Second North Dakota Abortion Practitioner Allowed Medical License to Expire

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 9, 2010   |   1:54PM   |   Washington, DC

Media reports from North Dakota indicate one of the abortion practitioners at the Red River abortion center allowed her medical license to expire. Now, new reports indicate a second abortion practitioner did as well.

Operation Rescue has been close following the case and it provided LifeNews.com with additional information on it and more background information in exposing the problems.

As LifeNews.com reported, abortion practitioner Tami Lynn Holst Thorndike has medical licenses in Colorado and in South Dakota but her north Dakota license expired on June 30. But the pro-life group also received a tip that abortion practitioner Miriam McCreary of Minnesota allowed her medical license to lapse on the same date.

An OR staffer posing as a potential abortion customer placed a phone call to the Red River Women’s Clinic abortion business on Friday, November 5 and she specifically asked to seen by Thorndike.

“A friend of mine told me though about Dr. Thorndike. Said she was real helpful, so I was wondering if I could get her,” said the caller.

The RRWC receptionist responded, “Okay, sure. Let me just put you on hold here. I’m gonna see what days we have available, and I’ll be right back.”

On Friday, the North Dakota Board of Medical Examiners (NDBME) web site showed both abortion practitioners’ medical licenses were on “Inactive – Expired” status and, by Monday, record of Thorndike’s license had been removed. According to North Dakota law, it is a Class B Felony to do an abortion without an active medical license.

The North Dakota Board of Medical Examiners is scheduled to take up the matter of Thorndike’s practicing without a valid medical license when it meets on November 19 and police have investigated and are preparing to forward their report to the State Attorney for possible criminal charges.

“However, the matter of McCreary’s expired license has not been in the news and there seems to be no attempt to follow up on the possibility that she may have performed illegal abortions over the last four months,” Operation Rescue complained.

The pro-life grup has since filed a complaint against Thorndike and included a request to investigate the “emergency situation” that took place at the abortion center on Friday, when the undercover caller contacted the abortion center, and a copy of the phone call documenting the emergency was submitted as evidence.

According to the receptionist, the undercover caller was told that there was an “emergency situation” that involved a woman who was sick and vomiting. The receptionist added that it was a “staff member” but that seemed suspicious in the context of the call. Operation Rescue believes the sick woman was more likely a patient suffering an abortion complication.

In a follow up call to the abortion center two hours later, another abortion facility worker answered the phone and told Operation Rescue’s undercover investigator, who was still posing as an abortion patient, that the receptionist she had been speaking to earlier was not at the clinic. Calls to the county emergency communications department and a local ambulance company showed that an ambulance was not involved.

“We have reason to believe that the sick woman was transported to emergency care via personal vehicle so as not to call attention to the medical emergency,” said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger. [related]

“There is a real possibility that unlicensed abortionists may have botched an abortion and that the woman was placed in further jeopardy by clinic staff not calling an ambulance. If true, that means that the Red River Women’s Clinic poses an immediate danger to the public and should be closed on an emergency basis pending further investigation.”

ACTION:  Please call NDBME’s Duane Houdek at 701/328-6500 and ask that the Red River Women’s Clinic be closed immediately pending further investigation of illegal abortions and abortion injuries.