Until recently, Nashville, Tennessee had two abortion providers. Now, due to the closing of the unlicensed Women’s Center abortion clinic, the Music City is down to one. Having performed abortions for nearly 30 years, the Women’s Center ceased its operations on August 11, 2018. Planned Parenthood is the remaining abortion alternative in the area.
According to Tennessee Right to Life, an estimated 73,000 abortions took place at the Women’s Center located at 419 Welshwood Drive since it opened in 1990. Thankfully, in 2006, Tennessee Right to Life opened offices at nearby 409 Welshwood Drive in order to provide pregnancy help resources to expectant mothers. The Tennessean reported that the Women’s Center was “at least the third clinic to close in recent years, leaving only seven others throughout the state.”
Gary Boyle, a traveling abortionist, reportedly owned the Women’s Center. In 2010, Boyle was allegedly arrested for pointing a gun in the direction of pro-life supporters at a rally in Charleston, South Carolina. According to Project Life for Tennessee, the abortion clinic tried unsuccessfully for years to obtain licensing. Project Life for Tennessee revealed the building the Women’s Center formerly occupied will soon house “new tenants, promising life-affirming healthcare options for low-income women and families. The new organization will not be performing or referring for abortions.”
Project Life for Tennessee reported that women paid $650 to receive an abortion at the Women’s Center. Despite resistance, a 911 recording of the abortion facility calling an ambulance in 2014 was released. The call was supposedly made as a pregnant woman and her baby lay dying on an operating table. Project Life for Tennessee reported that “At one point during the call, the practitioner even laughs about the situation.”
Thomas Jessee, an attorney representing the Women’s Center informed the Tennessean that the abortion clinic closed because the owner of the building agreed to sell it. Jessee revealed that the Women’s Center plans to reopen and is actively looking for a new location. The lawyer stated, “We are looking for an alternative site but haven’t found anything yet. We have one doctor who would like to continue, but it’s just a question of finding a place.”
The Executive Director for the Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, Francie Hunt, lamented the closing of the Women’s Center. Hunt told the Tennessean that she views the Women’s Center’s demise as another blow to the shrinking healthcare access in Tennessee. She said, “We see this as a small part of an overarching health care access issue, but it’s notable that it is particularly pointed at women. Without a doubt, women’s health is an absolute target right now in the health care arena.” Obviously, Tennessee Right for Life saw the end of the Women’s Center decidedly differently.
The anti-abortion group headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee hailed the closure of the abortion clinic as a “milestone for pro-life efforts.” In an e-mail, Tennessee Right for Life President Brian Harris declared, “We thank God for answering the prayers of so many pro-life Tennesseans. At the same time, we recognize that vigilance in continuing all of our pro-life efforts is necessary to keep another abortion chain from stepping in to reap profit from the killing of innocent unborn children.”
The closing of the Women’s Center seems to be part of a welcoming trend in the United States. Late last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, issued a report showing that abortion rates had fallen to a historic low. Between the years of 2013 and 2014, the nationwide abortion rate decreased two percent. In 2014, only 12.1 abortions were performed for each 1,000 women of childbearing age in the United States. In 2008, 19.4 abortions took place for every 1,000 women in this age group. Since 2008, the abortion rate for pregnant teenagers has reduced by a whopping 46 percent.
Pray for the continued decline of abortions in the United States and for the ultimate overturn of Roe v. Wade.
~ 1776 Christian
