Patient Rights

If you are considering abortion, you can protect your health and safety by knowing your legal rights.  You have the right to insist that the abortionist is a licensed physician.  You also have the right to know if the physician has ever had a history of malpractice or has ever had his/her license to practice suspended or revoked.  You need to know if you are injured during the procedure that you would be immediately transferred by ambulance to the nearest emergency hospital or trauma center.  You also have the right to decide against having an abortion regardless of age, marital status, or any other factor.  No one has the legal right to make you have an abortion 

Several laws are in place to protect you.  Before an abortion procedure, you must be given a written description of the abortion procedure you plan to undergo and images of an unborn baby the same gestational age of your unborn baby.  The clinic is also required to give these materials to you 24 hours in advance of the procedure.  Under law, you should be offered an ultrasound and be allowed to view your baby on the ultrasound screen before the abortion ).  You are also protected under the law in case you are injured by the abortion (infection, bleeding, additional treatment).  The facility should be safe, clean, and sanitary.