How to Get Abortion Clinics Shut Down – Missy Martinez-Stone

*This is an AI generated transcript, and may contain inaccurate transcriptions*

Mark Harrington (00:10):

Well, welcome friends to your radio activist here, Mark Harrington and the Mark Harrington show. You can pick us up on all the popular podcasting platforms and all the social media websites like Instagram and TikTok and all the rest anytime, 24 7 365. And we’re going to be talking about a very important issue today, and that is we’re going to look at the abortion question from the supply side of it. And you don’t hear about that whole lot for good reason, because we’re trying to end abortion by decreasing demand, zeroing it out if we can, and that is what we do day in, day out and changing hearts and minds on abortion. That’s what we do here at Created Equal when we go to college and high school campuses and we’re in the public square educating Americans about what abortion is and does. But there is another side to this that in some ways is neglected. Often if you’re thinking about a land war, for an example, not using guns and bullets, don’t get me wrong here, but there are two sides to the equation. Two sides to the battle. You want to deal with the demand, decrease the need for abortion, but you can also squeeze the abortion industry out of business. And so we’re going to talk about that today. And my guest is Missy Martinez Stone, and she is the CEO of Protection. Missy, thanks for being on the program.

Missy Martinez-Stone (01:42):

Yeah, I’m so happy to be here, mark.

Mark Harrington (01:45):

Well, we love the work you’re doing, and we’ve talked about this in the past with my good friend Troy Newman of Operation Rescue. They’re kind of the pioneers, if you will, on the supply side of the equation. Cheryl Solinger doing great work there. Really, we stand on the shoulders of giants that have gone before us laying the groundwork for a lot of the work that you’re doing, and you’ve just taken it to a new level. And so I want to talk about that today when we talk about supply side. Now, that’s my term. Okay. Supply side, if you will, to the abortion issue. What does it look like for protection? What do you guys do?

Missy Martinez-Stone (02:28):

So we are looking specifically at how these abortion facilities are operating. We know that abortion facilities tend to bend and break every law that they can. There’s an entitlement that they are above state regulations, federal regulations, and agencies are really hesitant to enforce laws on them, to regulate them because of the controversy surrounding abortion. And so we’re looking at the operational side. What are they doing to break and how do we hold them accountable with those agencies? And the ultimate goal is to shut down the facility based on their own misdeeds.

Mark Harrington (03:07):

Right. It’s interesting. I’ve been to the Supreme Court, I’m sure you have, and there’s been a whole lot of, in the past before the Dobbs case, a lot of regulations that were before the US Supreme Court. Right. A lot of restrictions, the laws, state laws, we’ve really trimmed around the edges of Roe versus Wade until recently when we started going to the heart of Roe by passing bans, outright bans on abortion. And one of the criticisms you’d hear is, well, people don’t want to end abortion. You just want to regulate it. How do you respond to that?

Missy Martinez-Stone (03:41):

Well, we know that the abortion industry, they’re not just breaking abortion regulations, they’re breaking basic medical regulations. And so these are people that should just not be practicing medicine, period. And our strategy, really, they’re self-selecting out if they’re not going to run their facilities in a way that is safe, where they’re sanitizing their equipment, where they are treating their patients ethically, where they are monitoring vitals, then they shouldn’t be practicing. Period. I said, if we could get every abortion facility functioning like an actual ambulatory surgical center, most of them would close based on their own practices, and that’s not our fault.

Mark Harrington (04:26):

Right, exactly. I mean, we’ve passed a lot of laws regulating abortion clinics here in Ohio, and it follows that if you’re going to kill babies, if you’re going to kill babies, which is against the moral law of God and should be against the law as far as the civil government, you’re probably not going to be following the other rules and regulations and laws in a state like Ohio or any other. So these are people that are lawbreakers and it makes sense that they would break the law and we should do what we can to enforce those. So let’s talk about that. How do you get, say, a state like Ohio, which is more or less a red state, kind of a purple state, more, how do you get states like Ohio, the government that is to actually enforce these laws? We’ve had a whole lot of problem with that, and I’m sure that’s a problem around the country. What do you guys do to get them to actually enforce it?

Missy Martinez-Stone (05:21):

Yeah, so we start with getting really clear evidence from firsthand and encounters. So we’re talking to the women themselves or the pregnancy centers or the sidewalk advocates that experienced these violations firsthand. And we document it in a way that it leaves no questions. I know sometimes in the past pro-lifers have in good with good intention filed complaints, but they didn’t have standing. That was a really big issue, is making sure we’re getting information that would hold up under scrutiny and that these agencies can’t ignore. And so we start with getting really good documentation and then it’s really,

Mark Harrington (06:05):

And you get those from whom who provides you that information.

