Life Links 3/11/13

The state of Maryland has suspended the licenses of three abortion clinics.

State health officials have suspended surgical abortion procedures at three clinics, including one in Baltimore where a patient suffered cardiac arrest and died.

The physician who performed the abortion at Associates in OB/GYN Care LLC on North Calvert Street wasn't certified in CPR and a defibrillator at the facility did not work, state officials said in a letter Friday to the General Assembly.

Although the cardiac arrest was caused by underlying health conditions and not the abortion, investigators found that it raised questions whether doctors at the clinic can handle an abortion that goes wrong......

The other two clinics that lost surgical privileges, located in Landover and Silver Spring, also are owned by Associates in OB/GYN Care and also had licenses suspended for issues related to the ability to respond to life-threatening problems during surgery.

The National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers was March 10.  From the various pro-choice sources I read, it seems like it was less celebrated than usual. 


The Wichita Eagle interviewed one of the physicians who has signed up to provide abortions at the South Wind Women's Center abortion clinic when it opens.  South Wind is operating at the same location where George Tiller provided abortions in Wichita.  The new physician says she's never performed an elective abortion.

She has been a board-certified OB/GYN for about 10 years but has never performed elective abortions. The doctor says abortion is probably not a choice she would make for herself.

But she believes that women have the right to that option and she said she felt a calling to step up to provide that option.

The doctor asked to not be named in this story.

Tiller was shot to death on a Sunday in May 2009 at his church by a man who opposed abortion.

The OB/GYN wants to remain anonymous for as long as she can.