Ohio abortion facility denied request to operate without a hospital transfer agreement

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has denied the Women’s Med Dayton abortion facility’s variance request that would have taken the place of a valid hospital transfer agreement. According to state law, all abortion facilities must maintain either a valid hospital transfer agreement or an approved variance that would provide the same level of care. Operation Rescue reports that the abortion facility’s request for approval of its variance was denied by ODH Director Bruce Vanderhoff.

Women’s Med Center is one of the few abortion facilities in the country that commits late-term abortions through the ninth month of pregnancy. Run by notorious abortionist Dr. Martin Haskell, it has a checkered past with a history of injuring women.

The ruling is the latest in a back-and-forth licensing dispute with the Ohio Department of Health that has gone on for years. The abortion facility’s license was revoked back in 2014 because it failed to meet state health and safety standards. Women’s Med challenged that revocation in court while continuing to operate without a license. The abortion facility was even ordered to close, yet it continued to operate in violation of state law.

READ: Dangerous Ohio abortion facility injures another woman during abortion

The tables were turned unexpectedly in late 2019 when the Ohio Department of Health got a new executive director, Amy Acton, who granted the abortion facility a stunning victory. She allowed the abortion facility to change its name from Women’s Med Center of Dayton to Women’s Med Dayton in order to erase its previous violations and start afresh with a new license. The recent variance denied by ODH was a renewal of this license, which had an expiration date of November 2020.

The hospital transfer agreement is a common-sense safety measure meant to ensure that women who are injured in abortions are able to quickly receive the medical attention they need. Women’s Med Dayton’s continued efforts to operate without such an agreement — even while women are routinely injured in its abortion facility — goes to show that the health and well-being of women are not its primary concern.

Operation Rescue reports that Women’s Med Dayton is continuing to operate even though it no longer has a valid license, as it has done in the past. However, there may be other factors at work in closing the facility. The Ohio legislature recently passed a bill that, if signed by Gov. Mike DeWine, will disallow abortion facilities from contracting with doctors who are also involved in any way with state-funded colleges or universities. According to the Ohio-based Center for Christian Virtue, there is a good chance that this provision could shutter the doors of Women’s Med Dayton for good — an action that is long overdue.

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