February 12, 2021

New Report Shows Abortion Facilities in 21 States Violated Informed Consent Laws

photo credit: Luis Galvez / Unsplash
A report recently released by Americans United for Life (AUL) documented health code violations at abortion facilities in 39 states across the country. While the other 11 states do not inspect abortion facilities at all, the report still found that "more than 300 facilities in 39 states were cited for more than 2,400 health and safety deficiencies between 2008 and 2020, including hundreds of significant violations of state laws meant to ensure basic health and safety."

AUL's report, titled "Unsafe," tackles a variety of issues including "the dangers of chemical abortion drugs, abortionists’ disregard for patient safety, and their failure to report the trafficking and rape of young girls."

One topic in the report that stood out to pro-life advocates was the sheer number of clinics that violated state informed consent laws. These laws require abortion facilities to inform women about the risks involved with abortion or about alternatives to abortion.

Unsafe placed these violations into several categories, including:
  • Failure to obtain required informed consent at the required time, such as on the same day of procedures or within the state’s required window of time;
  • Failure to have the appropriate licensed staff member obtain the required informed consent;
  • Failure to post or provide patients with contact information for complaint hotlines;
  • Failure to post clinic’s license information in a place where patients could easily see it.
In Illinois, the report showed that Advantage Health Care (which is located in Dale, IL) and Whole Woman's Health of Peoria were caught violating informed consent laws.

20 other states were also found to have facilities that violated informed consent laws.