The Planned Parenthood in St. Louis, Missouri has been labeled “the most dangerous abortion facility in the U.S.”
At least 65 of its patients were hospitalized for abortion complications between 2009 and March 2017, according to pro-life advocates’ documentation. State health inspectors have cited it for dozens of health and safety violations in recent years.
And that is the facility where new Planned Parenthood CEO Leana Wen proudly admits she once volunteered.
“I have seen firsthand the lifesaving work it does for our most vulnerable communities,” Wen said referring to her experiences as a patient and volunteer at Planned Parenthood.
Bustle reports Wen volunteered at the St. Louis abortion facility while she was a medical student at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The medical school has several ties to the abortion industry. One of Planned Parenthood’s abortionists, Colleen McNicholas, is an assistant professor at the university. In 2016, McNicholas told Marie Claire magazine that she performs as many as 31 abortions a day.
The university also was caught ordering and using aborted baby body parts for research in a U.S. Congressional investigation.
Wen did not share any details about her volunteer work at the St. Louis abortion facility, but one cannot help but wonder if she saw some of the many documented health and safety violations or patient complications.
The health and safety concerns noted by state inspectors and pro-life advocates are long and varied.
Earlier this year, state health inspectors cited abortionist David Eisenberg for failing to wash his hands between glove changes. The St. Louis abortionist asked if the handwashing requirement was a new protocol when the inspector asked him about it, according to inspection documents obtained by Operation Rescue.
The pro-life group reported more about the facility in 2017:
In January, Operation Rescue reported on five Statement of Deficiency Reports that showed Missouri state inspectors have cited the St. Louis Planned Parenthood for 39 classes of violations involving 210 incidents – 53% (111) of which were related to failure to provide a safe and sanitary environment. [Read the full report.]
Those Deficiency Reports indicated that from 2013 through 2016, the violations at the St. Louis Planned Parenthood abortion facility have become more numerous and serious, including failure to properly clean the facility or properly sterilize surgical instruments used on patients.
A 2015 inspector’s report also noted numerous cleanliness problems, including dirty pillows in the procedure and ultrasound rooms and a dusty wheelchair that staff said they “often used.”
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“Two large tears in the pad on the ultrasound table that made it unable to be disinfected. One staff member told the inspector a new pad had been ordered when no order was ever placed,” according to the inspection report.
“Medication refrigerator had dirt, debris and hair in the bottom of the unit. One worker who had been employed at the facility for 1 ½ years said the refrigerator had never been cleaned during his term of employment,” it continued.
A 2016 report found the St. Louis facility failed to perform criminal background checks on all of its employees. It also found that patients’ vital signs were not being monitored every 15 minutes, as required.
These findings led Operation Rescue President Troy Newman to call the St. Louis Planned Parenthood “the most dangerous abortion facility in the U.S.”
“If any other medical office in the country was calling for emergency assistance for patients as often as this facility is, it would be a public scandal,” Newman said in 2017. “Investigative reporters would be falling over themselves trying to expose this safety crisis. But since abortion is involved, there is not one word from the media. Their silence is enabling this dangerous abortion business to continue the carnage of babies and mothers alike.”
Wen has touted herself as a doctor who values women’s health and transparency in the medical field. Yet, she has been silent on the long and concerning record of violations at the St. Louis Planned Parenthood.
