By Kathleen M. Gallagher January 22 marks the 39th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in America.Those of us who value the sacredness of human life have come a long way since that shameful day. The rate of abortion continues to decline, fewer and fewer physicians are willing to engage in the dirty business, and more and more people – excitingly, young people! – are proudly proclaiming their pro-life beliefs. Yet just as the New Year began, we heard another horror story. Abortionist Steven Brigham had been charged with 10 counts of murder in Maryland where authorities say they found the corpses of 35 fully-formed unborn babies, some just a few weeks shy of full-term, stuffed in a freezer in his clinic. The grisly discovery led to charges of illegal abortions, as well as others stemming from a botched abortion leaving a woman critically injured. Some in New York may remember Brigham’s name from the mid-1990’s when he operated clinics in Rockland and Albany counties, collectively known as “American Women’s Services.” They had a toll-free number that was easy to remember: 1-800-ABORTION. Their promotional materials asked clients not to bring small children with them to the office out of consideration for other patients. In Albany, police found 17 frozen infants left behind after Brigham lost his medical license and was run out of town. How can this happen? Here’s a practitioner who was stripped of his medical license in Pennsylvania in the early 90’s only to open up shop in New York. Once here, he was convicted of Medicaid fraud and illegal billing practices, then moved on to New Jersey. In Jersey, he started the practice of beginning third-trimester abortions there, then sending women across state lines to Maryland, where the laws are less strict, to finish off the procedures. And Brigham wasn’t even licensed to practice medicine in Maryland. Why is it that the abortion industry stands alone as the only medical “specialty” in which doctors with long and horrific records of gross negligence, incompetence, fraud, suspensions and license revocations continue to practice their trade? This is pro-women? The sad news is that Steven Brigham is not an anomaly. Despite the advances of the pro-life movement, abortion remains a lawless industry, one that thrives virtually unchecked in our state. New York’s archives are replete with a hideous history of abortionists who cynically disregard their patients’ health in pursuit of monetary gain: • Remember Abu Hayat, dubbed the “Butcher of Avenue A”? He severed the arm of an eight month old unborn baby girl (but failed to get the rest of her) in a badly botched abortion, one of many in a string of slipshod abortions, including one he stopped midway through because the patient couldn’t pay additional costs. •Then there was David Benjamin, the first physician convicted of murder in New York State from the medical mistreatment of a patient, namely an unsuspecting woman who bled to death following a bungled abortion in his filthy Queens clinic. •And lest we are led to believe that none of this happens in “reputable” clinics, there was Fred Pulver, the former medical director of Schenectady’s Planned Parenthood, who was forced to surrender his medical license after admitting he tried unsuccessfully to abort a 27-week-old unborn child who was born alive five days later. This is not “safe, legal and rare” as politicians vow abortion to be. Our state needs greater restrictions and regulation of abortion, not less. We need enforcement of the laws that are on the books requiring protections for viable unborn infants, regular inspections of abortion facilities and routine monitoring of abortionists for the health and safety of women. Instead, elected officials like Governor Andrew Cuomo pledge support for extreme measures that would make abortion even more available - and dangerous - than it is right now. In the text of his State of the State remarks, the Governor touted the radical “Reproductive Health Act,” a bill that would empower non-physicians to perform abortions and allow late-term abortions of viable babies for virtually any reason. The Reproductive Health Act would make New York State a safe haven for abortionists like Steven Brigham - unethical, unscrupulous practitioners who prey on vulnerable women and cram the dead bodies of innocent children into freezers so no one will know what they’re up to. That defies common sense for the sake of a political agenda. There is more work to be done. Begin today. Tell your elected state officials to say “no” to the Reproductive Health Act. |
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