ABORTION AND CRIME

 

Sex-trafficking of underage girls and abortion clinics - Tell me this isn't true!

Undercover video of Planned Parenthood clinics at multiple locations show proof of their staff willing to perform abortions on underage pregnant girls - knowing they are undocumented sex-slaves - and using taxpayer dollars to pay for the procedures.

 

“Sex trafficking in the U.S. has increased dramatically in recent years, and the pattern revealed by our investigation shows sex traffickers have no better friend than Planned Parenthood. Untold damage has already been done to countless girls and young women, whose safety and health are clearly at risk because organizations like Planned Parenthood provide confidentiality and safe haven for sex traffickers,” said Lila Rose, President of Live Action (www.liveaction.org).

 

Her organization recently filmed a conversation between Planned Parenthood staff and a man posing as a pimp with underage girls in need of abortions. Live Action's transcript in the article "Supervisor and Staffer Serve Up Business As Usual, Counsel When Pimp Tells of Underage Girls Being Used for “Sex Work” (http://liveaction.org/blog/bronx-planned-parenthood/) and you tube video footage proves beyond a doubt Planned Parenthood is willing to assist the sex-slave trade in order to gain abortion fees:

 

Planned Parenthood Supervisor/Practitioner: "I’m one of the practitioners here."
Pimp: "Oh, ok. I was wondering, uh, do you have a moment?"
Planned Parenthood Supervisor/Practitioner: "Mm"
Pimp: "I was wondering, um, so like is this still confidential?"
Planned Parenthood Supervisor/Practitioner: "Yeah."
Pimp: "We’re involved in sex work."
Planned Parenthood Supervisor/Practitioner: "mm."
Pimp: "We have some girls that are kind of young like, 14, 15, that they might need an abortion."
Planned Parenthood Supervisor/Practitioner: "mm."
Pimp: "And, how is the best way should they could go about it?"
Planned Parenthood Supervisor/Practitioner: "They just show up, and set up an appointment. Do they have insurance?"
Pimp: "They don’t have insurance, some don’t even speak that good of English ‘cause you know, they just got here."
Planned Parenthood Supervisor/Practitioner: "Right. So we have an interpretation phone, so if they don’t speak Spanish that’s not a problem. I mean if they don’t speak English that’s not a problem because we can have an interpreter..."
Pimp: "So, how would you recommend for them best to do it? Cause we don’t want them getting confused or what not, and it’s kind of a sensitive subject, so we don’t want you know, them saying the wrong thing, you know getting refused or turned away, so how would you suggest they go about you know being able to get the access even in spite of what they do, you know?"
Planned Parenthood Staffer: "Yeah, like, like I said everything’s confidential, they don’t have to tell anybody what it is that they do when they make the an appointment, it’s just gonna be between them and the Physician they see."

 

Live Action undercover video footage of five taxpayer-funded Planned Parenthood clinics show employees willing to counsel a self-identified sex-trafficker on obtaining STD testing, birth control, and abortions for undocumented underage girls specifically brought into the U.S. for the sex-slave trade.

 

"Planned Parenthood has shown repeatedly for the past three years of our investigation that they are willing to aid and abet the sexual exploitation of minors and young girls, even girls as young as 13 and here illegally, all under a sick code of ‘confidentiality.’” said Lila Rose.

 

In addition, Live Action has released more than a dozen other videos from ten states showing these are not isolated cases. Besides being complicit in the sex-trade which brutalizes women, other illegal activities by Planned Parenthood clinics caught on video include cover-ups of sexual abuse of minors, bypassing parental consent laws, using misinformation to coerce women into having abortions, and the willingness to accept donations specifically to abort African-American babies. (http://www.liveaction.org/traffick/).

 

Any suspicion of illegal activity must be reported by abortion clinic workers. If you suspect possible abuse or sex-trafficking, please visit: http://www.clinicworker.com/

 

What about people who shoot abortionists and bomb abortion clinics?
All pro-life groups across-the-board oppose all forms of violence against abortionists. Pro-life means protecting the lives of all humans across the developmental spectrum from preborn to adults.

 

In the U.S., there have been eight known murders of abortion clinic workers to date. Since 1977, there have been 41 bombings, 173 arsons, and 100 stink bomb attacks. Whether the motive was to oppose abortion or not is unclear, but each act was carried out by a deranged individual acting alone. Furthermore, a Justice Department federal grand jury investigation headed by then Attorney General Janet Reno (an avid pro-choice advocate) into the possibility of a nationwide conspiracy by pro-life organizations to commit violence against abortion clinics found absolutely nothing of the kind.

 

Some pro-choice advocates have been caught making false threats to abortion clinics in an attempt to raise sympathy for their pro-choice cause.  This Los Angeles Times article said:  “A supporter of legal abortion who pleaded guilty to making fake bomb threats against abortion agencies to arouse sympathy for his cause was ordered Thursday to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Frank Mendiola, 30, who was to have been sentenced on three felony counts, was instead told to consult a court-appointed psychiatrist…” (Ref: Local News in Brief, The Los Angeles Times, December 11, 1987).  Furthermore, The Los Angeles Times reported his false claim of a tragic illegal abortion causing the death of his sister – yet another attempt to illicit support for legalized abortion.  Mendiola had been very much in demand at pro-abortion rallies, where he would read his letter written to President Reagan about how his sister "Rose Elizabeth" died from a botched illegal abortion.  Mendiola sobbed about how "she bled to death on a kitchen table. Yes, Mr. President, on a kitchen table."  However, Mendiola later confessed he had no sister.

