Unsafe, illegal, and far too common

Another Alabama abortion clinic has been found in violation of multiple state laws, including one that requires clinics to record the ages of fetuses which they kill.

From the Huntsville Times:

A Huntsville abortion clinic that is a frequent target of protesters got poor marks on its most recent state inspection.

Alabama Women's Center for Reproductive Alternatives, 612 Madison St., was cited by state inspectors last month for violating 10 state laws governing abortion providers. Among the most serious findings:

Patients who called the clinic after hours because of heavy vaginal bleeding and other complications were connected to an administrator rather than a doctor.

The clinic routinely failed to document the age of fetuses being aborted.

Patients may have been sent home before the required 20-minute recovery period.

Rick Harris, director of the state health department's Bureau of Health Provider Standards, said the clinic's failure to keep some mandatory records "indicates a kind of sloppiness."

"It makes you wonder, what else are they failing to document?" Harris said this week. "It's not a sign of bad care, but it's an indicator."

Even so, the clinic probably will not be penalized by the state because it has submitted a plan for correcting its mistakes.

The unannounced Oct. 5 visit by state health regulators was the Alabama Women's Center's first inspection since April 2001, records show.

This abortion clinic was caught in violation of at least 10 state laws...and there will be no penalty? No fines, no nothing. If this is the best the state health department can do, then it's time to clean house.