By Cheryl Sullenger
Wichita, KS – The January 2014, suicide of Kimberly M. Walker, a former Maryland associate of late-term abortionist Steven Chase Brigham, has brought attention to the issue of mental illness within the abortion cartel.
As Operation Rescue recently reported, Walker suffered from a serious mental illness first diagnosed as some form of Bipolar and Schizoaffective Disorder with psychotic and paranoid symptoms that led her to attempt to murder a hospital security guard in 2006. As a medical school graduate that was unlicensed, she worked at Brigham’s illegal late-term abortion clinic in Elkton, Maryland, about once a week for eight months to “observe” him doing late-term abortions as preparation for employment as an abortionist with his company. Her severe mental illness was found to pose a danger to the public. She committed suicide on January 14, 2014.
Certainly, Walker is not the only abortion clinic worker to suffer from mental disorders.
One abortionist currently working at South Wind Women’s Center in Wichita, Kansas, has taken to Twitter to discuss her own mental health condition.
Cheryl Chastine, who lives in Chicago and travels to Wichita weekly to provide abortions, tweets profusely under the screen name of @DrJaneChi.
Chastine has publicly admitted her own struggles with Depressive Disorder.
“Stigma on #depression is real. I fight it by talking about my own experience. When you feel ready, you can do this. It will help someone, Chastine tweeted on February 27, 2013. “I lost years of my life to #depression. I don’t even remember that time well. I owe everything to Feeling Good & to Lexapro.”
Chastine admits that the depressive disorder will always be with her.
“I accept that I will always need to take antidepressant medication. It lets me be a productive member of society. That’s ok,” she tweeted.
“We have to wonder what will happen to her patients if Chastine decides to go off her meds, like Walker frequently did,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “While we appreciate the fact that Chastine is getting help, relapses are always possible. Since she often has someone else’s life in her hands during abortion surgery, a relapse could be problematic for the health and safety of her patients.”
But Chastine has exhibited some other behaviors that raise eyebrows, if not concerns. Her tweets are often liberally laced with profanity. She frequently speaks of illicit sexual conduct, human genitalia (in vulgar terms), heavy drinking, and drug use. She supports legitimizing prostitution and seems to have resentments toward white males.
“While Chastine’s raunchy tweets may not be indicators of mental illness, they are disturbing enough to give one pause, given her mental health history,” said Newman. “Perhaps it would be advisable for the Kansas Board of Healing Arts to conduct regular mental health evaluations of licensees with histories of mental disorders or impairment, like Chastine, to ensure they don’t pose a danger to the public.”
In addition to Chastine and Walker, other abortion clinic workers with documented cases of mental illness include three former employees of Kermit Gosnell’s “House of Horrors” abortion clinic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There is evidence that Gosnell also many have suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness.
Another tragic example was that of former abortion clinic administrator Deborah Fleming of San Diego, California, who committed suicide at the age of 35.
“It appears that some people come into the abortion business as a result of their mental health issues while others suffer mental anguish as a result of their abortion work,” said Newman.
Operation Rescue has interviewed dozens of abortion clinic workers who frequently report that they experience an inability to sleep, night terrors, depression, and a propensity to abuse drugs and alcohol. One woman ground her teeth down so badly due to the anxiety produced by her abortion clinic work that she required extensive dental work.
“These troubled people need our prayers. We have seen so many who have come out of the abortion business later tell us that they are finally able to find healing, peace, and a better life,” said Newman. “There is hope.”