Wichita, KS — Sidewalk counselors report that they believe post-viability abortions resumed last week at Women’s Health Care Services (WHCS) for the first time since 19 criminal charges were filed against owner George R. Tiller for committing illegal abortions.

Sidewalk counselor Donna Lampkin, who maintains a near-daily schedule outside Tiller’s facility, told Operation Rescue that she observed that the pattern of patients returning to the clinic over several days resumed last week with vehicles arriving from a number of states — a pattern that indicates post-viability abortions are being done.

At Tiller’s clinic, abortions after 21 weeks gestation require three to four days to complete. Women from across the country come to WHCS because these late abortions are not widely available in other states. Women who receive abortions earlier in their pregnancies are only seen at the Tiller clinic one or two days.

Tiller uncharacteristically closed his abortion business for the week immediately after charges were filed against him on June 28 by Attorney General Paul Morrison, an abortion supporter who accused Tiller of committing post-viability abortions without the signature of a second doctor who is not financially or legally associated with him. Morrison remarked at a news conference that Tiller and abortionist Kristin Neuhaus were “in cahoots,” something the law specifically prohibits.

The following week, sidewalk counselors, who maintain a constant presence outside WHCS every hour it is open, observed no patients who were at the clinic long enough to have one of the later-term procedures.

“Under intense public pressure, Morrison filed the criminal charges against Tiller to make it look like he was doing his job. Yet by filing on the less serious part of the law, Morrison insured that Tiller would be able to continue doing the post-viability abortions for trivial reasons even though the law strongly prohibits them,” said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger. “This is selective enforcement by a politician who benefited financially during his campaign for office from Tiller’s abortion money. Morrison charged Tiller in such a way that Tiller could terminate his relationship with Neuhaus, find a new doctor, and continue with business as usual.”

“This is not the way the law is intended to work,” said Sullenger. “It was intended to provide legal protection for viable babies. The culpability for the deaths of these innocent children that are continuing to die at Tiller’s clinic rests directly on Morrison’s doorstep.”

Former Attorney General Phill Kline filed illegal late-term abortion charges last December because medical records obtained by subpoena from Tiller indicated that women were obtaining abortions for such “mental health” reasons as disappointment over missing a rock concert even though Kansas law states that abortions past 22 weeks gestation must be to save the live of the mother or prevent “substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.” The term “bodily function” has been assumed to include mental health risks. All of Tiller’s post-viability abortions have been done under “mental heath” excuses. The Kline charges were dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, not on the merits of the charges.

Leading psychiatrist Dr. Paul McHugh, stated publicly that the reasons for post-viability abortions stated in the Tiller records he examined did not meet the standard of “substantial and irreversible.” His 44-minute recorded interview on the Tiller case is a powerful indictment of Tiller’s misuse of psychiatry in order to falsely justify abortions that the law prohibits.

Tiller is scheduled to be arraigned on the 19 Morrison charges on August 7, in Sedgwick County. Tiller’s attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the charges based on their opinion that the part of the law Tiller was charged under is unconstitutional. A hearing on that motion is currently scheduled for August 10.

San Diego, CA — Two abortion mills, one in San Diego, California, and one in Atlantic City, New Jersey, continue to be plagued by problems that have kept both in the news in recent days.

“More and more horrific stories like this are surfacing that indicate an abortion industry that is about to self-destruct,” said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger. “From what we are seeing around the nation, conditions such as those in San Diego and Atlantic City are not the exception, but the shocking standard.”

San Diego Negligence

Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside Counties is being sued for the second time in two months, this time for negligence in not informing a patient of a Pap Smear test that indicated the presence of cervical cancer. Former patient Rebecca Glover alleged in her suit that Planned Parenthood realized their negligence and attempted to cover it up by denying Glover access to her own medical records. She contends that Planned Parenthood’s acts prevented her from getting treatment for her cancer for a year, during which time it advanced to stage 3.

