Delaware abortion clinic stops surgical abortions amid scandal

Premier OB/GYN in Wilmington, Delaware, has announced it will temporarily stop performing surgical abortions in light of state demands that it obtain accreditation or close its doors.

Delaware health officials contend the facility has conducted abortions without legally-required accreditation since September 2014, and has ignored repeated warnings to obtain it. The Division of Public Health set the deadline for doing so as September 15.Premier has decided to cease surgical abortions, with the expectation that it can become accredited and resume them by January 2016. It will be able to continue administering drugs for medical abortions.

In a letter, Premier’s Kimberly Glunt said the facility is “voluntarily ceasing the performance of all surgical abortion procedures after today, Sept. 11, 2015.” Glunt was also president of Integrity Family Health, a Philadelphia abortion clinic shut down over failure to disclose its affiliation with Steven Brigham, an abortionist whose medical license has been revoked in several states amid various medical malpractice suits.

The abortion clinic has also been a source of controversy in the building where it is housed. Building owner and dentist Dr. Parham Farhi said he originally leased the space to Premier under the impression it was a conventional OB/GYN office uninvolved in abortion.

Following pro-life protests, Farhi has offered Premiere $5,000 to break the lease and leave. “I don’t want blood money…I don’t want to be associated with these people,” he said.