Abortion Clinic Complaint

Were you forced or pressured to have an abortion against your will? Have you been physically harmed by an abortion doctor? Was the facility substandard in terms of cleanliness? Laws are in place that protect patients from harm and abuse. If you believe a state law has been violated by an abortion clinic, please learn more about the process of filing a complaint with the state.

Laws That May Have Been Violated

Review a summary of the following laws to help you decide if a violation has occurred. If you are unsure whether a law has been broken, call the Right to Life of Michigan Legislative Office in Lansing at (517) 487-3376.


Informed Consent: 24-Hour Waiting Period
A patient considering an abortion must be provided all of the following at least 24-hours prior to an abortion:

  • A medically accurate depiction, illustration or photograph of a fetus at the probable gestational age.
  • A written description of the abortion procedure.
  • A prenatal care and parenting information pamphlet.
  • Information about what to do and whom to contact in the event of medical complications.
  • Information about pregnancy-related services.
  • A clinic may not collect any type of payment during this waiting period. Any advance payments must be refunded to the woman if she doesn’t go through with the abortion.

Coerced Abortions Law
It’s against Michigan law to coerce a woman into having an abortion. The clinic staff are required to ask women if they are being forced or pressured to have an abortion against their will. If a woman is being coerced, clinic staff must give them a referral to law enforcement or a domestic violence support agency.


Parental Consent Law
If an abortion was performed on a female under the age of 18 without one of the following, the clinic would be in violation:

  • A consent form signed by a parent or legal guardian, or:
  • A judicial waiver of parental consent.

Ultrasound Viewing Law
If an ultrasound was performed on the patient prior to the abortion, the medical professional performing the ultrasound must ask the patient if she would like to view the live ultrasound image of her baby, and if she would like to take a printed copy of the image with her.


Clinic Regulations Law
This law requires abortion clinics to be inspected for health code violations. Was the clinic clean? Safe? Was the clinic substandard in providing health care?


Abortion Complications Reporting Law
This law requires that a physician treating a woman for complications from an abortion report it to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Was she physically hurt by the abortion doctor? If so, she should file a complaint with the Bureau of Professional Licensing, which could lead to an investigation of the abortion doctor and to a possible license suspension.

If the abortion doctor is suspected of negligence or malpractice, in addition to filing a complaint, the patient has the option to sue for medical malpractice.

Complaint Process

There are two different kinds of abortion clinic complaints. One is made against the abortion doctor (e.g., injury during the abortion, failure to show ultrasound, ignoring other laws, etc.). The other is made against the abortion clinic itself (i.e., filthy or unsafe conditions). These complaints go to different bureaus within the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

Filing Complaints Against the Abortion Doctor
The Bureau of Professional Licensing has prepared a Citizen’s Guide to answer the questions that consumers frequently ask when filing an allegation against a licensed or registered health care professional.

Citizen’s Guide
Allegation forms

If you have any questions about completing the allegation forms, contact the Bureau of Professional Licensing at (517) 373-9196.

Once completed, mail originals of ALL forms to:

Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Bureau of Professional Licensing Investigations & Inspections Division, P.O. Box 30670, Lansing, MI 48909-8170

Filing Complaints Against the Abortion Clinic
The Bureau of Community and Health Systems (BCHS) accepts and processes complaints against various state licensed and federally certified health facilities, agencies, and programs.

File complaint online 

If you have any questions about completing the complaint form, contact the Bureau of Community and Health Systems at (800) 882-6006.

Filing Complaints About Abortion Pill Side Effects
If there were any bad side effects caused by a medical pill abortion (RU-486/Mifepristone), you can report it online to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) using their MedWatch system.

File complaint online

If you have questions about filing a complaint, contact the FDA’s Division of Drug Information at (888) 463-6332.