boyfriend. I chose not to tell my parents because I didn’t think their involvement would help, that was the right choice for me. Planned Parenthood [sic] helped me deal with the aftermath of the rape allowing me to deal and cope as best as I could in my own way.”

In response, pro-life leaders have called for an investigation, as Planned Parenthood is required by law to report cases of child abuse. The abortion business eventually removed the post from their web site.

And in August 2005, an online cartoon video PPGG sponsored drew sharp criticism because it advocated violence against pro-life advocates.