Missy Martinez-Stone (06:09):

So we have an official partnership with Sidewalk Advocates for Life, the national group. So any of the sidewalk advocates that are out in front of the abortion facilities that are serving the abortion minded patients and their families, if they see something, they’re told to call us. And so we’re getting really good information from those contacts as well as pregnancy centers. We partner with Heartbeat International as well. Again, we’re the reporting organization for all of their affiliates as well. And we train them on how to collect information in a way that doesn’t put the client in any kind of situation where she feels pressured or we’re not publicizing it, but we’ve created a safe place for them to bring that information.

Mark Harrington (06:54):

So you have sidewalk advocates all across the country who are out in front of these abortion facilities. They are your best eyes and ears on the ground. And it’s that old saying, see something, say something. Right. Absolutely. It’s just basically like the government and just report to you and then you take it from there. I imagine you’re getting all kinds of reports from all around the country, and I don’t want to get into the weeds here, but how do you determine which one of these to follow up on and which ones you can actually use to shut down an abortion

Missy Martinez-Stone (07:31):

Center? Right. So we take each violation through a process of screening. So we have to determine first did a violation even occur? So we go to the state code and sometimes, unfortunately, the way these laws are passed, these abortion facilities are exploiting loopholes. They’ll get off on the smallest technicality. And so we have to go to the rules and determine did a violation actually occur? And then we’re looking at who was responsible and what’s a protocol for filing complaints. But then we’re really looking at do we have a strong community on the ground that is willing to see this through? Because these are long processes. I mean, some of these take upwards of two years. Do we have a strong commitment from the community to be involved with us, to partner with us and see this through? And then also, what does whatever agency that’s responsible, what are their chances of investigation of responsiveness? And so we really have to look at these cases individually and say, what violation occurred? Who’s responsible? What’s the protocol? Do we have a commitment from the community? And if all those things align and we can really delve in and shut the facility down.

Mark Harrington (08:46):

My guest today is Missy Martinez Stone, and she is the CEO of Ion. And you can find out more by going to re protection org. And there is a part of the website that allows you to send information, if you will, to make a report on what you might be seeing out in front of these abortion centers. And so I really encourage you, if you’re listening or watching the program today, and you are a sidewalk advocate or you are someone who stays up on what’s happening in your community with the abortion centers to look up re protection.org, and if there’s anything that seems out of sorts to make sure that you’re communicating with them because there may be some action that can be taken. Missy, I want to go to the question of when it comes to supply side, if there’s still demand for abortion, we know that men and women are going to seek it out, and obviously we need to work to decrease that. And we’re working hard. As many people, I’ve had the accusation when we did some of this with our project Weak Link, which was the exposure of medical waste. Companies say, well, it’s just whacking them here, and they’re coming up over here. And I’d always tell ’em, well, that may shut down some abortion centers. And when that does, babies are saved, babies are saved. Right? So how do you respond to that if you hear that criticism? If you do, how would you, yeah,

Missy Martinez-Stone (10:13):

I mean, this is where we really focus on this is a community effort. It’s not enough to just close down the facility. And we said that as soon as the dobs decision came out and everyone was like, do you Grace still going to have a job, but I’m in Kentucky.

Mark Harrington (10:28):

In fact, I think your job is secure with the Dobbs decisions. Now you have these abortion havens and these sanctuaries right’s.

Missy Martinez-Stone (10:36):

Well, even in states where abortion is illegal in Kentucky, I mean, we had to explain to people just because abortion is essentially illegal here, how do we know that that’s being enforced? Who is in charge of that enforcement? How do we know the abortion facility, again, is not exploiting the loopholes, but also women are now traveling to Southern Illinois to Ohio, and they’re going to come back into our community with really horrific experiences. And so no matter where the abortions are occurring, the people in the community have to be diligent to meet women that have these really traumatic abortion experiences. I mean, everybody’s got to be playing their part here. It’s not enough that we shut down the facility and say in Pensacola, that’s great. And my prayer is that because it’s not as easily accessible, that will be enough of a deterrent that some women will choose life, but some of them will travel. And so we need to make sure where they’re going. It’s also being investigated that they’re being referred back to pregnancy centers in Pensacola. And we’re dealing with this on both sides.

Mark Harrington (11:48):

There used to be an old bumper sticker, I haven’t seen it recently. It says, visualize abortionists on trial. I was like, well, that’s where they belong. I mean, whether we get them for killing babies, which we are now starting to see laws passed that are going to criminalize abortion and send abortionists to jail, but we’ve also seen abortionists like Kermit, Gareth Snell go to jail of what he did. So there are other ways to get to the final to get to that conclusion of actually bringing justice to the ones that perpetrate abortion. And that’s what you’re trying to do in part.