Last month this same Planned Parenthood organization was sued by the mother of Edrica Goode, who died after a botched abortion attempt. Goode died of toxic shock syndrome after having her cervix packed with laminaria and gauze even though she was suffering from a vaginal infection. Because of the onset of her illness, Goode did not return to finish the abortion, and her mother, who was unaware of the abortion attempt, insists that Planned Parenthood never tried to follow up with Goode, preventing her from getting her daughter the treatment she needed to save her life.

Planned Parenthood received a “deficiency” finding from the California Department of Health for not reporting the abortion death within 24 hours, as required by law.

“There is a pattern of cover-up in Planned Parenthood’s recent troubles that is systemic of the abortion industry around the nation. The habit is to deny problems and cover the truth, even if it costs the lives of patients,” said Sullenger, who spent years warning women of dangers the San Diego Planned Parenthood.

“This Planned Parenthood organization has proven that they do not care about women by their treatment of Glover and Goode alone,” she said. “It is really appalling to think that a clinic would be aware of the fact that women had life-threatening conditions, yet would actively conceal that information from them in order to cover up their negligence. If that behavior is not criminal, it ought to be.”

Atlantic City Filth

Alternatives abortion clinic in Atlantic City will stay closed for now. The abortion mill has yet to file a corrective action plan with the state’s health department that was required within 10 days of an inspection that closed the clinic for health violations on June 22.

The Press of Atlantic City reports that the Heath Department released its 116-page inspection report listing problems with the abortion office that included dried blood on the abortion beds and stirrups, expired medications, and general filth. According to the news report, “Dust, rust, dirt and debris also were found on some equipment, and floors in the operating room, laboratory and recovery room were ‘soiled and stained.’”

In addition, the clinic was cited because abortionists did not always scrub between abortion procedures, partially because the mill lacked hot water and a scrub sink. In an outageous attempt to defend this practice, a clinic worker told inspectors, “Abortions aren’t really surgery, they aren’t sterile procedures.”

Abortionist Stuart Sackstein, Alternatives medical director, resigned the day after the state closed the abortion mill. Abortionist Stephen Chase Brigham, who is banned from practicing medicine in three states, was in the process of buying the abortion mill at the time of its closure. The sale of the office is opposed by local pro-life groups.

Until the current owner, abortionist Alan Kline, files a corrective plan that satisfies the health department, the clinic will remain closed. Every day it remains in noncompliance, Alternatives racks up fines of $2,500 per day. Already their fines total approximately $80,000.

“Alternatives’ reticence to correct their deplorably shoddy conditions may well be their own undoing,” said Sullenger. “They have dug themselves into a financial pit that they may not be able to climb out of. Now that the public knows the truth about their filthy conditions and dangerous abortionists, we pray that it will never be allowed to reopen.”

“The problems at these two abortion clinics illustrate that the idea of abortions being ‘safe and legal’ is mythical,” said Sullenger. “The health and well-being of women are regularly sacrificed for greed, profits, and the protection of their radical abortion ideology without regard for the cost in human lives and tragedy. That is the true state of the abortion industry today.”

Washington, DC — Operation Rescue President Troy Newman will be part of a historic Christian prayer delegation to Iraq. The group of six men, led by the Christian Defense Coalition, has been officially welcomed by the Iraqi government and will be their guests in Baghdad.

The group is scheduled to leave for Iraq on Tuesday, July 24, 2007, and will spend a week praying for people of Iraq and seeking God’s wisdom and guidance for the direction of Iraq during this critical time in the nation’s history.

“Because we are a pro-life group, we are very concerned about the loss of life, both among the American troops endeavoring to bring stability to Iraq and to the innocent non-combatants that too often find themselves in harm’s way,” said Operation Rescue Senior Policy Advisor Cheryl Sullenger. “This is an amazing opportunity to cover this nation with much-needed prayer.”

“We are aware of the dangers of traveling to a war zone, so we are asking for special prayer Troy and the other men in the delegation that they would be kept safe and for God’s blessings on their trip,” Sullenger said.