Dangerous Pensacola abortion facility is permanently closed after patient injuries

A Pensacola abortion facility responsible for hospitalizing at least three women after botched abortions is permanently closed.

Last year, the state of Florida ordered American Family Planning to close after learning that three of its abortion clients were hospitalized within nine months. None of the injuries were reported to state officials within 10 days, as required. Staff allegedly also did not keep records of vital signs during abortions.

One woman was injured so severely that portions of her colon had to be removed. Another bled so much that EMS officials said there were pools of blood on the ground. When they arrived to take her to the hospital, she was cool to the touch, had dangerously low blood pressure, and had no detectable pulse. At the hospital, doctors discovered she had a “big hole on the left wall of the uterus and another on the right side,” as well as lacerations to her cervix. She had to undergo a complete hysterectomy.

The third woman had to have her abortion halted mid-procedure when her cervix was lacerated, and her uterus was ruptured. Afterward, staff told her husband to drive her to a hospital in Mobile, Alabama — instead of calling emergency officials for an ambulance — and upon arrival, doctors found that she had extremely low blood pressure and a blood oxygen level of just 80%, which is considered dangerous. She had to be resuscitated and required blood transfusions.

In these emergencies, none of the doctors received any communications from American Family Planning about the womens’ conditions or what abortion procedures had been committed, both of which are required. Additionally, in previous years, the facility operated without a license or without a medical director, admitting privileges, or a transfer agreement with a local hospital. Google reviews warned women to “stay far, far away from this facility” and called it a “DISGUSTING, FILTHY, UNSANITARY PLACE!”

The facility originally hired an attorney, Julie Gallagher, to appeal the state’s decision to force them to close. There had been a hearing scheduled this month over the appeal, but Gallagher notified the judge that a settlement had been reached. She also said that American Family Planning had given up its license and would be closing permanently.

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