SOUTH BEND, Ind. — In response to a letter from 50 State Representatives citing major concerns with an abortion clinic in South Bend, Governor Eric Holcomb gave the clinic a full-license to operate. The Whole Woman’s Health clinic had been operating under a provisional license since 2019, under federal court order, since the Attorney General’s Office had denied a license for the facility that is owned and operated by an organization with a less than stellar track record.
According to an ABC article from 2019 — In denying Whole Woman’s Health a license in January 2018, state health commissioner Kristina Box said the organization “failed to disclose, concealed, or omitted information related to additional clinics” and that it “failed to meet the requirement that the Applicant is of reputable and responsible character.”
Governor Holcomb claimed the state “recently” issued the license to ensure proper inspections.
“As you mention in your letter, licensure of the Whole Woman’s Health of South Bend (WWHSB) clinic remains the subject of extensive litigation in federal court, an actions taken by the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) with respect to provisional license issuance were the result of court order. Even while operating under a provisional license, however, a clinic is subject to IDOH survey activity upon the agency’s receipt of a compliant, and IDOH completed surveys of this clinic when violations were reported. Further, in consultation with, and at the direction of, the Office of the Indiana Attorney General, IDOH’s counsel in this matter, a full license for WWHSB was recently issued. As a result, this entity will be subject to the standard annual survey process going forward.”
However, sources tell REAL News Michiana that the governor’s move may not make all that much sense. The court mandated the clinic be treated as any other clinic while operating under the provisional license. Meaning inspections could have occurred in accordance of the court order until the litigation was over without giving the clinic the legitimacy of being a fully licensed facility — according to sources familiar with the case.
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