Ohio’s Oldest Abortion Center, Killing Babies Since 1973, Finally Closes Down

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 3, 2020   |   1:36PM   |   Columbus, Ohio

It’s been 47 years. That’s how long the Founder’s abortion center in Columbus has killed babies in the Buckeye State. Until this week, when it finally closed for good.

Ohio residents have another reason to celebrate this Independence Day as the Founder’s abortion clinic has finally closed for good. Founder’s, which first opened in 1973, was Ohio’s oldest abortion and longest operating abortion facility.

Ohio Right to Life president Mike Gonidakis told LifeNews he was elated by the news.

“Ohio Right to Life is relieved to learn that Founder’s finally closed. This unhealthy and unsafe abortion clinic that has hurt countless women and caused the death of thousands of innocent babies was a blight on our great state. Its closing is a long-fought victory for Pro-Life Ohio and a reason to celebrate. Today the cause of life has prevailed,” he said.

“As the fight to protect vulnerable life continues to be waged both here in Ohio and on a national level, the closing of Founder’s is a poignant reminder for us to never lose heart in doing good. Ohio is pro-life and our commitment to ending abortion is moving mountains and saving lives,” Gonidakis added.

Founder’s had its share of problems and issues over the years.

Ohio’s longest-practicing abortionist lost his license in November 2018 after he allegedly broke prescription drug laws, according to state documents.

Columbus abortionist Harley Blank, 79, was accused of wrong-doing multiple times during his decades-long abortion practice. The Columbus Dispatch reported Blank agreed to surrender his medical license rather than face disciplinary proceedings for alleged prescription drug violations.

According to the state order, Blank allegedly violated state laws by “failing to keep any charts or patient records” on the men to whom he prescribed the drugs.

Blank worked at Founder’s Women’s Health Center, an abortion facility in Columbus, and other abortion facilities in the state. According to the report, he became known as the first abortionist to legally abort an unborn baby in Ohio in 1973. The Planned Parenthood abortion chain gave Blank an award in 2012 for his work.

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The Founder’s abortionist also faced a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a patient’s botched abortion. As LifeNews previously reported, Blank was sued in 2013 for allegedly failing to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy and performing an abortion on the woman anyway. Afterward, the woman said she suffered a uterine rupture and now cannot bear any children.

One of the reasons for the possible closure include newer abortion centers cropping up.

In 2018, Founder’s Women’s Health Center formally initiated a lawsuit against Your Choice Healthcare, a new abortion facility which opened following a business split that forced Founder’s to temporarily close.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, the lawsuit asked the Franklin County Common Pleas Court for an order that would prohibit Your Choice from operating, claiming that the new abortion business is improperly using proprietary information and assets of Downtown Gynecologists, Inc.—the group that runs Founder’s—such as its phone number, website, policies, and forms.

Founder’s Women’s Health Center, which opened as Ohio’s first abortion facility in 1973, has a broad history of activities that range from the unethical to the illegal, says Greater Columbus Right to Life, which has tracked and reported its shoddy operations extensively.

“They have been cited by health officials for sub-par facilities and failing to meet minimum standards of Ohio law,” says Greater Columbus Right to Life’s website. “Lawsuits and legal complaints have accrued, ranging from patient malpractice claims to failure to pay local, state, and federal taxes. To date, it appears as though they owe around a million dollars to various taxing agencies.”

Public records show the facility has reported at least 10 botched chemical abortions to the State Medical Board of Ohio, which has received an alarming increase of such reports from abortionists across Ohio since 2014.

And finally, in 2016, Founder’s teetered close to closure after a local hospital withdrew from its transfer agreement with the facility. That decision left the facility without the emergency backup care that is required by Ohio law. To stay afloat, Founder’s scrapped together a convoluted backup plan that was initially denied by the Ohio Department of Health before being revised and accepted.