Abortion Clinic Worker Offers Undercover Reporter Illegal At-Home Abortion: Report

 An apparent Indiana abortion clinic worker offered an undercover reporter an at-home abortion, though abortions are now banned in the state, according to a report.

Real News Michiana reporter Clifton French posed as a transgender man seeking an abortion in a call to Clinic for Women, an Indianapolis, Indiana, abortion clinic. The clinic is in the process of closing following the state’s abortion ban, which went into effect earlier this week after the Indiana Supreme Court denied a petition for a retrial filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood.

In the recorded phone call, a woman named “Bridgette” (spelling unknown) said that she had all of the necessary resources to medically induce an abortion “at home” for $500, though the woman later relented to a bartered price of $450. The woman acknowledged that her proposition was illegal.

“This is strictly between me and you now, you know, because […] we’re not supposed to be doing this,” said the woman. “I’m not supposed to be doing this because it’s illegal.”

The woman also said she would lie about the date of the abortion procedure to make it defensible.

“So, we going [sic] to act like it’s yesterday,” said the woman.

French reportedly passed on the information to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.

In February, Clinic for Women launched a sister location in the border city of Danville, Illinois, operating under the business name, “Affirmative Care Solutions.” The clinic’s operator, LaDonna Prince, is listed as a manager alongside Alisha Dunn and Dennis Mickle, according to Illinois’ business registration database.

 

According to Indiana’s licensing database, both of the health facility admin board licenses under Prince’s name have long since expired.

The site for the new Illinois clinic experienced vandalism and community pushback, prompting a crowdfunding effort to raise $500,000 to mitigate the damages and a request by Illinois Democratic Rep. Robin Kelly to the Danville mayor and chief of police for an investigation status update.

In May, the Danville City Council passed an ordinance banning mail-order abortion pills. The ordinance conflicts with state law allowing abortion until the point of fetal “viability.” Prince told reporters that she plans to open her new clinic despite the city council’s ban.

Clinic for Women is part of the National Abortion Federation and the National Coalition of Abortion Providers. Since opening its doors in 1977, the clinic has faced allegations of poor public health practices and neglecting informed consent waivers.

In the 2005 case Clinic For Women, Inc. v. Brizzi, the clinic challenged the constitutionality of an Indiana law requiring informed consent and an 18-hour waiting period prior to an abortion. Although the appeals court sided with the clinic, declaring that the Constitution imparts a fundamental right to privacy that enables an abortion, the Indiana Supreme Court held that the statute didn’t affect any right to privacy or abortion “that might exist.”

According to Indiana’s business registration database, the longtime secretary for the clinic was late abortion activist and provider Margaret “Peg” Johnston, founder and former chair of the Abortion Care Network and executive director of the Southern Tier Women’s Health Services. The president was a Florida woman named Erna Arenz, who passed away a decade ago.