Operation Rescue demands that Maryland prosecutors file criminal charges
Philadelphia, PA – A news story that appeared in todayPhiladelphia Inquirer reveals new and shocking details of an illegal abortion ring operated by troubled abortionist Stephen Chase Brigham that spans four states and now includes at least two other abortionists.
The Maryland medical licenses of George Shepard, Jr., of Delaware and Nicola I. Riley of Utah, were suspended on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, for helping Brigham skirt the law. (Read Shepard's Suspension Order; Read Riley's Suspension Order)
It was Riley who was involved in the botched abortion in Elkton, Maryland, that led to the discovery of Brigham's scheme to circumvent late-term abortion laws by beginning the abortion in one state, then transporting the women to Maryland for completion of the abortion. Authorities who raided Brigham's Elkton, MD abortion mill discovered the remains of 35 late-term aborted babies.
Brigham is not licensed to practice medicine in Maryland and never has been. The state issued a cease and desist order to Brigham on August 25.
On September 1, Operation Rescue sent letters asking that the Maryland Attorney General's office as well as state and county prosecutors file criminal charges against Brigham and that he be held to full accountability under the law. (Read OR's letter to Maryland's Attorney General)
"There is a largely unspoken crisis in this country brought on by abortionists who insist that they are above the law," said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger.
"We can no longer turn a blind eye to these abortion abuses and pretend that things like this can't happen in a nation where abortion is legally permissible. Brigham is just one example in an industry where this kind of behavior is the norm and not the exception. We have yet to find an abortionist who does not violate the law.
"Shame on the women's organizations that know this kind of abuse is occurring, yet continue to cover up for abortionists. If groups like NARAL and the NAF really cared about women, they would work night and day to close these abortion chop shops and offer real solutions to pregnant women that does not include submitting them to abortionist quacks."
Doctor's four-state abortion business under investigation
By Marie McCullough, Inquirer Staff Writer
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/102131499.html
Three weeks ago, physician Steven Brigham led a car caravan of patients from his Voorhees abortion clinic to his facility in Elkton, Md. After one of the patients was critically injured during her surgery there, Brigham put the semiconscious, bleeding woman into the back of a rented Chevrolet Malibu and drove her to a nearby hospital emergency room rather than call an ambulance.
Those details are contained in documents issued over the last 10 days by the Maryland Board of Physicians and Elkton police. The two agencies have launched a wide-ranging investigation into Brigham's long-troubled abortion business, which he conducts in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
On Aug. 25, the Maryland Board of Physicians ordered Brigham, 54, to stop performing abortions in that state, where he has never been licensed to practice medicine. By then police had raided Brigham's Elkton facility – from which they said they removed 35 "late-term fetuses and fetal parts" – as well as the Voorhees headquarters of his chain of 15 clinics, which does business as American Women's Services.
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