Ohio’s first abortion doctor surrenders license
An obstetrician/gynecologist known as the first physician to perform a legal abortion in Ohio has agreed to a permanent revocation of his medical license, based in part on allegations that he improperly prescribed drugs to men without keeping patient records, state records show.
Dr. Harley Blank, 79, who helped establish Founder’s Women’s Health Center, Columbus’ first abortion clinic, signed an agreement Oct. 25 to surrender his license. The State Medical Board of Ohio revoked his license on Nov. 14.
The agreement notes that Blank is surrendering the license instead of facing formal disciplinary proceedings related to the allegations of prescription improprieties and due to his “desire to cease active patient care after being licensed for more than 50 years.”
Blank was first issued a license on Aug. 25, 1964. He performed Ohio’s first legal abortion on Feb. 15, 1973 in Columbus.
He told The Dispatch in 1998 that he never regretted his decision to perform that abortion: “It was right then, it’s right today and it will be right tomorrow.”
Efforts by The Dispatch to reach him on Wednesday for comment were unsuccessful. A voicemail left for his attorney was not returned.
Messages left for a Medical Board spokeswoman also were not returned.
Blank’s license had most recently been renewed for two years in July 2017.
The revocation was hailed in a Greater Columbus Right to Life blog post, which said the organization’s staff and volunteers had done extensive work over the past five years to “uncover the true conditions” at Founder’s. It does not refer to the prescription allegations.
“We have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to make this a reality, and it is paying off,” the post says.
Founder’s, operating in Olde Towne East, was established in 1973. Blank has been involved there as recently as September, when he was listed in state business filings as a shareholder for Downtown Gynecologists Inc., which operates Founder’s.
A lawyer for Downtown Gynecologists said in July that Founder’s temporarily closed in June because of the separation of the corporation and T&S Management, which managed Founder’s. T&S went on to form another clinic, Your Choice Healthcare of Columbus on the Northeast Side.
An abortion-rights advocate said Founder’s is again seeing clients, but it is unclear whether it is providing surgical abortions or only medication-induced abortions.
Your Choice provides only medication-induced abortions. A third abortion-services provider in Columbus, Planned Parenthood’s East Columbus Surgical Center in the Eastmoor neighborhood, offers both surgical and medication-induced abortions.
They are among nine abortion clinics in the state.