An Orlando, Florida abortion clinic that was closed weeks ago after police raided the facility has reopened and will do abortions seven days a week.
Police in June shut down a late-term abortion clinic in Orlando, Florida and seized and removed property from the building as a helpless abortion practitioner could only stand by and watch. James Scott Prendergraft, whose medical license has been suspended a fifth time, stood in the background as police and other officials taped off his abortion clinic with crime tape and locked him out of the building.
Pendergraft was hit with a massive In 2011, Pendergraft was hit with a whopping civil medical malpractice judgment of $36,737,660.16 in compensatory and punitive damages in a case involving a botched 20 week abortion that resulted in the live birth of a child physically damaged by Pendergraft’s incompetent abortion process amid what was described as “third world conditions” with virtually no counseling. He has refused to pay the judgment.
A clinic receptionist told callers at the time that the Orlando Women’s Center is “closed for maintenance” and are unsure whether the clinic will reopen.
The pro-life group Pro-Life America noted the reopening on Friday and commented on it:
The Orlando Women’s Center abortion clinic that was raided last month as part of a lawsuit will now operate seven days a week.
Dr. James Pendergraft, who run The Orlando Women’s Center, said the clinic would reopen Friday. It used to only operate once a week. The clinic was raided last month, as part of a lawsuit several years ago. A woman who went to the clinic to have an abortion ended leaving the center and delivering a premature baby at the hospital.
A local news report has more on the situation:
Pendergraft has been in the news before. He has lost his license five times in the Florida, most recently in April after he failed to pay another debt to the state of Florida for fines related to a former license suspension for an illegal third-trimester abortion.
The doctor has been accused of botched abortions and performing that illegal third-trimester abortion.
Pendergraft said he did not realize the woman was in her third trimester.
Pendergraft said the clinic had to borrow equipment because the previous equipment is still in possession of the sheriff’s office.
He does not have his license but will reopen with six other physicians.
Pendergraft told Channel 9’s Karla Ray that he is in the process of getting his license back and recovering the equipment that was taken.
“I’ve done nothing that I thought was inappropriate, illegal, immoral or wrong,” said Pendergraft.
“Would you trust a doctor yourself who has lost his license five times?” Channel 9’s Karla Ray asked Pendergraft.
“When you look at why I lost my license, it had nothing to do with anything I did wrong,” Pendergraft said.
In April, the Florida Board of Medicine took action to suspend the medical license of late-term abortionist Pendergraft after he failed to pay the Board fines from a previous disciplinary action that totaled over $120,000.
The settlement agreement reached between the Board and Pendergraft orders that his medical license “shall be indefinitely suspended until such time as [Pendergraft] complies” with the order to pay his fines.
This is the fifth time that Pendergraft’s medical license has been suspended by the Florida Board of Medicine. He continues to operate five abortion clinics in Florida, primarily in the Orlando area.
The fines resulted from a 2010 case where Pendergraft was heavily fined and placed on suspension related to a 2006 botched elective 19-week abortion.
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Patient S.B went to Pendergraft for the second trimester abortion on Feb. 3, 2006. He prescribed doses of Cytotec, a drug that is known to cause severe and unpredictable uterine contractions and sent her home for three days to take the medication on her own. Pendergraft did not have a valid DEA number at the time.
When S.B. returned to the clinic, he further illegally administered doses of Cytotec, Demerol, and Phenergan. He attempted the abortion before the patient was adequately dilated, lacerating her cervix and sending her to the hospital where she underwent an emergency hysterectomy.
At the hospital, staff delivered the remains of S.B.’s baby and found that it was missing a lower limb. Efforts were made to locate the limb in the abdominal cavity to no avail. There were no indications on the patient’s chart. Later, it was discovered that the limb had been removed at the clinic. This lack of documentation caused issues in providing the patient with proper emergency care.
Pendergraft was suspended and ordered to pay fines in excess of $122,000. Pendergraft failed to pay, resulting in another disciplinary case attempting to seek payment. Finally, Friday’s action suspended his license until further notice.
