Reading Internet stories about late-term Florida abortionist James Pendergraft is like walking through a funhouse mirror – only the warped, grotesque image is the one that’s true.
For over a decade, abortion defenders have propped up this man as a hero to their movement, lauding him in their blogs, inviting him to speak at their rallies. This man, who aborts babies as old as 27 weeks gestation and who sends women home to have abortions in their toilets or to emergency rooms for unwanted hysterectomies, has managed to continue profiting from his chain of abortion clinics for over a decade despite numerous run-ins with authorities, including repeated suspensions of his medical license. But a little disabled girl might finally be his undoing.
In 2001 he was convicted of federal extortion charges and put behind bars after threats he made against county officials were caught on tape. The abortion-rights crowd rallied behind him and invited him to speak at their rallies. (Source) His conviction was later overturned.
His license to practice was later suspended, Florida Department of Health stating that he showed “a flagrant disregard for the laws of the state of Florida and a willingness to endanger the lives and health of pregnant patients.” (Source: LifeNews)
After the suspension ran its course, he was suspended again. See Operation Rescue.
Now, a morbid lawsuit over a failed abortion brought on behalf of the little girl who barely survived it has resulted in a verdict of 36 million dollars. See Jill Stanek’s Article and LifeNews.
The mainstream media has not reported on this verdict, but other sources say that attorneys on behalf of a young girl who survived one of Pendergraft’s abortions filed a lawsuit seeking a lifetime of medical care for the child, and they have won a $36 million verdict. In 2001, the plaintiff’s mother, Carol Howard, apparently paid one of Pendergraft’s clinics $1,300 to abort her baby at 22 weeks gestation.
She was given multiple doses of RU-486, according to a source, and after 12 hours of labor left the clinic upset and in pain, later to deliver the baby girl in a hospital. The child weighed 1 lb 6 oz at birth, and suffers from cerebral palsy, lack of function on one side of her body, strokes and brain damage, physical, emotional and cognitive delays, lung damage, chronic lung disease, and seizure disorders. According to pro-life witnesses inside the courtroom, the Florida jury verdict orders Pendergraft to pay Howard $18,255,000 in punitive damages, $18,000,000 in compensatory damages, and over $400,000 in court costs.
