Victims to Testify at Second Week of Abortion Practitioner’s Trial
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 26, 2003
Phoenix, AZ (LifeNews.com) — Some of the 35 women who have accused abortion practitioner Brian Finkel of sexually abusing them during exams and abortions are expected to testify this week during the second week of the trial.
The first week mostly focused on the way Finkel inappropriate touched women’s private parts and how that was the unlike the way doctors treat patients. Several victims said they did not report the abuse because they feared no one would believe them.
Five witnesses took the stand last week.
"The criminal conduct in this case was kept secret by many of these women for many, many years," deputy Maricopa County attorney Blaine Gadow told the East Valley Tribune.
The defense put up by Finkel’s attorney thus far has been to poke holes in the victims’ testimony and trying to show discrepancies between what victims told police initially and what they are saying on the stand.
Finkel performs approximately 20 percent of all abortions in Arizona and has done more than 20,000 over his career. He stands accused of 67 counts of abuse against 35 women.
"It was his total lack of regard for the women that will be his downfall," John Jakubczyk of Arizona Right to Life tells LifeNews.com.