 

What about abortion workers involved in crimes against women and others?

Here are just a few examples of abortion workers who perpetrated ruthless crimes against humanity with extreme violence:

Josef Mengele, Nazi SS Medical Officer a.k.a. “Angel of Death” (died February 1979): Not surprisingly, he became an abortionist after his role at the Auschwitz concentration camp where killing humans was a daily routine.  He was notorious for his extremely cruel experimentation on humans as stated in Wikipedia:  “Mengele's experiments also included attempts to change eye color by injecting chemicals into children's eyes, various amputations of limbs, and other surgeries such as kidney removal, without anesthesia. Rena Gelissen's account of her time in Auschwitz details certain experiments performed on female prisoners around October 1943. Mengele would experiment on the chosen girls, performing forced sterilization and electroconvulsive therapy. Most of the victims died, because of either the experiments or later infections… Once Mengele's assistant rounded up fourteen pairs of Roma twins during the night. Mengele placed them on his polished marble dissection table and put them to sleep. He then injected chloroform into their hearts, killing them instantly. Mengele then began dissecting and meticulously noting each piece of the twins' bodies.” About becoming an abortionist: “While in Buenos Aires Mengele practiced medicine though he became known for carrying out abortions - illegal in much of the world at the time, including Argentina. When a woman died from an abortion in his clinic he was brought before a judge, but was only briefly detained.” (Ref: "Mengele an Abortionist, Argentine Files Suggest", Nathaniel C. Nash, New York Times, 2/11/92; Wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele)

December 1977 – Miami, FL abortion clinic worker Marc Eason, whose mother owned the abortion clinic he worked at, was convicted of two counts of murder with a hatchet.  The Boca Raton News reported the following:  “A circuit court jury took only 1 hour and 26 minutes to convict Marc Eason on two counts of first degree murder in the slayings of the couple he lived with.  Eason had claimed justifiable homicide for the July 22 killings… Donna Fulks was strangled in her sleep and Ronald Fulks was killed by repeated hatchet blows.”  (Ref:  “Marc Eason found guilty of two Miami murders”, Boca Raton News, 12/11/77)   

 

1982 - Abortionist Ronald Tauber was convicted of first degree criminal sexual assault and second degree criminal sexual misconduct.  In 1980, he kidnapped a six year old girl "and did engage in sexual penetration with said victim."  Tauber admitted exposing himself to the girl and placing her hand on his penis. He also lifted the child's undergarment to expose her.  Gloria Small, 34, also died from a botched abortion performed by Tauber.  (Miami Herald, 7/20/79; Orlando Sentinel Star, 4/20/78; "Convicted Molester Gets OK to Resume Med Practice." New York Post, 10/28/92)

 

1988 - National Abortion Federation member Theodore Lehrer, owner of All Women's Clinic in Ft. Lauderdale, was arrested, and had his medical license suspended over his violent treatment of his wife.  Mrs. Lehrer, 37, told police Dr. Lehrer got angry because she had morning sickness and had declined his sexual advances at which point he forced her into the bathroom, held her down, handcuffed and gagged her, raped and forcibly performed an abortion on her without anesthesia. She also said he told her to hold still or he'd inject her with something to calm her down.  She was hospitalized to complete the botched forced abortion.  “’He`s accused of inserting an object into the woman and aborting an 11- to 14-week-old embryo against her will’”, police spokesman Ott Cefkin said… The woman told police that she had been tied her to a table before the attack.  Detectives recovered physical evidence from Lehrer`s home that substantiates the woman`s charges, Cefkin said. He declined to elaborate.”  The abortionist and his wife had signed a prenuptial agreement which stated that, in the event of divorce, the wife would get only $5,000 if she bore him no children, but would be granted alimony, property, and child support if she had children. Prosecutors dropped all charges after his now former wife said she was too sick to testify against him.  (Ref: Miami Herald, May 5, 1988; Associated Press, April 29, 1988; Spokane Chronicle 4/29/1988; Tom Lassiter, Staff Writer, “Woman: Abortion Performed Against Will”, Sun Sentinel, April 28, 1988; James McCarty, “Doctor’s Rape Charge Dropped: Ex-Wife Refuses to Take Stand,” Miami Herald, June 20, 1989)

 

June 1989 – Philadelphia abortionist Dr. Joseph Melnick was convicted of allowing a baby girl born alive during an abortion procedure, to die from neglect. Although he claimed the baby was stillborn, his coworkers saw definite signs of life.  The Daily News reported:  "The witness took a sharp intake of air. That, she said, was how the baby who had been aborted by Dr. Joseph Melnick gasped while lying on a scale in a room at West Park Hospital in 1984. Asked what she did, Pearl Reznik, the nursing supervisor the night of the abortion, said she cried, ‘Oh, my God!’  Another article by the Inquirer stated:  “When obstetrician Joseph L. Melnick, after performing an abortion, was faced with a viable child instead of a dead fetus, he ‘stalled and stalled and stalled’ in hopes that the infant would die, Assistant District Attorney Andrea Foulkes told a Common Pleas Court judge yesterday. ‘The child was most assuredly in the worst possible situation for life and survival,’ said Foulkes. ‘Why didn't (Melnick) act, even if he was wrong? . . . He didn't act because he wanted to stall until the baby stopped moving.’  (Ref:  “Nurse: Aborted Baby Alive Testifies She Heard Infant Gasping, Heartbeats”, Joseph P. Blake, Daily News Staff Writer, 3/16/89; “Prosecutor: Melnick Stalled To Allow Death”, Susan Caba, Inquirer Staff Writer, 6/9/89)

