Contact: Fr. Terry Gensemer, CEC for Life, 205-253-0159
BIRMINGHAM, AL — On Wednesday, February 11, at 10:30 AM, local and national pro-life organizations will hold a press conference calling attention to suspected illegal activity occurring inside Central Alabama Women’s Clinic located at 1013 Medical Center Pkwy in the historically renowned city of Selma, Alabama.
Representatives from Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC) for Life, Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF), Operation Rescue, and the National Black Pro-Life Coalition will gather with the local pro-life community Wednesday morning directly outside of Central Alabama Women’s Clinic to call for a thorough and speedy investigation of this facility from the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH).
According to Alabama regulations, any private practice performing more than 9 abortions a month must be licensed by the state. Those calling for the press conference confirm that Central Alabama Women’s Clinic is not a state-licensed abortion clinic, yet seems to be operating as one.
LLDF Senior Staff Counsel Allison Aranda reports that her organization actually provided overwhelming evidence of this facility’s illegal practices to the ADPH months ago, on behalf of concerned Alabama citizens. LLDF has also recently provided the same evidence to the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners. However, the only reaction after months of probing the ADPH is a resounding, “No comment.”
Aranda states, “We have given the ADPH ample time to confirm our evidence and shut down another illegal abortion clinic. Yet, eight months have passed and it is still unclear if the ADPH has even begun an investigation into this facility’s unlawful activities.”
Rev. Terry Gensemer, Director of CEC For Life and Alabama citizen comments, “Agencies like the ADPH are put in place to ensure the highest standard of safety for every patient. Months of inaction on a case like this imply targeted apathy towards the lives of Alabama women, while also bringing into question the intentions of the Department of Public Health — is this women’s clinic, whose main clientele is low-income minorities, somehow exempt from state laws and regulations?”
Catherine Davis of the National Black Pro-Life Coalition adds, “Alabama has joined a number of states in turning a blind eye to violations of the law by abortionists. Women – mostly Black and mostly poor – are being subjected to substandard medical care that has left them physically and psychologically injured, and sometimes dead. We demand justice for the babies that are being ripped apart, illegally, every day. We demand justice for the women that have suffered botched abortions in this center.”
According to Aranda and Rev. Gensemer, Wednesday’s press conference marks the beginning of a national awareness campaign geared towards an immediate shutdown of this business until the state can offer ample proof that its activities are within the law. A long list of national and international organizations have signed on in support of this campaign.
Troy Newman of Operation Rescue adds, “It is imperative to note that this is the second illegal clinic our organizations have uncovered in Alabama within the last three years. With such a slow reaction from state agencies in both cases, we cannot help but express overwhelming concern that these two clinics are just the tip of a very ugly iceberg.”
A prayer vigil will follow immediately after the press conference.