UPDATE from the Detroit Free Press: Lathrup Village abortion clinic fighting efforts to close it
Apr. 19, 2011 |
The lawyer for a Lathrup Village women’s [abortion] clinic that provides abortions will appear in court Wednesday to fight against the state’s efforts to close it.
Womancare of Southfield, run by [abortionist] Alberto Hodari, is under fire from the Attorney General’s office for operating without a license for free-standing surgical facilities.
Last summer, based on the cost of fire code compliance tied to the license, Hodari decided against renewing. The doctor, whose medical license is separate and valid, applied to have the building grandfathered, as it is older than the codes, but was denied, according to legal filings.
The state, after monitoring Hodari’s practice for several months, found he was in violation of the license law, and the Attorney General’s office filed suit earlier this month. During that time, Hodari tried to submit plans to fix the fire code violation.
The violation is based on a section of the license law that requires Hodari to provide more gynecological services than abortions, a requirement, said his attorney, that has been difficult to uphold. But the license isn’t specific to abortion providers, just those providing surgical procedures in facilities that are not doctor or dentists offices and that are not tied to hospitals. About 70 licenses have been granted, according to state health officials, and only a few go to abortion providers.
Hodari’s attorney said the doctor has gone to great lengths to recruit gynecological patients to keep his abortion services under 51%, and that the state is unfairly imposing itself on the clinic, which has been in the spotlight before for improperly disposing of medical records. The clinic serves mostly low-income, urban women, and appears to be the only abortion provider in the area required to submit statistics to the state on its practice. Filings from the AG’s office say Hodari’s lawyer’s claims are groundless.
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ORIGINAL STORY >>>>
According to Operation Rescue, Abortionist Alberto Hodari operates group of five Detroit area abortion clinics. He garnered national attention when Students for Life in America videotaped a speech he gave to Wayne State University students where he said that he believes abortionists have a “license to lie.”
Since then Hodari’s problems have multiplied. Hodari was fined $10,000 for his part in the death of abortion patient Regina Johnson. Last November he put three of the clinics up for sale after Caitlin Bruce filed a lawsuit against him for a forcing an abortion on her after she withdrew her consent. One of those locations was the Livonia location.
Another lawsuit was filed against him last month for giving a needless abortion after he failed to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy. The Health Department has launched an investigation into his troubled abortion business. To add to his difficulties, Hodari filed for divorce from his wife of 29 years.
The state is suing to shut down a Lathrup Village women’s health clinic for performing abortions without a surgical license.
Dr. Alberto Hodari, operator of WomanCare of Southfield, is accused by the Michigan Department of Community Health of continuing to perform surgical abortions after deciding not to renew that license in July 2010. In 2009, MDCH inspectors found a fire-code violation involving emergency exits at the facility on Southfield Road, according to court documents.
In the documents, Hodari said he was trying to sell the building and the repairs would cut into examination space. He said he would not renew his surgical license when it expired in July 2010.
Efforts to reach Hodari or a clinic manager Tuesday were unsuccessful.
State law requires a surgical license if patient load for abortions exceeds 50% of total patient load. Hodari indicated he would reduce his surgery load to comply.
Despite statistics provided to MDCH by a clinic manager, the Attorney General’s Office said it doesn’t believe Hodari did so, and will appear in Oakland County Circuit Court on April 6 to ask that the clinic be closed for the duration of the lawsuit.
“Physicians have special duty to follow state law and regulations intended to preserve the health and safety of their patients,” Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a statement.
It appears Hodari’s other clinics throughout southeast Michigan are not part of the investigation.
This is not the first time state inspectors have scrutinized the clinic.
In 2008, after receiving complaints from an anti-abortion group that fetus parts, medical waste and records were found in a Dumpster outside, the state charged Hodari with improperly disposing of medical records. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality found violations of the Medical Waste Regulatory Act, but Hodari wasn’t fined. It’s unclear whether the state found fetus parts in the waste.
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Hodari’s practice has also been implicated in the deaths of at least four women from abortion-related complications. In June 2009, the Disciplinary Subcommittee of Michigan’s Board of Medicine fined Hodari $10,000 for negligence in connection with the botched abortion death of Regina Johnson.
Numerous complaints have been filed against the abortionist for improper disposal of human remains and abortion records found in Hodari’s dumpster. Hodari received a sentence of six months’ probation on one such count in February.
Last year , Hodari put his abortion clinics on the market along with his collection of expensive classic cars and hastily filed for divorce from his wife of 29 years. Local activists told Operation Rescue that it appeared that he was attempting to liquidate his assets
According to another Detroit Free Press article, A woman who answered the clinic’s phone Tuesday (3/29/2011) said the owner, Dr. Alberto Hodari, is out of the country and cannot be reached for comment.
“At one time, Dr. Hodari was an extremely fine physician with a very good reputation. He trained a number of physicians,” said Renee Chelian, executive director of Northland Family Planning Centers, an abortion provider with three Metro Detroit sites.
“Any good clinic knows what the laws are in the state of Michigan and follows them. If he’s performing abortions on more than 50 percent of his patients, then he’s in violation of the law, but only he knows that and, apparently, the state thinks they know.”
A researcher reports that Dr. Abraham Alberto Hodari worked at Northland Family Planning Clinic, a National Abortion Federation member in Michigan. He also worked at Woman Care Clinic and Detroit Memorial Hospital. He is believed to have performed the fatal abortions on Tamia Russell and Chivon Williams.
NAF Abortionist Hodari’s Troubled Past , patient claims he forced abortion
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