Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is the purpose of this site?
    • This site is a comprehensive database of health and safety violations at abortion facilities. We are not gathering news articles about what happened at facilities or videos of ambulances. We are simply posting the Department of State Health inspections and responses to our FOIA requests. Occasionally we will post a complaint if it is substantiated and verified to have endangered the welfare of women. We may also post substantiated investigations by the Medical Board, especially in states that don’t license or inspect abortion facilities. We believe an informed woman is an empowered woman. We also know that this information is NOT available to the public but we believe it should be, so we have created this site for that purpose. Once informed, a woman can make a decision about whether or not she wants to receive care in a facility that has violated health and safety codes.
  2. Where did you get the information that is on this site?
    • We acquired the inspection reports (or responses from the Departments of Health) via Freedom of Information Act requests to each state’s Department of Health. In the request, we asked for statements of deficiencies for specific facilities that provide abortion services in the state. We summarized the reports for readers and uploaded the pdf documents for download and further review. 
  3. How did you acquire information about Federally Qualified Health Centers?
    • The resources tab offers information about Federally Qualified Health Centers in every state as a healthcare alternative for those who see the information for a facility and choose to seek their healthcare elsewhere. This information was acquired from the National Association of Community Health Centers website (nachc.org) and can also be found on https://www.hrsa.gov/ (US Health Resources and Services Administration)
    • The Government Accountability Office Report on the community health centers that are under the resources tab was downloaded from the government site for the Government Accountability Office to validate the community health centers and show the centers are compliant, unlike many of the abortion facilities. In offering the community health centers as an alternative to an abortion facility, we felt it was necessary to show that the centers are accountable and have regulatory oversight. You can view the GAO site here: https://www.gao.gov/
  4. I see these graphics with statistics about violations in clinics. Where did those numbers come from?
    • We entered the most common violations seen in facilities on the reports we have acquired into a survey that calculated these statistics for us based on the inspections for clinics that are on our site.
  5. How do I know that the information you are putting out is real and true?
    • The reports and information that we have on abortion facilities are from the official state department of health inspection reports, complaints and court documents. These are authoritative, regulatory agencies.  We have summarized these reports for the user, however, you can download the pdf from our site for each clinic and read the full document for yourself. While you may not like what you read on our site, it does not mean that what we are sharing is not factual. It’s important to be well informed and not just from websites or publications that echo your beliefs. If you’re a liberal, find conservative websites that aren’t virulent or sensationalist, and if you’re a conservative, do the same for liberal-leaning publications. Regardless of who created the site, facts are facts. We have a contact form on our site with a phone number and we are always willing to have a conversation with anyone who disputes the validity of the reports on our site. Ultimately the best way to verify the information is to do your own research, seek advice from those you trust to be honest and unbiased, and then make up your own mind.
  6. The last report you have on my local abortion facility is from a few years ago. Can you get an updated report?
    • We make requests for updated inspections quarterly. We upload what we receive. If there is not a new report ith deficiencies for your local facility it is because we don’t have one to upload.
  7. I can’t find my local abortion facility on your site. Can you tell me why?
    • There are a few reasons why a facility may not be listed on our site
      • We only list facilities where we have state department of health inspections with deficiencies.
      • We have not received a response from the state department of health regarding our FOIA request for this facility
      • The state does not require abortion facilities to be licensed or inspected.
  8. I really want to get the details about my local abortion facility to other women who may need this information. How can I do that?
    • If you are not a trained advocate for women, we recommend that you start by being trained. You can visit https://sidewalkadvocates.org/locations/ to find a sidewalk advocacy program in your area. We have a resources tab on our site with printable signs and postcards. Check the violations at your local clinic and choose which signs correspond to the violations. You can take these to your local printer and have them printed to use in your sidewalk advocacy once you are trained.
    • You can also follow us on FB, IG, and Twitter and share our posts. Continue to read the articles that we put out and stay up to date on the changing regulations and facility violations.