Toledo’s only abortion clinic is no longer doing surgical abortions. New owners recently took over the facility. And that means it will need a new ambulatory care license to do surgical procedures.
Ohio Right to Life Vice President Stephanie Ranade Krider says this change is good news.
“That’s a huge win. With about 1300 abortions in Lucas County in 2017, that will be a huge decrease," Ranade Krider says.
In its most recent abortion report, the Ohio Department of Health reports 503 of the 1320 total abortions in Lucas County or about 38% of all abortions there were medication abortions.
Marlena Aimslee, the clinic administrator for Capital Care in Toledo, says new ownership took over the former Capital Care Network in July. At that point, the surgical license issued to the former owners could no longer be used.
"We have been providing solely medical abortions since July when the new ownership took place," Aimslee says.
The reason for new ownership is not known right now. But the new owners also have a clinic in Columbus that, at this point, only offers medical abortions. Aimslee says the owners of the Toledo clinic are working with the Ohio Department of Health to get a new surgical license. The former clinic found it difficult to keep theirs because they didn’t have a transfer agreement with a local hospital that would satisfy new Department of Health requirements.
