Doc Involved in Secret Maryland Late-Term Abortion Biz Suspended

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 29, 2012   |   11:03AM   |   Forestville, MD

An abortion practitioner involved in a secret Maryland late-term abortion business has been suspended after a pro-life group’s investigation brought him to the attention of state officials.

The medical license of abortionist Harold O. Alexander has been suspended by the Maryland Board of Physicians following an investigation Operation Rescue conducted. Alexander was the Maryland associate of late-term abortion practitioner James Pendergraft, who is unlicensed in that state.

The pro-life group spent seven months engaging in an undercover investigation and Pendergraft runs the abortion clinic with Alexander. Beginning on November 8, 2011, Operation Rescue staff members, posing as potential late-term abortion customers, began recording a series of conversations with Pendergraft which document a suspicious bi-state abortion business aggressively advertised on the Internet as LateTermAbortion.net.

Pendergraft offers late-term abortions in the second and third trimesters by providing women with “intracardiac injections” that kill the babies prior to the abortion. The women are then sent back to their home states or countries where the abortions are completed by others. The dangers of this process are shockingly high and place the lives of women at unacceptable risk, the group said.

According to Pendergraft’s website, after the 2-3 minute injection process, the patient is monitored for approximately 15 minutes before being released. Now carrying a dead child, the woman is dangerously sent away to her personal physician or other facility to have the dead fetus surgically removed. Delivery of the dead baby takes place at a separate location, which may be in another state or country.

Operation Rescue confirmed the suspension with a Board representative, who indicated that Alexander’s suspension documents are not yet public. In that same conversation, the representative said that the case against Pendergraft was referred to the Board for action. The pro-life group indicated charging documents listed a number of shocking allegations including “sexual boundary” violations, botched abortions, shoddy or non-existent record keeping, and the illegal prescribing of large amounts of Viagra and other drugs to himself and non-patients.

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The abortion practitioner was also charged with illegally shredding a medical record of a late-term abortion patient that was related to his association with Pendergraft. That record was under subpoena by the Board.

“Alexander and Pendergraft were charging thousands of dollars to place a woman in a life-threatening condition then ship her off to have someone else clean up the mess they created. We are relieved that our complaints helped put these two quacks out of business in Maryland,” said OR president Newman. “We hope Maryland’s actions will give Florida a reason to finally revoke Pendergraft’s only current license.”

Pendergraft’s Florida medical license as been the subject of multiple disciplinary actions and was under suspension during the time of Operation Rescue’s investigation. He now operates under probation.