In just over two weeks, the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Illinois, has reportedly botched two more abortion procedures, leaving two women injured. This facility, labeled “Worst of the Worst” by Operation Rescue, has a long history of medical emergencies, and these latest incidents are adding to its troubling reputation. Adding to the controversy, 911 dispatchers responding to these calls displayed a concerning lack of urgency, raising questions about their handling of emergencies at the clinic.
The first incident occurred when a staff member from the clinic called 911 with an unsettlingly casual tone, requesting an ambulance. “Hi, this is Kelly from Hope Clinic. We need an ambulance to take a patient,” the employee said, without elaborating on the seriousness of the situation.
Despite being trained to gather critical information in medical emergencies, the 911 dispatcher did not inquire further into the patient’s condition. No questions were asked regarding the patient’s vital signs, symptoms, or whether she needed basic or advanced life support.
These are standard questions dispatchers ask to determine the appropriate level of medical response. Instead, the dispatcher’s response was disturbingly nonchalant: “Ok, we’ll send them on.” It was as if the request was for a routine ride rather than for emergency medical care.
This apparent indifference has led many to wonder if the regularity of medical emergencies at this facility has numbed both clinic staff and emergency responders to the gravity of these situations. The Hope Clinic has a notorious history of botched abortions, often resulting in severe complications such as hemorrhaging or internal organ perforation.
Abortions are performed there up to 26 weeks into pregnancy, making complications particularly dangerous. According to Operation Rescue, many of the clinic’s emergencies are the result of mothers suffering internal injuries during these late-term procedures.
Just days later, on October 5, a similar call was made to 911 from the Hope Clinic. This time, the caller informed the dispatcher that an ambulance was needed immediately to transfer a patient to Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a Level One trauma center in St. Louis, Missouri. Barnes-Jewish Hospital is roughly 10 miles away, despite there being a hospital right across the street from the clinic. The severity of these injuries often requires the resources of a top-level trauma center, where emergency surgery can be performed.
Again, the 911 dispatcher’s response was alarmingly unbothered. “Uh huh, what’s going on at the Hope Clinic?” the dispatcher asked. When the clinic employee responded that a patient needed to be transferred to the trauma center, the dispatcher asked no follow-up questions, other than inquiring about the woman’s age. Shockingly, the clinic employee could only guess that the patient was in her thirties. “Alright, I’ll get an ambulance over there,” the dispatcher muttered, showing no sense of urgency.
These two calls have raised significant concerns about how emergencies are handled at the Hope Clinic and the response—or lack thereof—by 911 dispatchers. Operation Rescue President Troy Newman criticized the dispatchers for failing to act with the urgency that medical emergencies warrant.
“The lack of urgency in the voices of the women responding to these emergencies is distressing when you consider that a mother, in each situation, had likely already facilitated the death of her child and lay in a bed suffering, perhaps bleeding out,” Newman stated.
He added that this indifference from both the clinic staff and the emergency responders reflects a deeper, more disturbing problem. “But people who kill for a living are not likely to become unsettled by another person’s suffering. And the regularity of these emergencies has obviously diminished sensitivity on the part of dispatchers so much that they fail to follow through with the basic requirements of their jobs as first responder support specialists. The callousness is utterly demoralizing,” Newman remarked.
The Hope Clinic, which has a long and troubled history, has repeatedly been the subject of investigations and criticisms from pro-life groups. These latest incidents only add to the facility’s growing list of concerns. The clinic continues to perform late-term abortions, despite the increased risks to both the mother and child. These two recent botched procedures serve as a grim reminder of the dangers associated with such practices, and the perceived indifference from emergency responders only compounds the issue.
For many, these incidents highlight the need for stricter oversight and regulation of abortion clinics, particularly those with a record of repeated medical emergencies. While the Hope Clinic remains open, questions about its safety practices and the accountability of emergency services remain unanswered, leaving the public to wonder how many more women will be injured before action is taken.
As Operation Rescue and other pro-life organizations continue to shine a light on these troubling incidents, the debate surrounding abortion clinic regulations and emergency response practices is likely to intensify.
