The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), has determined that a second Whole Women’s Health abortion clinic was illegally dumping the remains of aborted babies, this time at their clinic in Austin.
Whole Women’s Health is being charged with “Failure to prevent the disposal of treated fetuses at a municipal solid waste landfill” and “Failure to ensure that the labels placed on each medical waste container show the weight of the container.”
“Due to the apparent seriousness of the alleged violations, a formal enforcement action has been initiated,” stated a TCEQ Investigation Report dated June 3, 2011.
Operation Rescue conducted an undercover investigation of abortion clinics across Texas with the help of The Survivors. The investigation at the Austin clinic discovered and documented bloody items, including a blood-filled cannula used in abortions, in the clinic’s dumpster. Also discovered were documents containing the names and other information of abortion patients, constituting a violation of HIPAA privacy regulations.
“I am horrified at the blatant disregard for the law and lack of care for women who are obtaining abortions. Evidence gathered proves that abortion clinics throughout the state of Texas are unclean, unsafe, and their staff lack respect for women and their right to privacy,” said Ashley Colantuono of the Survivors, a key participant in the investigation.
According to the TCEQ report, the Texas Department of State Health Services continues to investigate the alleged privacy violations.
“The scandal involving abortion abuses and legal violations is beginning to spread. As the agencies conduct their own investigations, they are discovering more problems,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “As these investigations progress, we expect to see more penalties and disciplinary action.”
Also now under investigation is Stericycle, a national business that is frequently hired by abortion clinics to dispose of the remains of aborted babies and other biohazardous medical waste.
The report indicated that Stericycle picked up boxes containing aborted baby remains once a week from WWH of Austin. The contents were then autoclaved, or steamed, then dumped at the BFI Sunset Farms Landfill. However, by Texas law, aborted baby remains are considered “pathological waste,” something the Austin Stericycle Autoclave facility is not permitted to handle. Properly treated remains are required to be dumped in a special kind of landfill, not a municipal one like the BFI Sunset Farms facility.
Last week Operation Rescue was notified that the TECQ had found that Whole Women’s Health in McAllen had also violated the laws by dumping the remains of aborted babies in an open dumpster.
Penalties for the violations will now be determined by the enforcement branch of the TCEQ, and could include hefty fines.
Casey Anthony and the Inconsistency of Public Outrage
By: Mike Strain - Stand True Missionary
The Casey Anthony trial has managed to keep the attention of millions of people, and rightfully so. I am a little bit late to hear about the case, as I have been traveling and working for Stand True, but this morning, reports of the trial were still on the news. For anyone who has not seen the articles, a 25-year-old Florida woman named Casey Anthony is charged with the murder of her two year old daughter, Caylee Anthony. Evidence has gone back and forth, and the mother has so far pleaded innocent, although the evidence seems relatively conclusive the other way.
The two-year-old was reported missing in 2008, and the remains were found in the woods in a plastic bag, close to the Anthony home. Chloroform and human decomposition samples were also found as evidence, as well as Google searches on Casey’s computer for “neck breaking”, “how to make chloroform”, and “death”. A CNN report stated that the child was found with duct tape traces over her mouth, and the residue of heart shaped stickers. This story is unbelievable and heartbreaking.
The general public has swarmed over this story, prying for every horrible and tragic detail, in an effort to know how a mother could do such a thing, especially to such a young and beautiful child. The details of the murder are unimaginable and grotesque. They seem quite surreal, coming from a young mother in a suburban Florida neighborhood. As a nation, we seem to ask: “What can cause someone to be so inhuman?”
I believe that the answer lies in a diary entry, written by Casey Anthony, that was dated June 21st, which is as follows, “I have no regrets, just a bit worried. I just want for everything to work out OK. I completely trust my own judgment and know that I made the right decision. I just hope that the end justifies the means. I just want to know what the future will hold for me. I guess I will soon see – This is the happiest that I have been in a very long time. I hope that my happiness will continue to grow– I’ve made new friends that I really like. I’ve surrounded myself with good people– I am finally happy. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t change.” This does not seem like the diary of a woman who has just murdered her child, although it bears chilling similarity to the way that abortion is justified in this country.
How is it that we can obsess over the horror of the Casey Anthony trial and not see the parallels to abortion? There is national lament and outcry over the murder of a two year old, but thousands of unborn children are dismembered and thrown away every day through abortion, and our society turns a blind eye.
The inconsistency about infanticide is astounding. While still a senator, President Obama voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which stated that if a baby survived an abortion, it was illegal to kill it. Our President apparently believes that infanticide is permissible if an abortion was the original intent. This quite obviously did not make a big political impact, and his appalling vote on this bill took a back seat to the economy and job creation. However, if a mother kills her two-year-old daughter there is an entire month worth of news describing every little detail.
I don’t mean to downplay tragedy of the Casey Anthony case, but I can’t help but notice the inconsistency of public reaction, and the similarity of rationale for the act of murder. Abortion is often labeled as simply a personal choice, while the rights of the unborn are invisible and never mentioned. The chilling remark of “I made the right decision….This is the happiest I’ve been in a long time” is shockingly similar to the rhetoric that is thrown around by the pro-choice movement. I also don’t mean to say that every woman who has an abortion is exactly like Casey Anthony.
A huge amount of women are pressured, misled, and terribly misinformed about the true nature of abortion. However, it is inconsistent to state that Casey Anthony is a monster, and in the same breath affirm that abortion is morally equivalent to a appendectomy. I am heartbroken to hear about the trial, and anxiously looking to the conclusion. While I obviously don’t support her actions, I am praying that Casey Anthony will not get the death penalty. The death of a mother will not bring back her child. I also hope for more strict legislation in regards to paternal responsibility, and that the father of Caylee Anthony will also be held accountable for being absent in his daughter’s life.
With the trial in mind, I also pray that the thousands of mothers entering abortion clinics today will have their hearts and minds changed towards life, to embrace the beauty of the family or to create another family through adoption. Maybe one day there will be equal outcry for the victims of abortion as there is now for the death of a beautiful little girl.
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