Another 1 Bites the Dust - Now If Only the DBQ Site Would Follow

Steve Brody, Exec. Dir. of DBQ Co Right to Life sent the following piece of good news to Jill Stanek who put it up on her blog a few days ago.

As Steve pointed out "This location opened in 2008 only a few months before the PP in Dubuque.... It appears to follow the same consolidation strategy PP is pursuing throughout the country to save money...."

The spin PP put on why it is closing struck Jill Stanek as amusing & me as hillarious:

"Feedback from patients has reflected their preference in the convenience of accessing reproductive healthcare while traveling to Cedar Rapids and Dubuque for work and shopping. Both health centers are equal distances from the current... location - 35 miles."

I found it funny because the PP here in DBQ hasn't exactly taken off like they wanted. Last August, as I pointed out in a post, they are getting about 13.5 people a week. That is less than 3 people a day. While I can't show up much to pray/protest in front of the clinic, my personal experience has shown they don't have the people rushing to get in, from DBQ or elsewhere. & a lot of the time, when I do see someone go in, they don't spend much time, like the teens the other day who I am sure went in for the freebie condoms. It is likely that unless they can add abortion (pray that they won't be able to) the DBQ site will soon close as well.

There are 2 ways they can go in DBQ. 1 is the surgical abortion route. To do that they would probably have to find a different site, which might prove difficult. Or they could follow the lead of other PP sites in Iowa & do remote abortions. I reported on this a year ago (An Iowa Infamia). Remote, or Telemed abortions are chemical abortions. It is literally an abortion done via a teleconferencing service. Mothers seeking an abortion go to a clinic that has no physician on staff. She has a brief visit with an off-site abortionist that appears on a computer monitor. The abortionist explains the medical abortion procedure. Then the abortion drug RU486, also known as Mifepristone, is prescribed.

That's it. She is never physically examined by the medical doctor prescribing the drugs, let alone any otherdoctor. & she never sees the abortionist again. Definitely a recipe for trouble. Operation Rescue recently did an investigation into how Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is doing this very thing in the Western & Central parts of Iowa. What they found isn't pretty.

The medical abortion was described by one Planned Parenthood receptionist as a “self-induced miscarriage.” Actually, the medical abortion process takes days. It can be very painful It involves heavy bleeding & cramping until the pre-born baby is expelled. Despite the seriousness of the proceedure the only follow-up offered by Planned Parenthood is a recommended appointment in “two or three weeks” after the abortion where a second ultrasound is offered to make sure the “pregnancy no longer exists.” That is not enough. Should tissue from the pregnancy be retained, it presents a risk of infection to the woman that could kill her This is especially true if care is delayed 2-3 weeks.

Iowa Code 146.1 defines an abortion as, “the termination of a human pregnancy with the intent other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus.” Iowa law says this can only be done by “licensed physicians.” However, & this should be no surprize given PP's track record of law breaking elsewhere, it looks like PP isn't obeying the law/

Operation Rescue reports on an undercover call made by 1 of their investigators. They said that the Planned Parenthood receptionist was clear that the so-called “nurse” would actually be doing the abortion procedure.

If true then it is doubtful that these abortions are even legal since the abortions are not done by a licensed physician, but an abortion worker at a clinic that the physician never visits.

“The term ‘nurse’ is used loosely by abortion clinics. More often than not, what they refer to as a ‘nurse’ is really an unlicensed worker with little education or training,” said OR President Troy Newman. “It is actually very rare to find an abortion clinic that employs registered nurses or even licensed practical nurses, because they drive up the costs and drive down the profit margin.”

So what is Iowa doing about it? Nothing apparently. Which given how buddy buddy Gov. Culver is with PP is no surprize. Operation Rescue reports that it attempted to contact the Iowa Board of Medicine for a comment on the legality & safety of telemed abortions. However the numerous phone calls were not returned. Again, this is no surprize to me given PPs track record. The people who should investigate are usually pro-abortion themselves & don't want to do anything to get the truth out either. (Go here for more)

Besides proving once again that PP doesn't really care about a woman's health, this also proves again that it is all about the Benjamins. Operation Rescue’s research, which surveyed medical abortions from coast to coast, fund that the average cost of a medical abortion nationally is about $390, ranging from a low of $300 to a high of $600. Wait until you hear what PP is billing insurance companies in Iowa. They are being billed by PP at a rate of $1,000. Yup at 2-1/2 times greater than the national average – with a fraction of the cost.

So what if the patient does not have insurance? Then the cost of the medical abortion is “discounted” by Planned Parenthood to $500. As OR reports "That is still well above the national average. Limited financial assistance from various abortion funds can further discount the abortion, but the money from the grant money still goes into Planned Parenthood coffers insuring that the abortion clinic never receives less than $500 for each telemed abortion."

This is all the more reason why we have to keep fighting PP as well as continue to fight for the overturn of the recently passed "Health Care Deform" that will ensure PP will get this blood money from our tax dollars.

As I said PP in DBQ isn't exactly taking off. That is a good thing. However the PP plan of action is to eventually add abortion to their clinics to ensure huge profits. & I am sure the long range plan for the DBQ location is to do the same. Given their willingness to use this highly profitable chemical abortion elsewhere, it is likely they are considering that for DBQ as well. All the more reason we must continue the battle here in DBQ. As Steve told Jill Stanek "The efforts of pro-life warriors are working, and we know we can shut them down in Dubuque as well." But only if we are willing to keep up the battle, SPIRITUALLY AS WELL AS PHYSICALLY.

Sources: Closing! Planned Parenthood, Monticello, IA
Report: Planned Parenthood Endangering Women with Remote Abortions