Louisiana Senator: Gov Should Probe Abortion Ctr With Gosnell Ties

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 2, 2011   |   1:18PM   |   Baton Rouge, LA

Louisiana Senator David Vitter has sent a letter to Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein urging an investigation and appropriate action against the abortion facility that has connections with Kermit Gosnell.

Gosnell is the Philadelphia-based abortion practitioner who was charged with one count of murder in the death of a woman from a botched abortion and seven counts of murder related to infanticides that took place at his grisly abortion business that had numerous health and safety violations.

He is connected with the Delta Clinic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and another abortion center in Delaware — where he does abortions one day a week.

“Recent news reports connecting the Delta Clinic to the allegations being charged against this horrific abortionist in Philadelphia could justify shutting down the Delta Clinic, and we must take the appropriate steps to prevent endangering the lives of Louisiana women and children,” Vitter told LifeNews.com in a statement.

Gosnell’s employees, including Eileen O’Neill, a former employee of the Delta Clinic in Baton Rouge, were also charged in connection with the deaths and also in obstructing the official investigations into them. O’Neill has been arrested for a number of violations that include theft by deception for pretending to be a licensed physician.

According to the grand jury, the incident in Pennsylvania was partly due to the failure of state and local officials to perform their duties properly, which is something that concerns Vitter.

The text of Vitter’s letter follows:

February 2, 2011

Secretary Bruce Greenstein
Department of Health & Hospitals
P.O. Box 629
Baton Rouge, LA  70821-0629

Dear Secretary Greenstein:

I am writing to seek your immediate and personal involvement in investigating and taking all appropriate enforcement action against the abortion facility known as the Delta Clinic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Recent media reports indicate that this abortion clinic has a record of grievances and possible serious violations more than sufficient to warrant immediate action by the Department of Health & Hospitals. 

In fact, these reports are so condemning that even the National Abortion Federation has suspended the Delta Clinic’s membership and will no longer refer women to the abortion center.  However, the clinic is still open for business because only your department has the authority to shut it down.  According to the DHH Office of Health Standards, there is not yet an open investigation into this matter.  If it is true that the Delta Clinic is in violation of Louisiana or federal law, I urge you to immediately suspend the facility’s license to ensure the protection of women seeking their services. 

As you may know, a Pennsylvania abortion practitioner and several of his employees were recently charged with murder and other crimes related to running a horrific abortion practice that endangered the lives of countless women and children.  News accounts have revealed that one of those employees, Eileen O’Neill, is a former employee of the Delta Clinic.  She has been arrested for a number of violations that include theft by deception for pretending to be a licensed physician.

According to the grand jury, the travesty in Pennsylvania was partly due to the failure of state and local officials to perform their duties properly.  We must not allow this to happen in Louisiana, especially when the Louisiana Legislature has recently provided the necessary tools to prevent against a similar occurrence.  I urge you to utilize the enforcement tools provided in Act 490, enacted last year, to the fullest extent possible.  If there have been violations by the Delta Clinic that “pose an immediate threat to the health, welfare, or safety of a client or patient,” the Louisiana DHH should immediately order the clinic to close and cease providing abortions.

It is critical that we all take action to prevent dangerous and unsanitary medical conditions. That is why I have introduced the Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act, which would require that any physician that performs an abortion have admitting privileges at a local hospital, and that their patients have access to a nearby hospital where the patients can receive follow-up care in case complications do occur.  This requirement offers a simple way to protect against the horrific practices that went unnoticed in Pennsylvania until many innocent human beings lost their lives. 

Fortunately, our state has provided you with the means to take quick action against any abortion clinic engaged in unsafe practices.  I urge you to vigorously investigate the alleged violations against the Delta Clinic to ensure that no woman’s life is endangered. 

Sincerely,

David Vitter

cc:        Governor Bobby Jindal
The Honorable Willie L. Mount, Chairman, Louisiana State Senate Health & Welfare Committee
The Honorable Kay Katz, Chairman, Louisiana House of Representatives Health & Welfare Committee

The abortion industry has been forced to suspend two abortion businesses that employed embattled abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell, who has been the subject of national controversy over his abortion business in Philadelphia.

Gosnell’s facility was the subject of a grand jury report for its horrifying conditions and Gosnell and several staffers have been arrested for killing a woman in a botched abortion and seven counts of murder related to the infanticide deaths of babies Gosnell would purposefully birth and kill with medical scissors.

Following revelations that Gosnell is associated with two other abortion centers in Louisiana and Delaware, the National Abortion Federation has made the decision to suspend the memberships of both. Atlantic Women’s Medical Services, the Delaware abortion business that employed Gosnell one day a week to do abortions, and the Delta Clinic abortion center of Baton Rouge, have both had their memberships suspended. Leroy Brinkley owns both abortion businesses. Atlantic operates abortion centers in Wilmington and Dover.

Delaware law does not require inspections of abortion centers but, late Thursday, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden said his office will launch a “wide-ranging” investigation of Gosnell and probe his work at the Delaware abortion facility given the vast problems at his Pennsylvania abortion center.

Gosnell has been charged with eight counts of murder and several of his staff at the abortion center, including his wife and sister-in-law, have been charged as well in the case with assisting in botched abortions, practicing medicine without a license or covering up the actions of those who did. The counts include grisly infanticidesthat involved Gosnell snipping the spines with scissors of babies who had purposefully been prematurely born so they could be killed moments later.

Mongar died November 20, 2009, after overdosing on anesthetics prescribed by the doctor, Williams said. Mongar’s family filed a lawsuit against Gosnell’s abortion business seeking damages.

“We want justice, this doctor has to be out of that clinic or he should not be treating anybody,” Damber Ghalley told CNN. “And the things that happen to my sister, I don’t want to happen to anybody in the future.”

He told CNN “the clinic was so dirty, filthy with blood stains and a dirty floor, everywhere dirty, I cannot describe how dirty it was.”

Gosnell has been denied bail while the case against him moves forward. Women have spoken out about their treatment and one woman says she was drugged and tied up and forced to have an abortion.

Authorities searching the facility last year found bags and bottles holding aborted babies scattered around the building, jars containing babies’ severed feet lining a shelf, as well as filthy, unsanitary furniture and equipment.

The grand jury investigation also shows state officials did nothing when reports came in about problems at Gosnell’s abortion center, which has upset incoming pro-life Governor Tom Corbett.