Life Legal Defense Foundation Letter to AL Dept. of Health Alleges It Is Illegally Ignoring 76 pages of Health Code Violations that Should Have Closed Clinic Immediately

Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net

BIRMINGHAM, April 26, 2012 /Standard Newswire/ -- New Woman All Women (NWAW) abortion clinic is due to close on May 18, 2012. Its license was revoked by Consent Order of the Alabama Department of Public Health due to 76 pages of health code violations. However, according to public records reviewed by Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) attorneys, there is already an applicant for a new license to take over operations after the NWAW license must be surrendered. Public records show that the new applicant has ties to current clinic owner Diane Derzis, which according to the Consent Order, "the applying entity or individual must be 'independent from and not affiliated with New Woman or its officers or directors...'."

LLDF attorneys suspect this is a way for Derzis to continue to operate once she has surrendered her license. LLDF attorney Allison Aranda sent a letter on April 24 to the ADPH in order to be sure that the Consent Order is strictly followed.

"How can a clinic's license be revoked by Consent Order of the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) and be allowed to remain open? Despite 76 pages of code violations that endanger the public safety and health of women entering the New Woman All Women (NWAW) abortion clinic, the ADPH Consent Order revoking their license does just that," said Dana Cody, Executive Director, Life Legal Defense Foundation. "If this was a restaurant with as many violations, it would have been shut down immediately."

Among the LLDF findings in public records:

• On April 7, 2012 media in Birmingham News reported that ADPH's Brian Hale said that there were no applicants for a new license at that time. However, the LLDF found a copy of the license application from Marianne Kelley Rain-water, who is connected to Derzis dated March 30 -- nearly a week before the media announcement and three days before Derzis even signed the order to surrender her license.
   
• According to the consent order prepared by the ADPH, the entity applying for a new license must be "independent from and not affiliated with" New Woman or its officers or directors, including Diane Derzis. The LLDF letter asks, "How would Ms. Rain-water, a person who claims no previous affiliation with the mentioned parties, know to apply for the license of the New Woman facility days before Diane Derzis signed her consent agreement and ADPH notified the public?"
   
• Ms. Rain-water's address is listed on the application as 1316 16th St S, Birmingham, AL. This residence is a home owned by Diane Derzis.
   
• A background check on Ms. Rain-water reveals the use of multiple aliases across several different states. Her current driver's license uses the name M K Rain, not Rain-water.
   
• The applying LLC on the Initial Licensure Application, Ochata Management, was created by Ms. Rain-Water on March 21, 2012 -- just days prior to submitting her application. The lawyer who handled the incorporation of this LLC, Steve Cochrun, also handled the incorporation of Diane Derzis' LLC for her clinic in Columbus, GA.

"If the Alabama Department of Public Health allows this 'shell game' to continue, the LLDF will use all means necessary to make the ADPH abide by laws designed to protect women," said Cody.

About the Life Legal Defense Foundation
Life Legal Defense Foundation is a non-profit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens, committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information, go to www.lldf.org.