 

1990 - Abortionist Dr. Milan D. Chepko was charged and found guilty of mailing child pornography videotapes of minors as young as 4 years old involved in oral sex with adults and other children.  Charges included: inducing or coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing movies, knowingly shipping the movies across state lines, and using a false name or making a false statement to a U.S. agency.  His medical license was permanently revoked at the Federal level on January 17, 1991.  (Ref: Jackson Herald, September 30, 1989; Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure vs. Milan Chepko).

 

1991 – Indiana abortionist Dr. Pravin Thakkar was found guilty of performing illegal abortions on his former lovers without their consent, and lewd and unprofessional conduct.  He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.  The Los Angeles Times reported : “Dr. Pravin Thakkar, has been accused of gross negligence, lewd conduct, rape and other offenses against more than a dozen women. Many of the alleged victims were patients; others were women he dated who say he impregnated them and then performed abortions without their consent. ‘We've had lewd and immoral allegations before . . . but never in this volume against one man,’ said Dan Foley, assistant to state Atty. Gen. Linley Pearson…  A 23-count state complaint pending before the Indiana Medical Licensing Board accuses Thakkar of a litany of misconduct, including: prescribing an addictive drug for a patient as long as she would have pelvic exams; fondling patients in the examining room; forcing a woman to have sex with him in her home; impregnating women, then performing abortions without their consent.”  The Orlando Sentinel reported:  “Two of the doctor's former lovers testified that when they became pregnant, Thakkar aborted their fetuses without their permission. A third woman said she had also dated Thakkar, and that he attempted to abort her pregnancy without her consent.”  One woman was eight months pregnant.  Thakkar’s suspected motive was to avoid becoming a father to the unborn children.  He was accused of forcing medical instruments into the uterus of the women during supposedly “routine pelvic examinations”. One woman reportedly jumped from the examining table and wouldn't let him proceed due to pain but later allowed Thakkar to complete the abortion which was initiated without her knowledge or consent.  (Ref:  “Doctor In Abortion Case Sentenced To 16 Years”, Orlando Sentinel, 8/1/91; “Physician's License Is Suspended in Sex Case”, AP/New York Times, 2/26/89;  “Women's Accusations Land Small-Town Indiana Doctor in Big Trouble”, Sharon Cohen/Associated Press, 9/24/89)

April 1991 - Abortionist Joe Bills Reynolds was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter in the death of his wife.  She bled to death after he opened a 25-inch incision in her abdomen during a liposuction procedure on September 7, 1989. For reasons not known, Dr. Reynolds also did not allow paramedics to aid her until he had finished stapling the huge incision.  After her death, he failed in his attempt to collect $500,000 on his wife's life insurance policy.  He was also sued over the death of 21-year-old abortion patient Gaylene Golden on September 30, 1985 and the near-death of abortion patient Betty Adams for perforating her intestines during the procedure.  (Ref: "Doctor's Trial Nears in Liposuction Death," The Daily Oklahoman, 4/22/91; "Back Alley Butchers vs. Main Street Maimers", Dateline, 9/1/00)

 

May 1991 – Abortionist Tati Okereke had his medical license revoked after the Medical Board of New York State investigated numerous allegations by his patients of sexual misconduct.  Allegations included injecting patients with medications to make them groggy and attempting to engage in sexual intercourse against their will, and also fondling patient’s breasts.  (Ref: “Gynecologist Has History of Misconduct Charges.”, Michael Beebe, The Buffalo News, December 30, 1990; “Buffalo Abortionist Arrested on Sex-Abuse Charges”, Paul Likoudis, The Wanderer, January 5, 1989; California Medical Board Investigation #11593).

 

August 1995 - Queens, NY abortionist David Benjamin was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of Guadalupe Negron, 33, who was allowed to bleed to death after a botched abortion.  The New York Times reported:  “…Queens District Attorney, Richard A. Brown, said that Dr. Benjamin's incompetence and disregard for the patient were so reprehensible that he decided to pursue a murder charge.  Testimony showed that Dr. Benjamin, 58, performed a complicated, late-term abortion that he did not have the skills to do, and that he misled emergency workers who arrived at the scene, playing down the severity of the woman's condition. ‘This case represents a double tragedy," Mr. Brown said after the verdict was announced. "Firstly, there is the tragedy of Guadalupe Negron's unnecessary death as a result of David Benjamin's gross incompetence and depraved indifference. But equally tragic is the fact that the facility cut corners for monetary gain at the expense of the lives of its patients, who oft times were poor and uneducated."  (Ref:  “Abortion Doctor Guilty of Murder”, Lynette Holloway, New York Times, 8/9/95)

 

April 2000 - Abortionist Alan Zarkin, aka ‘Dr. Zorro’ was convicted of carving his initials ‘AZ’ into the abdomen of a patient in which he performed a cesarean section.  The patient was quoted as saying, “I feel like a branded animal. I now have a three-inch high letters carved permanently into my flesh".   Dr. Zarkin was also the medical director of the abortion clinic in Queens called Choices Women’s Medical Center.  Health Department officials temporarily closed all operating rooms at that abortion clinic and fined the clinic $20,000 for performing hasty abortions, lacking proper equipment and infection control, not having enough nurses and improperly screening and monitoring employees.  (Ref:  Developing Teachers.com –August 2000 newsletter / BBC News Online: 2-4-00 / Queens Courier: March 16-22,2000 / NY DOH 2/3/00-13 OPA / Choices Women’s Medical Center Website; CBSNews.com staff, February 12, 2000; “Doctor Who Carved Initials Gets Probation”, David Rohde, The New York Times, 4/26/00).

