Mississippi abortionist is a great decorator, but not so good with patient safety

Mississippi’s only abortion clinic is allowed to stay open for now, and The Daily Beast ran an interview to introduce their readers to the woman who runs the clinic, Diane Derzis. We are told that she likes thrillers, has a smoker’s laugh, and is apparently a fabulous decorator. Her numerous patient safety violations? No mention.

Friends and colleagues describe the 58-year-old as “well put-together,” funny, savvy, and tough. She loves yard sales, thrillers take her mind off tough days, and in the ’80s she returned to school for a law degree after years of operating clinics.

… Derzis bought the Jackson clinic from friend and colleague Susan Hill in 2010, after Hill died of breast cancer, and practically the first thing she did was redecorate—she painted the walls bright purples and yellows, and added red leather furniture to create a “happy, warm feeling”—a stark contrast with her own abortion experience three decades before.

The article also mentions Derzis’ lavish home, complete with jacuzzi and skyline views, recently featured in a Birmingham newspaper. Hey, abortion pays. The sad thing is that Derzis has a history of flouting patient safety standards, yet here she is being glorified.

Derzis also owned an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. “Owned” is in past tense, because that clinic was forcibly closed, and allowed to reopen only on the condition that Derzis couldn’t be involved in running it anymore. (The clinic is currently still closed.) The state of Alabama investigated the clinic after three patients were hospitalized, one in intensive care, on the same day and found 76 pages’ worth of health code violations.

But hey, she can decorate well.

And while pro-abortion journalists try to paint the potential closure of this abortion clinic as anti-choice fear-mongering, the truth is actually quite different. The new Mississippi law requires doctors at abortion clinics have admitting privileges at a hospital. This is necessary in case of a medical emergency, which can happen at any medical establishment – and Diane Derzis should already know firsthand. Her new clinic yet again has failed to meet health and safety standards, and so it is on the verge of closing. Yet somehow, she’s being portrayed in the media as some kind of pro-woman crusader.

I’m curious: how is someone who consistently flouts safety standards, sending three women to the hospital, and violating so many health code requirements that the list goes on for 76 pages pro-woman in any way? Here is a woman who couldn’t care less about women’s health and safety and is apparently profiting well off her carelessness (judging by the description of her posh pad), and pro-abortion activists are cheering her as a hero.

Even tattoo parlors are held to stricter standards than many abortion clinics are. No other doctor’s office would be allowed to flout the health code and get away with it, but that’s exactly what Derzis’ defenders are trying to help her do. And here’s The Daily Beast, excusing her numerous health code violations and shoddy patient care based on ambience.

It’s a common tactic in the abortion industry and among those who defend it, really. They’ll paint a pretty picture for you on the surface, to make everything look bright and shiny and safe. But you only have to scratch a little bit to see that the truth is rotting underneath.