Its website once described itself as the “most trusted abortion clinic in Portland, Oregon.” Now, however, the homepage for Lovejoy Surgicenter on 25th Avenue in the City of Roses simply says, “Effectively Closed as of 1/16/2021” in bold black lettering.
Lovejoy opened in 1971 and has since aborted thousands of children from the first trimester to 23 weeks’ gestation “or occasionally longer,” according to their website; such verbiage means past the stage of viability. It has long enjoyed a reputation as Oregon’s oldest and largest independent abortion clinic. Around its 40th anniversary, Lovejoy bragged about caring for more than 100,000 women. Besides its usual patients, another profitable business relationship Lovejoy cultivated was not as palatable: they sold organs from their murder victims to Oregon Health & Science University, who then used body parts like livers and thymuses for dubious research.
Lovejoy also did not enjoy the best reputation among its workers and earned poor reviews from employees on career websites like Indeed. “This clinic has a history o[f] and perpetuates poor management. They underpay their employees, while the owners line their pockets,” wrote one, while another simply said, “If you love being talked to like you don’t know a thing, this is the job for you!”
No reason was given for Lovejoy’s sudden closure, though many abortion clinics have struggled since COVID-related lockdowns and subsequent financial pressures. “We are saddened, but proud of the services we have offered to so many people,” Lovejoy wrote.
Linda Kowalkowski volunteered with a pro-life hotline also called Lovejoy in the 1970s. Because they were placed just before Lovejoy Surgicenter in the phonebook, abortion-minded girls and women often called them looking for help.
“We…routed many calls that were directed to the Surgicenter to counselors [who] could discuss life options with the mother,” Kowalkowski says. “So happy to hear they will be closed.”
Oregon Right to Life’s executive director Lois Anderson also cheered the news. “Lovejoy Surgicenter has separated women from their children and children from their lives for years. For 50 years, faithful, dedicated pro-life advocates have stood on the sidewalks outside Lovejoy offering hope and physical support to the women entering there.” Those advocates include ORTL’s own deputy director Liberty Pike, who helped two pregnant Lovejoy patients make the decision to let their babies live.
Pro-lifers cannot rest too long, however, as Lovejoy’s closing message also promised a reopening in a new location and under new management on March 1. “We at Oregon Right to Life will be watching Lovejoy’s next moves closely,” says Anderson. “These women and their unborn babies are too precious to each of us to give up now.”