Missy Martinez-Stone (12:25):

And the people, I try to explain to people, even pro-choice, people can get behind the fact that a lot of these physicians that we are investigating, and I know that you have seen there’s a reason they’re in the abortion industry, they probably couldn’t work anywhere else. Most of the time they have a history of medical negligence. They’ve had multiple medical malpractice lawsuits. We’ve had cases where the abortion facility owner has had their license revoked because of drug trafficking. I mean, the people that are drawn to this industry are not on the up and up and should not be practicing medicine anywhere. And so you would think that that would make it easier. But these agencies are just so reluctant to step in. Even we have another case where the abortionist was convicted of Medicaid fraud. I mean, these are not physicians that are practicing ethically, period.

Mark Harrington (13:20):

Well, my good friend Mark Crutcher, who unfortunately passed away in the last week or so used to say that abortionists are the bottom feeders of the medical community. It’s true. And that’s who they are. And so we should be able to catch them in their Misti. Let’s finish up with this question in a post Roe America where Roe versus Wade is no longer the law of the land as far as it goes with the Supreme Court, how do you see this working out? I mean, we have this patchwork now of abortion haven states or sanctuaries and abortion free states. You’ve had some successes in closing abortion centers. Share a story of one of those successes.

Missy Martinez-Stone (14:04):

So we’ve shut down two abortion facilities in Florida. We stopped two facilities from opening in upstate New York and another state. We’ve had some places find, but even in Postal America, I mean, we’re having more laws being passed. And then you’ve got these abortion sanctuary states. I mean, enforcement is still a problem everywhere In states that are abortion havens, they’re going to be breaking, again, general medical practitioner laws. We’ve got issues of human trafficking of not reporting abuse on a minor. So we’re seeing those in states where abortion is protected and we can still take those to the appropriate agencies. And so really, we’ve just developed strategies for every state. What is their current situation and how can we strategically shut down those facilities depending on where their state has now landed in a poster. America?

Mark Harrington (15:02):

Well, I really appreciate about your organization is I understand the meticulous work that you do. You do. I mean, because I’ve seen it done with others in the past, and I just can’t imagine the amount of detail and patience it takes to, I say prosecute meaning to see through the process of actually bringing these laws to be enforced and bringing these people to justice. So it’s not

Missy Martinez-Stone (15:30):

Unless you’ve done it, you truly don’t understand how much time this takes and which is why we try to explain to people, it’s so crucial that there’s an organization like re protection that is solely dedicated to doing this. It takes full time people to go through each violation, figure out what the violation was, who’s responsible, and then follow up. I mean, this is a full-time job.

Mark Harrington (15:53):

It is. But you do have your sidewalk advocates. If you would leave us with some parting words, speak to the audience, those who are listening, who are activists, who are out on the streets, who see things going on at the abortion centers, and they think, well, that doesn’t seem right. What can they do?

Missy Martinez-Stone (16:10):

Yeah, you can always report on our website protection.org, or you can send an email to info@reprotection.org and our director of investigations goes through every single email or violation that comes through, and then we’ll be in touch. But really anything that feels off anything when you’re talking to a woman, anything that she says where you go, that doesn’t sound right. Give us that information and we can determine what’s going on. And if you’re at a pregnancy center, we do have a class on the Heartbeat Academy platform that actually teaches you how to document these violations while adhering to HIPAA and not distracting from your main mission of serving those women. But you can take the Class on Heartbeat Academy, and that would be a really good resource to,

Mark Harrington (17:01):

My guest has been Missy Martinez Stone, and she is a CEO of protection. And you can go to protection.org. And I encourage you, if you are an activist or you’re someone out in front of the abortion center, or you run a pregnancy resource center in your town to keep them in mind, if you see something that’s out of sorts, it’s the local abortion center. Report it to them, and they’ll work with you to bring this to enforce the laws that are already on the books. Missy, we appreciate all the hard work you’re doing, and we look forward to working with you in Ohio as well. Yeah,

Missy Martinez-Stone (17:36):

We’ve got a lot to do in Ohio.

Mark Harrington (17:38):

Not a lot to happen here. Right. Amen. Thanks for being on the program.

Missy Martinez-Stone (17:41):

Yeah, thanks so much, mark.

Mark Harrington (17:43):

So you’ve been listening to your radio activists here on the Mark Harrington show, and we’ll see you time. God bless you. God bless America, and remember America to bless God.

Outro (17:55):

You’ve been listening to Mark Harrington, your radio activist. For more information on how to make a difference for the cause of life, liberty and justice, go to created equal.org.org. To follow mark, go to Mark Harrington show.com. Be sure to tune in next time for your marching orders in the Culture War.