Sidewalk counselors in Granite City, Illinois, observed three more ambulances at Hope Clinic (HC) in Granite City, Illinois, in December 2023.
This report is not to be confused with Operation Rescue’s last two reports concerning this notoriously dangerous facility that performs abortions well into the third trimester. Each of the previous reports also referenced three emergencies within short time frames:
- Three hospital transfers in August through September,
- Three within one week’s time in November.
Including these new emergency transfers in December, Operation Rescue and the faithful sidewalk counselors at HC documented a total of 15 emergency transfers in 2023. Nearly every woman was transferred to Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a Level 1 Trauma Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Of the five categories of trauma centers, a Level 1 Trauma Center is the most equipped to provide comprehensive emergency care when traumatic injuries have been sustained. General and specialty surgeons must be on 24-hour call or readily available to treat life-threatening injuries.
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Hear all three 911 calls below:
December 7 (Post-Procedure Bleeding):
An employee of HC called 911 shortly after 12 noon concerning a 27-year-old woman who had just undergone a late-term, dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion. That horrific procedure is described here (courtesy of Live Action) by Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former abortionist who is now pro-life.
According to the caller, the woman was 25 weeks pregnant prior to the D&E abortion. When aborting a baby at this incredibly late stage of pregnancy, the mother’s life is put at increased risk. And, the method of killing the child is shockingly barbaric. Had the baby been born at this stage of development, he or she would have had a 75% to 85% chance of survival.
The legal gestational limit defined by the state of Illinois is set at the age of “viability.” Most states consider the gestational age of viability to begin at 24 weeks. Though HC may have remained within that limit in the past, it has recently updated its website indicating it commits abortions up to 27 weeks and 6 days, essentially 28 weeks gestation. At this even later stage of development, 80% to 90% of babies survive outside the womb.
In this particular situation, it is not known whether the baby had already died or was still suffering. One of the sidewalk counselors, who regularly reaches out to women and families arriving at HC, expressed the agony of her prayers upon witnessing so many moms wheeled out on gurneys and loaded onto ambulances:
“The hardest prayer I have ever prayed is, ‘Lord, if there is no chance for that baby to live, please let it die quickly to stop the suffering.’”
Kelly Bradley
The HC employee described the hemorrhaging woman as “G2P0,” indicating it was her second pregnancy with no live births.
Though the caller stated the woman’s bleeding was controlled, she stressed with increased volume in her voice that the woman needed to be transferred to “Barnes in St. Louis.”
Consistent with other 911 calls made to Granite City from HC, details about the patient’s basic vital signs were not requested, nor were they communicated. Therefore, it is not known how much blood the woman had already lost and how the blood loss had affected her body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. This type of information is needed to assess the appropriate level of care to be administered by the emergency medical professionals.
December 9 (Anemic with Heavy Bleeding):
An HC employee called 911 at about 10 a.m. to report that an anemic, 32-year-old woman was experiencing heavy bleeding with her “procedure” and needed to be “transferred to Barnes.”
Absolutely no more information was
provided, and, again, the dispatcher secured no information about the woman’s vital signs.
December 21 (Bleeding Heavily):
The HC employee who called 911 reported that a 39-year-old woman was experiencing heavy bleeding after a dilation and curettage abortion. She made the usual request for transfer to Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
The caller made a second request that was highly unusual. While sidewalk counselors have reported that lights and sirens are almost never utilized by emergency medical services when nearing and leaving this facility, this HC employee specifically asked for lights and sirens.
According to the sidewalk counselors who were present and observed the suffering woman being wheeled out on a gurney with an IV, the abortionists on duty that day were Erin King and Margaret Baum. Operation Rescue has seen a pattern of emergency transports taking place when one or both of these abortionists are on duty.
King’s husband, David Eisenberg, also an abortionist, is on staff at Barnes-Jewish Hospital where the women with life-threatening injuries are transferred.
“There is no telling how many abortions are ‘completed’ at this highly respected hospital,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “And, unlike most hospitals where respectable emergency room doctors are forced to clean up the pieces left behind by abortionists, an on-staff abortionist (Eisenberg) is likely called in to finish the job. It is a shameful, gruesome, and murderous cycle operating between the states of Illinois and Missouri. Though abortion is legal up to ‘viability’ in Illinois, abortion is illegal in Missouri. Operation Rescue worked hard for years to help make that a reality.
“This death trap has more documented emergency medical transports across the U.S. than any other facility, as documented by Operation Rescue in 2023. However, the Illinois Department of Public Health (ILDPH) does not appear to see an issue with the fact that Illinois women and others traveling from nearby states are being subjected to the dangers of this killing center.
“It appears that the Abortion Cartel is confident it has the state in its back pocket since Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has taken every action possible to expand access to abortion in the state, making it a so-called ‘safe haven’ for women seeking abortion.”
Operation Rescue filed a formal complaint about a 13-year-old girl gravely injured by the knife of one of HC’s abortionists – slicing her uterus open during a second trimester abortion in April 2023. The complaint also brought to the state agency’s attention that emergency transports had doubled since the facility changed ownership in March 2022.
The state agency responded to Operation Rescue by stating the complaint “may or may not trigger an investigation.” No further correspondence has been received from ILDPH.
“Operation Rescue will continue to insist the state hold the grossly misnamed Hope Clinic accountable for its recklessness and potentially illegal activity,” said Newman.
LifeNews Note: Anne Reed writes for Operation Rescue.
