On the heels of abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s West Pennsylvania’s “house of horrors” which revealed that some abortion clinics have gone up to 15 years without inspections, Illinois state regulators are cracking down on abortion providers across the Prairie State. In January, as previously reported by Illinois Family Institute, increased oversight led to the permanent closure of a clinic in Rockford.

Abortionists of the Northern Illinois Women’s Center decided to voluntarily shut their doors for good after being closed since September because of health and safety violations. The Center opened in1974.

Another clinic in suburban Chicago closed last October.

Inspection Backlog

An Associated Press investigation found that while Illinois is working on a backlog of neglected inspections, a few clinics have not been inspected in more than a decade.  “One in Chicago hasn’t been inspected in 16 years,” reports AP.  “Another in the suburb of Wood Dale was last inspected nearly 15 years ago.”

State officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health attribute a lack of funds to the uninspected clinics, claiming that the state’s 24 trained health inspectors are responsible for inspecting nearly 2,000 facilities. Prolife activists, however, believe there is a larger political agenda slowing the inspections.

“Illinois is one of the most pro-abortion states in the nation,” said Eric Scheiedler, executive director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. The state has shown “a systematic unwillingness to step away from the ideology and look at these facilities objectively,” he said,

The documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) spurred Illinois inspectors to visit all nine licensed abortion clinics that are defined as pregnancy termination centers during 2011.

“Those reports also spurred the Illinois Department of Public Health into action, Karen Senger, who supervises licensing and regulation of health care facilities in the state, told AP. “The documents show the state began quietly increasing the inspections of its clinics last year.”

Other states tightening regulations following the 2010 Philadelphia abortion clinic raid include Kansas, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Utah.

Illinois clinics inspected in 2011 and the years they’d gone without full health inspections:

—Anchor Health Center in Glen Ellyn. Nine years without a full health inspection. Inspected May 5, 2011.

—Access Health Center in Downers Grove. 13 years without a full health inspection. Inspected May 18, 2011.

—ACU Health Clinic in Hinsdale. 14 years without an inspection. Inspected May 24, 2011.

—American Women’s Medical Center in Des Plaines. Seven years without a full health inspection. Inspected June 23, 2011.

—Forest View Medical Center in Des Plaines. Six years without a full health inspection. Inspected June 1, 2011.

—Michigan Avenue Medical Center in Chicago. Seven years without a full health inspection. Inspected June 23, 2011.

—National Health Care Service in Peoria. Nine years without a full health inspection. Inspected June 16, 2011.

—Northern Illinois Women’s Center in Rockford. 15 years without a full health inspection. Inspected June 8, 2011.

—Women’s Aid Clinic in Lincolnwood. 15 years without a full health inspection. Inspected Sept. 6, 2011.

Source: Illinois Department of Public Health documents on pregnancy termination center inspections

A clinic that has been providing abortions in Rockford, Illinois for nearly 40 years is closing permanently. Abortionists of the Northern Illinois Women’s Center say they have decided to voluntarily shut their doors for good after being closed since September because of health and safety violations. The Center has been open since 1974.

“The closure of the notorious Northern Illinois Women’s Center in Rockford is a great victory for public health and women’s safety,” said Eric Scheidler of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. “The entire state should thank the pro-life community for calling attention to the deplorable conditions at this abortion facility and demanding that authorities step in and enforce the law.”

Melaney Arnold of the Illinois Department of Public Health told the Associated Press the agency hasn’t been officially notified by the clinic’s owners. On September 30, the Department ordered an emergency suspension of the clinic’s license and fined them $15,000. The state awarded the clinic the right to reopen Jan. 4.

The clinic then faced two options — either pay a $9,750 fine and reopen or give up the clinic’s license and pay a reduced fine of $1,000 if they agreed to close permanently.

Those close to the matter cite reasons behind the “voluntary” closure as “based on lack of support from the community, the political climate surrounding the abortion issue and the challenge the clinic would face in rebuilding staff.”

“It’s shocking that it had to get this bad for the state to step in. If other clinics it the state are half or even a quarter as bad as Rockford, they too need to be closed down,” said Scheidler.

Moreover, reports find state law exempts nine other abortion clinics from ever being inspected. The conditions at these nine facilities remain unknown.

“The Rockford facility was one of the most infamous in the country,” said Scheidler. “We’re not just talking about the broken sterilizing equipment or lack of nursing staff that caused state officials to act. This place was the site of such bizarre scenes as a crucified rubber chicken hanging in the window and clinic owner Wayne Webster prancing outside in a devil costume.”

Some 30 people attended a prayer gathering outside the clinic Jan. 17, including Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr.

“It’s not enough for officials to step up and enforce the weak laws we already have,” said Scheidler. “It’s time for the General Assembly to close the loopholes that keep public health officials from ensuring other abortuaries aren’t similarly violating the law.”