 

August 2000 -  Pro-abortionist Byron Looper, a Monterey, Tennessee county property assessor, murdered his pro-life political opponent, state Senator Tommy Burks, by shooting him in the left eye, in order to win a political campaign.  A witness testified: "He (Looper) said there were only two people on the ballot and that if one died, he would automatically win."  (Ref:  “Assassination in Middle Tennessee”, Mark Gribben; ABC News, 20/20 Downtown: The Associated Press, 10/30/00;  “Aspiring politician on trial for murder of state senator”,  Jason Strait, The Associated Press, ;  8/14/00)

 

December 2000 - Pasadena abortionist Kevin Paul Anderson was found guilty of the 1999 strangulation murder of his business partner, Dr. Deepti Gupta, a mother of two young children and pregnant with a third child due to their extramarital affair.  Anderson was arrested by the police when a passerby noticed him pushing Gupta's Mercedes off a 450-foot cliff in the San Gabriel Mountains to make it appear that she had been killed in an accident. He confessed to Gupta's murder. The Glendale News Press reported:  “A doctor accused of strangling his pregnant lover, dousing her body with gasoline and dumping it over a cliff in the Angeles National Forest was convicted Monday of second-degree murder.”  (Ref:  “Jury set to consider verdict”, Amber Willard, Glendale News Press, 11/23/00;  “Pediatrician found guilty in colleague's death”, Alecia Foster, Glendale News Press, 12/5/00)

 

April 2001 – Abortionist Stephen Pack was convicted of attempting to force an abortion on his pregnant mistress.  According to The New York Times, “A doctor who stabbed a pregnant nurse in the Bronx with a syringe that contained an abortion-inducing drug was sentenced yesterday to two years in state prison for the attack.”  Dr. Pack and a nurse had been romantically involved for more than a year when the incident occurred on April 14 of last year. At the time of the stabbing, she was seven weeks pregnant.  In another article by the New York Post, Pack's girlfriend told reporters that he is a, “pathetic excuse for a human being. He is a vicious, wild animal who belongs in a cage.”   (Ref:  “New York Abortionist Practitioner Arraigned in Forced Abortion Attempt,” New York Times, Associated Press, 15 April 2000; “Doctor from Bronx Hospital is Sentenced in Needle Attack”, Sherri Day, The New York Times, April 21, 2001; “Doctor Stabbed Pregnant Girlfriend”, New York Post, 4-15-2000).

 

July 2001 - Pro-abortionists sent death threats to at least three Oklahoma City news agencies, threatening violence against Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane and state witnesses against abortionist John Hamilton during his trial for the murder of his wife. The threats, received by The Oklahoman newspaper, KWTV NEWS 9 and another television station, warned of retribution if the District Attorney did not drop the charges against the abortionist. The letter to The Oklahoman was typed in capital letters and dated July 9, 2001. It was mailed from within Oklahoma City and carried no return address. The newspaper's address appeared to have been cut from an issue of the paper and taped to the envelope. "You all will have a big news story soon ... if Wes Lane (District Attorney) doesn't drop charges against Dr. Hamilton", the letter reads. "One of his witnesses will be dead — we have tried to warn her."  KWTV NEWS9 and KFOR Channel 4 both received similar letters containing death threats against the District Attorney and witnesses.  Death threats were also received by retired district attorney Bob Macy and a key witness after someone discovered it in the rest room of her church.  "I think that anybody who would engage in a kind of long-distance terrorism and without being willing to look me in the eye and say that they have got a problem ... are gutless cowards." said District Attorney Wes Lane  (Ref: "Media Receives Threats in Case of Abortion Practitioner Killing Wife.", the Oklahoman, 7/18/01)

 

December 2002 - Abortionist and convicted sex-offender Laurence A. Reich continued his abortion practice in Panorama City, California, three years after being convicted of sexually exploiting his patients. He pleaded no contest in December 2002 to performing sexual acts on two female patients.  "Everyone - the victims, the investigator and me - we all conferred and agreed, to protect  the safety of the public, the main thing was to get a conviction and get it now," said Deputy District Attorney Maureen Green. "I needed to get a plea in and get it fast so they could pull his license.  She continued, "I didn't realize until now that it's taken another three years to proceed with the license proceedings."  Court records show a complaint filed in 1982 by the board against Reich included allegations from six women, four accusing him of sexual impropriety and two of incompetence.  New allegations by two women in 2002 accused Reich of inserting his fingers inside their vaginas without medical necessity. Both women claimed Reich asked inappropriate sexual questions and gave them his home phone number.  (Ref:  “Convicted physician continues practicing”, Josh Kleinbaum, Staff Writer, Los Angeles  Daily News, October 29, 2005; “Osteopath Surrenders License, Avoids Hearing”, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Daily News, Feb 15, 2006).

