Marie Stopes International, one of the largest abortion chains in the world, has come under serious fire after a damning report from the United Kingdom’s Care Quality Commission (CQC). In it, Marie Stopes abortion facilities were found to be attempting to coerce women into abortions, throwing the bodies of aborted babies into open trash cans, and not following proper sterilization and infection control protocols. It was so bad that they were forced to put a halt to almost half of their abortions — any that involved sedation or anesthesia of any kind.
In one location, abortionists were observed as they interacted with a woman with learning disabilities, who clearly did not understand what was going on, and became more and more “visibly distressed” as the staffers tried to force her into an abortion. The inspectors eventually had to step in to put an end to the coercion. At another clinic, abortionists were “bulk-signing” patient consent forms, without actually meeting the patients or learning about their circumstances, meaning that they had no clue if the women were being forced into the abortions or not… and evidently, didn’t care.
One woman came forward after the report was released, saying that her experience lines up with what investigators uncovered. “I saw several nurses and explained my situation. I felt like they wanted me to have an abortion. The place was chock-a-block with people. It is all about money. They are not counselling people properly,” she said. “It was like a conveyor belt. Some (women) were really upset, they were crying but there was no support for them. It was one in, and literally five minutes later, another one in. They were doing it so quickly.” She visited the clinic seven times before deciding that she couldn’t go through with the abortion. “When I told them I didn’t want the abortion they accused me of wasting their time,” she said. “I was ushered out of the door half-dressed and in tears.”
In addition to the abortion coercion, the clinics were also found to have serious problems with patient safety. At a clinic in Norwich, “multiple surgical termination products were left in a single open hazardous waste bin in a sluice room next to theatres for the whole day.” Staff also did not know how to resuscitate women, and abortionists would leave the clinic for the day, even though patients were still in the clinic, meaning that there was no one there to handle a potential medical emergency. Also in Norwich, the bodies of aborted babies were thrown into an open trash can, which wasn’t emptied between patients. Multiple clinics were found to have problems with infection control, following surgery checklists, long waits, and improperly trained staff.
Professor Edward Baker, deputy chief inspector of hospitals at the Care Quality Commission, said that they will be continuing to monitor Marie Stopes clinics “very closely,” and promised that the CQC would not hesitate to take further action if necessary.
