Abortion facility in Ohio torn down to make way for pro-life memorial
The Center for Choice in Toledo, Ohio has been demolished to make way for Hope Park, a memorial site for the unborn.
Ohio state health inspectors closed down the facility in 2013 when they discovered moldy and rusty equipment. The facility was also required to pay the fine of $25,000.
A video shared on Facebook showed an excavator tearing down the remaining parts of the building.
The facility violated a regulation that required it to have a transfer agreement with a hospital in case of a failed abortion. Another abortion facility, the Capital Care Network of Toledo, was ordered by the state to shut down for the same violation but it won a stay in August 2014. The facility continues to operate during the appeal process.
Pro-life organizations joined together to purchase the Center for Choice in October 2014. According to the Hope Park website, the abortion establishment performed over 50,000 abortions in the span of 40 years.
A statement from the website read: "The Hope Park Memorial to the Unborn is the first site in the city of Toledo and the state of Ohio that will build a memorial for the unborn on what was formerly an active abortion clinic. This memorial is dedicated to the tragic loss of lives that occurred on this site from 1983-2013."
The founder of the clinic expressed her dismay when pro-life groups organized the destruction of the building.
"It seems to me, since it was an abortion clinic, they could capitalize on women going to the door seeking an abortion and try to talk them into not having one," Carol Dunn said. "They have no taste. It's a lovely building."
It is not the first time an abortion facility was turned into a pro-life center. In November 2015, a Planned Parenthood building in Bryan, Texas was turned into a pregnancy center.
