by Steven Ertelt | Cincinnati, OH | LifeNews.com | 7/10/14 

A local judge in southwest Ohio has issued a ruling closing the abortion clinic run by infamous abortion practitioner Martin Haskell, credited with popularizing the partial-birth abortion procedure. A federal ban on the abortion procedure eventually made its way to the Supreme Court, which initially overturned a Nebraska ban and later upheld the Congressional ban as constitutional.

Today, a Hamilton County magistrate issued a ruling to uphold the Ohio Health Department’s decision to close the Lebanon Road Surgery Center, Martin Haskell’s Sharonville abortion clinic, for failure to meet Ohio medical standards.

Specifically, Haskell’s clinic continues to operate without a transfer agreement with any area hospital. The magistrate promised to reverse a previous ruling that allowed the clinic to remain open, in a ruling he plans to file on July 10.

Today, Right to Life of Cincinnati informed LifeNews that Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Magistrate Michael Bachman has formally filed his decision onLebanon Road Surgery Center vs. State of Ohio Department of Health, for which he heard oral arguments last month.

“As decided June 30th, Magistrate Bachman has upheld the ODH’s order that Martin Haskell’s Women’s Med Center (aka Lebanon Road Surgery Center) abortion facility in Sharonville, Ohio be denied a license and closed for operating outside the law,” the group said. “During this court appeal, the Women’s Med Center abortion business has remained open under a stay of execution granted by Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jerry Metz – the judge to whom the case was originally assigned.”

The ruling closes the abortion clinic down by the end of business today.

“We want to thank the Health Department as well as Attorney General Mike DeWine for enforcing Ohio law and refusing to allow the abortion industry to dodge compliance with health and safety standards,” said Mike Gonidakis, President of Ohio Right to Life.  “With the closure of this facility, Ohio will have witnessed a total of six abortion mills close during Governor Kasich’s administration. We are endlessly grateful to see pro-life Ohio’s collective efforts to save lives come to fruition.”

According to Ohio law, Lebanon Road Surgery Center exists as an Ambulatory Surgical Facility and because of this legal status, the clinic is not a full-service medical facility. To operate legally, Lebanon Road Surgery Center must have a transfer agreement with a full-service private hospital to handle all cases of abortion complications against the mother. In the case that an abortion facility is unable to acquire a transfer agreement, it can apply for a variance (exception). Lebanon Road Surgery Center failed to obtain either. After the Ohio Department of Health ordered the facility to close in January, the facility appealed that ruling in court.

Late-term abortionist, Martin Haskell, who owns Lebanon Road Surgery Center, has performed abortions for more than 30 years. He is notorious for his advocacy of partial-birth abortion and is credited for popularizing the now banned and illegal procedure invented by a California abortionist. With the closing of Haskell’s clinic, only one abortion facility remains open inside the county with the third highest rate for abortion deaths in Ohio.