This past Monday, former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards came to Chicago to be the keynote speaker at the Personal PAC’s 26th Annual Awards Luncheon. The Personal PAC is an abortion PAC in Illinois. At this luncheon, they honored the Hope Clinic for Women of Granite City and celebrated making Illinois the “abortion capitol of the Midwest.” The Hope Clinic is notorious for doing abortions past viability and fetal pain. In addition, checkmyclinic.org found the following information on the facility:
Health Violations
- Failure to ensure all supplies were stored appropriately to prevent the potential for cross-contamination and infection;
- The facility failed to ensure the safety of all medications available for patients;
- Facility’s failure to ensure a physical exam was conducted prior to the procedure on 1 of 5 second-trimester surgical abortion cases reviewed;
- Facility’s failure to ensure safe storage of all narcotics and medications in accordance with state law;
- Failure to ensure equipment was in working condition. There was no documentation on centrifuge or glass cylinder suction machine had been inspected for preventive maintenance and the suction tubing was brownish/yellow.
- The building was not in compliance according to ASC standard.
- The staff failed to conduct fire drills, sprinkler system testing, and testing of the emergency lights. The damper system was not sufficient for airflow circulation.
This clinic was given an award for being “a beacon of hope for women in the Midwest,” following recent pro-life victories in Missouri. As Missouri fights to respect the lives of women and children and work to shut down the St. Louis Planned Parenthood for having 80 ambulances called to their facility in ten years, Illinois strives to maintain poor health standards and unregulated facilities.
It is fitting that such as facility would be awarded with Cecile as the keynote given her legacy “of death and destruction” as former president of Planned Parenthood. Her time as president was replete with scandals and practices dangerous to women and children; selling baby body parts, promoting dangerous sexual practices to minors, and coaching pimps on how to cover up their crimes with abortion. For more info, check out www.wedontneedpp.com.
In response, we brought SFLA’s Fall Tour, Life After Roe, which is focused on envisioning a post-Roe America, where abortion is not just illegal but unthinkable and the needs of women in crisis are met. We set up our display in front of the Hilton Hotel on Michigan Avenue in the heart of downtown Chicago. We were met with anger. Many passersby described us and our display as “disgusting.” One woman shouted that she had, “50 abortions on my way here,” and a few men shouted obscenities to our faces. However, their responses were overshadowed by an encouraging mind changed and activist mobilized.
A man came up to our display during one interaction with an angry woman who, despite our calm demeanor, carried on her conversation with anger and vitriol. He was impressed with our courage and desire to stand up for all human beings, especially the women and children most hurt by the abortion industry. He expressed concern for the controversy that talking about abortion creates. After talking with us and our goals for a better America, he asked for ways to get involved and help women in need. He decided that the controversy of abortion was worth embracing to fight injustice and wanted to use his voice to promote the dignity of all people.
The abortion industry, especially industry giants like Planned Parenthood, profit off the women in crisis and, after ending the life of their developing children, send women back into the terrible circumstance that brought them to the facility in the first place. Women deserve better than abortion. America deserves better than Roe. Mothers and their children deserve better than what Cecile Richards and facilities like the Hope Clinic can offer them.