 

February 2003 - Oklahoma City abortionist John Hamilton was convicted of the Valentine's Day 2001 murder of his wife, Susan, and sentenced to life without parole.  Witnesses testified the abortionist regularly abused his wife, who had been seen numerous times in public with bruises.  When police arrived at their home, police found Dr. Hamilton covered in her blood.  Human Life International reported the following:  “Abortionist John Baxter Hamilton was having an affair with a topless dancer he had aborted, and his wife was considering leaving him.  On Valentine's Day 2001, Hamilton choked his wife with a necktie, beat her over the head with a heavy blunt object hard enough to smash a hole in her skull, and then slammed her face repeatedly into the floor.  In December 2001, a jury convicted Hamilton of murdering his wife.  Amazingly, pro-abortionists tried to get all charges dropped against Hamilton by sending death threats to at least three news agencies, District Attorney Wes Lane, and state witnesses against Hamilton.”  (Ref:  “Pro-Abortion Violence:  Setting the Record Straight”, Human Life International; "Oklahoma Abortion Practitioner Sentenced for Murder", Diana Baldwin, The Oklahoman, 1/8/02; “One Murder Too Many?”, Lynn Vincent, WorldMag.com, 4/7/01)

 

December 2003 – Phoenix, AZ abortionist Brian Finkel, who called himself the “prince of the pelvis”, was convicted of 24 counts of sexually abusing women, most of whom were his patients while under anesthesia.  He was given a sentence of almost 35 years.  An article by LifeNews stated:  “More than 60 women complained Finkel inappropriately touched them and, in some cases, their sexual organs, during abortions and examinations…  Finkel claimed he did nothing wrong and that the touching of women’s breasts and private parts were part of standard medical procedure. A South Dakota abortion practitioner disputed his claim.”  (Ref:  Steven Ertelt, “Abortion Practitioner Brian Finkel Found Guilty of Sexual Abuse”, LifeNews.com, 12/2/03).  Ironically, the feminist and pro-choice National Organization for Women (NOW) came to his defense and claimed that all of the women who came forward to testify against Finkel were lying.  One can only surmise that some pro-choice advocates want to keep abortion readily available, and at any cost - even the cost of women’s lives.

 

January 2008 - Mississippi abortionist Malachy DeHenre was found guilty in the 1997 slaying of  his wife.  LifeSiteNews reported the following:  “Dr. Malachy DeHenre was charged with killing his wife, Dr. Myasha DeHenre, with a single pistol shot to the head in their home. The Jones County Circuit Court jury, composed of six men and six women, deliberated 45 minutes before finding him guilty of manslaughter.  DeHenre had his license to practice medicine in Mississippi, Alabama, and New York suspended after being convicted of "gross malpractice" and "repeated malpractice" on abortion patients beginning in 2003. Three women on whom he performed abortions required complete hysterectomies to control severe hemorrhaging, and another woman Leigh Ann Stephens Alford, died as a result of a perforated uterus after an abortion he committed on her.  DeHenre also faced charges earlier this year of raping a then-21 year old patient in March 1992, however a Jones County jury acquitted him in October.”  (Ref:  “Mississippi Abortionist Convicted in Slaying of Wife”, Peter J. Smith, LifeSiteNews.com, 1/31/2008)

 

March 2005 - Abortionist Rodolfo Finkelstein had his license suspended by the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH).   Finkelstein's patients ranged from 17 to 21 years old and testified to being groped and kissed during exams.  On March 21, 2005, he was bound over for five counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the Fourth Degree and two counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree in the 48th District Court of Oakland County, Michigan.  (Ref: MDCH review of license # 4301043190 / Detroit Press 9-3-04/ The Daily Oakland Press: 2-26-05, 3-9-05, 3-22-05/ Detroit Oakland News: 3-10-05, 3-15-05).

 

 

Safe and legal/lethal abortion deaths:  A partial list of deadly cases:

1971 - Margaret Louise Smith, 25, had a legal abortion in New York (abortion was legal in New York prior to the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision).  Her abortionist, Dr. Jesse Ketchum, had lacerated her vagina, uterus, and cervix and she bled to death while lying unattended for several hours.  Ketchum was convicted in 1973 of criminally negligent homicide.  Previously, another patient of Ketchum, Carole Shaner, had also bled to death under similar circumstances.  

 

1973 – Linda Padfield, 28, died of a massive uterine infection three days after having a legal abortion by South Dakota abortionist Benjamin Munson.  A retained partial body of a fetus was found in her uterus.  When Munson was tried for manslaughter, his defense team argued that infection is an accepted risk of abortion and it was unintentional.  Munson was acquitted by a jury and later welcomed into the National Abortion Federation (NAF).   (Ref:  American Medical News 8-29-77; AMA News 12-12-77, 1-23-78; Minneapolis Tribune 10-21-77)

 

1974 - Wilma Harris, 17, died five days after having a legal abortion by Washington DC abortionist Milan Vuitch.  In 1976, the family filed a suit claiming she was allowed to lapse into a coma while lying on the table unattended for 12 hours before being transferred to a hospital.  The suit also claimed the clinic falsified their records in an attempt to hide their misdeeds.  The family won a judgment against him but the details were sealed by court order.  While being interviewed on-camera, he once stated, "This is not the only lacerated uterus in 15 years. I lacerated uteruses and other surgeons lacerated. And perforated.  And this and that.” (Ref:  Washington Monthly, January 1989).

