The trial for abortionist Kermit Gosnell brought to light many failures of the Pennsylvania Department of Health. According to the Philadelphia Grand Jury’s report, “The Department of Health’s decades-long neglect of its duty to ensure the health and safety of women undergoing medical procedures in abortion clinics is in stark contrast to its policies and practices with respect to procedures performed in other types of health care facilities.” The report referenced “official neglect that allowed these crimes and conditions to persist for years in a Philadelphia medical facility.”
As a result of the Gosnell trial, the Department of Health inspected 22 other free-standing Pennsylvania abortion clinics last fall. Two abortion clinics run by Soleiman M. Soli were found to have gross inadequacies eerily similar to those found in Gosnell’s abortion clinic. According to reports released to the AP, “An Oct. 26 inspection report of Soli’s Bensalem facility found that drugs and equipment required to resuscitate abortion patients were missing and that it took Soli and a secretary 10 minutes to figure out how to use the clinic’s oxygen tank, the mask for which was found covered in dust.” He also had drugs that had expired in the 1970s and 1980s and inadequate and inoperable equipment. The inspector noted, “Opened, uncapped needles were also observed lying directly on the floor under the cabinet with the identified medications.”
The AP reported that 73-year-old Soli was ordered to stop performing abortions at both his clinics and “to file plans of correction.” Instead of complying, he decided to retire.