Schuette sues to close unlicensed abortion clinic

LANSING (AP) -- Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says his office and the Michigan Department of Community Health are suing a Detroit-area abortion clinic that he says has operating without a required state surgical facility license since last summer. The lawsuit filed in Oakland County Circuit Court stems from a 2009 health department investigation that found WomanCare of Southfield was violating state fire code rules applying to freestanding surgical outpatient facilities. The clinic is located in Lathrup Village. Schuette said in a news release Tuesday that Michigan law requires that private physician offices in which at least half of the patients receive an abortion must be licensed as freestanding surgical outpatient facilities. A woman answering the telephone at the abortion clinic said no one was available to comment on the lawsuit. Published: Thu, Mar 31, 2011