Not all heroes wear capes.
That’s certainly true of our unconventional Quitter of the Month—Joe, a.k.a. the “Clinic Closer.” For seven years, Joe worked as the maintenance technician at the infamous (and ironically named) Lovejoy Surgicenter in Portland, Oregon.
When Joe interviewed for the job, he was desperate to find work and didn’t realize Lovejoy was an abortion facility. An Oregon native, he accepted the position and immediately faced a daunting reality: the building was old, deteriorating, and, given that surgical procedures were performed there daily, dangerously neglected.
Joe took his responsibilities seriously. He tried not to dwell on what happened inside the facility and instead focused on what he could control: keeping the building safe for patients and staff. But he quickly discovered problems he couldn’t fix alone.
Joe reached out to And Then There Were None and expressed his frustration: “Moldy water was leaking into the procedure rooms. I told the manager about that, the plumbing issues, and the elevator leaking oil several times over a matter of months.”
Lovejoy opened in 1971 and was performing late-term abortions before Roe v. Wade up to 23 weeks, or as its website stated, “occasionally longer.” It was the oldest independent and largest abortion facility in the state. Over five decades, it boasted of “serving” more than 100,000 women.
Lovejoy’s legal failings and internal misconduct long predated Joe’s tenure at the clinic. Beyond the unsanitary conditions that endangered staff and patients, those responsible for running the facility treated vulnerable employees and patients in deeply troubling ways.
Finally fed up with the abuse, one surgical assistant decided to go public about what was happening inside the clinic’s crumbling walls. The things she witnessed were too numerous to name in full, but among them were allegations that the supervisor exposed her bare breasts to staff and insisted they be touched. Degrading remarks were made about patients’ bodies and hygiene while they were under anesthesia. In one instance, the supervisor allegedly drew a bird on the breast of an unconscious patient and later bragged about it on social media. She also practiced burlesque dancing in front of staff and patients, creating a toxic and uncomfortable environment.
The suit filed in Multnomah County alleged a hostile work environment and retaliation, among other claims. The plaintiff prevailed.
Staff were also targeted by the supervisor. In one instance, the whistleblower said she was pressured into a sexual situation with the supervisor’s friend; when she refused, objects were allegedly thrown at her.
The clinic also profited for decades from fetal tissue trafficking, particularly livers and thymus, harvested and sent to the Oregon Health and Science Center for research. While the sale of human organs is illegal, many clinics generate substantial revenue by charging inflated “shipping and handling” fees and billing for the brutal process of harvesting organs from aborted babies.
Even for Oregon, home to some of the most extreme abortion practices in the nation, what was happening at Lovejoy was bizarre, macabre, and, at times, outright illegal.
One of Joe’s tasks was to weigh aborted “fetuses” and dump them into the ocean in Portland every Tuesday. “This practice ended when there was a complaint from the City of Portland,” he said.
“It bothered me. The building was so old, and it had so many issues. I felt that it was unsafe and unsanitary, and I had no way to repair it and make it better on my own. The only thing I knew to do was to share with the people in power. I reported this time and again. No one ever listened, and changes were never made. It worried me for the patients, especially, but also the staff.”
Joe was also dispatched to the owner’s home for personal errands to let out her dogs. And when investigations arose—or certain incidents made leadership uneasy—he was told to shred files.
After months of reporting serious issues internally with no response, Joe decided he had to act. He reported unsanitary conditions (including a leaky roof affecting surgical areas) and an elevator leaking oil to the Health Department and the Fire Marshal.
OSHA came in and shut the clinic down that day.
Even pro-choice publications acknowledged the conditions that forced the closure: “The Lovejoy Center closed in Jan of 2021 after nearly 50 years of service. The clinic had become inhospitable to patients and employees alike due to its outdated medical equipment and facility,” reported GrantMagazine.com.
Lovejoy’s long-time owner, Allene Klass—who had appeared to be in good physical health—was found dead in her home shortly after the clinic closed.
Tragically, many Lovejoy staff later opened another clinic under new ownership in March 2021. The new name—The Lilith Clinic—was chillingly appropriate. In ancient Jewish culture, Lilith is associated with a class of demons believed to threaten humans, particularly pregnant women and infants.
Lilith is portrayed as a deceptive, demonic figure who could mimic a spouse to seduce, conceive a child through deception, and then turn violently against the family, especially the children, seeking to harm or kill them. The connection to abortion facilities is especially disturbing: a clinic operating under the name “Lilith” symbolically aligns itself with a figure associated with deception, the corruption of marriage and family, and hostility toward children—an eerie parallel to places where unborn children are intentionally harmed and where the marital bond is corrupted.
There are now three Lilith abortion facilities operating in Portland, Seattle, and Las Vegas.
Today, Joe’s life is not easy. He has faced a long stretch of unemployment and heavy guilt over his involvement. It was out of that desperation that he finally reached out to And Then There Were None.
Time, conversations with his ATTWN advocate, and the quiet relief of knowing he did the right thing have helped lift the heaviness of his years at Lovejoy.
“I went through a dark time,” he recalled.
Today, Joe knows where to turn for help—and is committed to doing the next right thing as he keeps moving forward physically, emotionally, and spiritually.