A Florida abortion facility must pay $7,000 in fines for failing to properly obtain women’s informed consent before aborting their unborn babies.
CBS News reports A GYN Diagnostic Center, an abortion facility in Hialeah, agreed to pay the fine in a recent settlement agreement with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.
Florida law requires abortion facilities to provide informed consent, including information about abortion risks, the age and ultrasound image of their unborn baby, the abortion procedure, pregnancy/parenting resources and more, to women at least 24 hours prior to the abortion.
During a May 19, 2022 visit, however, agency inspectors said they pulled a sample of patient records and found seven with no documentation of informed consent, according to the agency. Upon examining additional records, inspectors said they found dozens showing the abortion facility either did not follow the 24-hour waiting period or did not properly obtain the patient’s informed consent.
REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.
However, A GYN Diagnostic Center disputed the claims, and, according to the settlement, negotiated a smaller fine than the $41,000 ($1,000 for each patient violation) that the state agency initially wanted, CBS News reports.
“By executing this agreement, respondent (the clinic) denies the allegations raised in the administrative complaint … and the agency asserts the validity of the allegations raised in the administrative complaint,” the settlement states.
The Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration has been cracking down on dangerous abortion facilities under Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration. Last year, the agency also forced a Pensacola abortion facility to close after state health authorities said three women nearly died when its abortionist seriously injured them in botched abortions.
Within a nine-month period, state health officials said three women nearly died from abortion complications at the former American Family Planning in Pensacola: one required resuscitation, another had parts of her colon removed and a third needed an emergency hysterectomy, the News Journal reported in 2022.
The pro-life investigative group Reprotection has been working with health authorities in Florida and other states to make sure abortion facilities are following safety regulations and states are enforcing them. The organization was instrumental in the investigation and closure of the Pensacola abortion facility last year.