 

1980 - Georgianna "Jeannie" English died during an abortion performed by Dr. Milan Vuitch.  She died due to complications from the anesthesia.  The family sued Vuitch and came to a settlement.  (Ref: Washington Times 4/19/84; Washington Post 4/29/86)

 

1983 - Abortionist Dr. Raymond Showery was found guilty of the 1979 drowning murder of a 6-month, 5-pound preborn child who came out alive during an abortion procedure. Five of his employees testified Dr. Showery smothered the infant girl by holding the placenta over her face as she tried to breath.  He then dropped her into a bucket of water.  The medical records and the body were never found, presumably because he had disposed of them.  A number of other complaints were filed against Showery over the years, including that he charged women for abortions when they were not pregnant and that he falsified records to show that women were 20 weeks pregnant when they were past that mark.  (Ref:  Sources: New York Times 9-29-83; New York Times 4-29-84; Des Moines Register 5-5-84; El Paso Times 4-26-84, 6-5-84, Dallas Morning News 4-18-84, 4-20-84, 5-3-84, Longview Morning Journal 5-6-84, Dallas Times-Herald 4-14-84, “Doctor Gets 15 Years in Infanticide Case.” ALL About Issues, November 1983; “Controversial El Paso Abortion Provider Dies”, C. Ramirez, El Paso Times, Feb. 5, 2013)

 

1984 - Mickey Apodaca, 28, bled to death one day after having a legal abortion performed in El Paso, TX by abortionist Dr. Raymond Showery.  She was allowed to hemorrhage for two hours before being transferred to a nearby hospital where she died.  The woman's uterus and a uterine artery were perforated during the procedure.  When Showery was charged with her death, he refused to provide medical records to the grand jury.  He was charged with manslaughter but the charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.  The victim left behind four young children.   (Ref:  Sources: New York Times 9-29-83; New York Times 4-29-84; Des Moines Register 5-5-84; El Paso Times 4-26-84, 6-5-84, Dallas Morning News 4-18-84, 4-20-84, 5-3-84, Longview Morning Journal 5-6-84, Dallas Times-Herald 4-14-84; “Controversial El Paso Abortion Provider Dies”, C. Ramirez, El Paso Times, Feb. 5, 2013)

 

1984 - Mary Pena, 43 and mother of five, bled to death on the same day of her abortion which was performed at Dr. Edward Allred’s abortion clinic at San Vicente Hospital in Los Angeles.  She had sustained two cervical lacerations.  She had been bleeding profusely and while having an emergency hysterectomy to save her, she died on the operating table.  However, a sharp-eyed worker at the Coroner’s office became suspicious when the cause of death was unclear.  The Investigator’s Report states “Dr. Allred cleared the case with Coroner and body was released to the family picked mortuary … and services held. When the death certificate was taken to Kern County Health Department they refused to accept it and called the case to Los Angeles Coroner.”  Only then was cause of death found to be from excessive bleeding due to two cervical lacerations – a small one that had been sutured and a large unsutured one extending through the full ring of the cervix.  Once a cause for the fatal hemorrhage was determined, the death certificate was accepted, and Mary was laid to rest again.  At least ten women have died after abortions performed at Dr. Allred’s “assembly line” Family Planning Associates Medical Group clinics.  (Ref: Press-Telegram July 14-22 1985; LA County Coroner Case No. 84-16016; "Abortion held safe, but not for these 2 women," Press-Telegram, July 14-22 1985)

 

1985 - Yvonne Mesteth, 18, died after having a legal abortion performed by Dr. Benjamin Munson.  (Ref:  South Dakota Death Certificate No. 140 85-003853).  Like Linda Padfield, she also developed a massive uterine infection from retained fetal tissue.  And like Padfield’s case, Munson was tried and again cleared from manslaughter charges. The prosecution focused on the fact that infection will inevitably result from that much retained tissue. The Attorney General commented, "You take a three-inch leg off something, you have to know that there's more in there than just the leg." (Ref: American Medical News 8-29-77; AMA News 12-12-77, 1-23-78; Minneapolis Tribune 10-21-77)

 

1987 - Belinda Byrd, 37, died three days after an abortion was performed by Dr. Steven Pine at the Inglewood Women's Hospital near Los Angeles.  The Los Angeles Times reported:  “The suit charges that on Jan. 24, 1987, Pine performed an abortion that perforated Byrd's uterus and that she lay bleeding and unattended for about three hours in a hospital bed until she lost consciousness… Berglund (attorney for the family) argued in court that patients were rushed through the 28-bed hospital so quickly and record-keeping was so incomplete that adequate monitoring of patients was impossible…  Byrd's abortion was the 69th of the day and one of 24 performed by Pine in the final two hours of his shift, he said.  About an hour after the surgery, Byrd complained to nurses that her legs were weak and numb, Berglund said. She collapsed in the bathroom in her hospital room about a short time later and had to be helped back to her bed, Berglund said.  ‘This case shows a poor standard of care.’ Berglund said in the interview. ‘It shows they're more interested in patient volume--money--than good patient care. Their motto was maximize the profits and minimize patient care.’  Byrd's death was one factor that prompted state officials to launch an investigation of the hospital, which found what one health official termed ‘battlefield conditions.’  The state report released in December, 1987 described patients being rushed through abortions performed in an operating room where tables and floors were stained with the blood of previous patients. Inspectors said doctors at the hospital did not adequately monitor patients under anesthesia, and medical personnel did not wash their hands and equipment between operations.”  A mistrial was eventually declared and the abortionist settled the suit out of court for $250,000.  (Ref:  “Doctor Accused in Abortion Suit Testifies: Admits He Injured Inglewood Clinic Patient But Says 'Unforeseen Complications' Caused Death”, Marc Lacey, Times Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 7/30/89; “Jurors Can't Agree on Abortion Death Blame; Mistrial Declared”, Marc Lacey, Times Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 8/19/89)

 

1991 - Donna Heim, 20, died during an abortion performed at Her Medical Clinic in Los Angeles.  The Los Angeles Times article reported:  “The death of the preschool teacher from Covina was caused by one of many acts of incompetence and negligence committed against eight patients by Dr. Mahlon Douglas Cannon, according to a recent decision of an administrative law judge adopted last week by the California Medical Board.”  (Ref:  “Physician in Abortion Case Loses License : Medical board says Dr. Mahlon D. Cannon was incompetent and negligent in cases of eight women, including one who died.”, Claire Spiegel, Times Staff Writer, June 17, 1991)

 

2003 - Leigh Ann Stephens Alford, 34, died less than one day after having an abortion performed by Dr. Malachy DeHenre at Summit Medical Center of Alabama.  She bled to death from an unrecognized uterine perforation.  Dr. DeHenre’s medical license was suspended in Mississippi and Alabama after her death.  Later, Dr. DeHenre was also convicted of murdering his wife by shooting her in the head. (Ref:  “Mississippi suspends license of doctor who performed abortions”, A. Elkins, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, August 20, 2004; “Mississippi Abortionist Convicted in Slaying of Wife”, Peter J. Smith, LifeSiteNews.com, 1/31/2008)

 

Why do pro-choice advocates protect abortionists accused of criminal activities?

Pro-choice advocates do not hide the fact that they prioritize abortionists with poor safety records to stay in practice - over and above - the safety of women who seek abortions.  Choice advocates also come to the defense of abortionists, even if the abortionist is convicted of heinous crimes against women.  One can only surmise that some pro-choice advocates want to keep abortion readily available, and at any cost - even the cost of women’s lives.

 

1989 - Pro-choice advocates also defended and turned a blind eye to the reprehensible conditions at the Dadeland Family Planning Clinic near Miami, Florida.  An investigation by the Miami Herald in 1989 revealed they were reusing disposable instruments, surgical tools were stored in bloody paper towels, expired drugs were kept on hand, the doctors were leaving the facility early while patients were still in recovery, and there were no nurses on staff.  One patient also died of peritonitis after an abortion procedure.  Abortionist Richard Litt, who performed abortions at Dadeland until 1981, told the Miami Herald that he quit because the owners wanted him to do too many abortions in a single work day, and wanted him to do abortions too late into the pregnancy.  Litt called Dadeland, "…a scum hole. I wouldn't send a dog there. They should be put in jail."  To all of these charges, Janis Compton, the director of the Florida Abortion Rights Action League, remained staunchly opposed to rectifying the situation.  She said, “In my gut, I am completely aghast at what goes on at that place. But I staunchly oppose anything that would correct this situation in law." (Ref: Miami Herald, September 17, 1989, September 26, 1989, September 28, 1989, September 30, 1989, and January 4, 1990; The News Herald, September 26, 1989; Associated Press, September 25, 1989;  Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services inspection reports (1989), The Miami Herald Tropic Magazine, September 17, 1989; Dade County Case #88-19636; Department of Professional Regulation Case #0057913; Miami Herald, May 7 and 8, 1988, September 28, 1989, and January 4, 1990).

 

1991 - “60 Minutes” investigated an abortion mill where two women had been allowed to die.  In the show, Barbara Radford, Executive Director of The National Abortion Federation, was asked if she knew of the problems in that facility.  She said they were aware of the problems at the clinic but decided to remain silent:  “This is the last thing we need. We had hoped that it wouldn’t get national publicity because of the political nature of all this.”  Apparently, it was more important that abortion remain legal and unrestricted than to be safe for women.  (Ref:  “The Abortion Underworld”, The New American, January 15, 2001).

 

1995 - “60 Minutes” reporter Marilyn Viero  also interviewed pro-choice Maryland State Senator Mary Boergers on why nothing was being done to address dangerous abortion clinics.  Boergers said, “There's only so much of a willingness to try to push a group like the pro-choice movement to do what I think is the responsible thing to do because they then treat you as if you're the enemy."  (Ref: Claiming Abortion Malpractice” by Diane Gianelli. The American  Medical News 2/6/95)

 

July 2001 – When abortionist John Hamilton was on trial for murdering his wife and attempting to conceal his act from police, pro-abortionists sent death threats to at least three Oklahoma City news agencies, threatening violence against Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane and state witnesses if the charges weren’t dropped immediately. The threats, received by The Oklahoman newspaper, KWTV NEWS 9 and another television station, warned of retribution if the District Attorney did not drop the charges against the abortionist. The letter to The Oklahoman was typed in capital letters and dated July 9, 2001. It was mailed from within Oklahoma City and carried no return address. The newspaper's address appeared to have been cut from an issue of the paper and taped to the envelope. "You all will have a big news story soon ... if Wes Lane (District Attorney) doesn't drop charges against Dr. Hamilton", the letter reads. "One of his witnesses will be dead — we have tried to warn her."  KWTV NEWS9 and KFOR Channel 4 both received similar letters containing death threats against the District Attorney and witnesses.  Death threats were also received by retired district attorney Bob Macy and a key witness after someone discovered it in the restroom of her church.  "I think that anybody who would engage in a kind of long-distance terrorism and without being willing to look me in the eye and say that they have got a problem ... are gutless cowards." said District Attorney Wes Lane  (Ref: "Media Receives Threats in Case of Abortion Practitioner Killing Wife.", the Oklahoman, 7/18/01)

 

2008 - A Washington Times article commented on the total disregard for women by the abortion industry and their reluctance to make changes:  “Occasionally, an intrepid government official, acting on a tip by patient or employee, breaks through the stone wall of secrecy and discovers abuses.” (Ref: “Regulating Abortion Clinics”, the Washington Times, 2/6/08)

 

2009 - When Phoenix, AZ abortionist Dr. Bruce Finkel was convicted on 22 counts of sexual assault and given a sentence of 35 years, the Arizona chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) came to his defense.  Here is a comment by sociologist and psychologist Rachel MacNair:  “In the case of Bruce Finkel, the response was even worse: the spokesperson for the Arizona chapter of the National Organization for Women, familiar with the case, assured people that the women were lying, and this was due to an antiabortion conspiracy. How over 100 women of sufficient pro-choice philosophy to go to an abortion provider, many if not most of whom were in-fact getting abortions, along with several former employees of the clinic, were talked into making the allegations was not clearly explained.  Advocates in NOW are not normally inclined to take the side of the accused in sexual abuse cases, outside the context of the accused being an abortion provider.”  (Ref:  Rachel M MacNair, PhD, “Achieving Peace in the Abortion War”, 2009).

 

Pro-choice advocates oppose all legislation which improves patient care at abortion clinics because it “decreases access”.  Because of this opposition, abortion clinic safety standards are even lower than veterinary clinics and tattoo parlors:  “There has been testimony in the House and Senate, where I have heard there is not regulation on the abortion clinics in the state. In the nine clinics, we’ve heard testimony that abortion clinics are not as regulated as veterinary clinics or tattoo parlors. We need to find a balance between good regulations and women’s health. I think it’s important to make sure the nine (abortion) facilities are capable of handling emergencies; to not regulate would be a disservice to protecting women’s health.”  (Ref:  Indiana, Sen. Jeff Drozda, R-Westfield IDS News, Multiple bills address abortion in Indiana Senate, House, 2/22/2005)

 

Because the powerful pro-choice lobby continues to press for less regulation, health officials are powerless to rectify the lack of safety in the abortion industry:

“There was actually an abortion suction device in this place that had green mold growing in it, When we got there, there wasn’t any soap in the place, so our inspectors had to go next door to wash their hands. No matter how hard they searched, clinic personnel couldn’t find a single sanitary surgical glove in the entire clinic. Patients recovering from general anesthetic were attended by untrained, unlicensed personnel. And an oxygen mask still had lipstick on it from a patient who had needed it some time before. In addition, the expiration date had passed on nearly 70 different kinds of medication being used in the facility. These are deplorable conditions. The clinic appears to be little more than a satellite operation of the back alley abortion mill we closed early this week. We are powerless to ensure that women will receive safe, adequate health care in abortion clinics.”  (Ref: Secretary Gregory L. Coler, Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, PR Newswire, “Florida HRS secretary closes second Miami abortion clinic”, 9/27/1989)

 

“When I first assumed the position of director of this office, Office of Licensure and Certification, HRS, Tallahassee, Florida, I visited representative facilities of the different types we license. I reviewed the statutes and regulations of each different type of facility. The one facility type where I learned we had extremely limited authority to ensure quality care was abortion clinics. The situation still exists today. I have personally surveyed three abortion clinics over the last two weeks and am profoundly concerned about the practices and care I observed.”  (Ref: Connie E. Cheren, Director, Office of Licensure and Certification, HRS,

St. Petersburg Times, Editorial, “Abortion clinics should meet basic health care standards”, 10/12/1989)

 

Pro-choice reporter Hannah Selinger described her visit to a legal abortion clinic:  “In all the years I have spent writing and thinking about a woman’s right to choose, I have never set foot in an abortion clinic, because I have never needed to. In my mind, I had always pictured a clean and comfortable place. This was no Westchester clinic. The place was dirty and dark and the women in the room outside were standing, as there were no chairs. A woman beside me was crying.  In the press, the issue of the right to choose will be reduced to the terminology of precedent and privacy. But the visceral reality of abortion - the grimy clinic, the sobbing and hapless young woman - cannot be understood by such desensitized vocabulary.”  (Ref:  “The Raw Story: The Real State of Abortion Rights before Alito” January 12, 2006)

 

For more references and information:  ClinicQuotes.com, “Abortion Clinic Health Regulations and Pro-Choice Opposition”, http://clinicquotes.com/abortion-clinic-health-regulations-and-pro-choice-opposition/