Abortion Practitioner in California Operates Despite Repeated Legal Troubles
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 13, 2010
San Diego, CA (LifeNews.com) — South California abortion practitioner Feliciano Rios continues to operate an abortion business and do abortions in Chula Vista despite significant legal trouble. The pro-life group Operation Rescue has obtained legal documents showing the numerous issues Rios has deal with over the last two years.
Papers from the California Board of Medicine filed earlier this year show Rios was indicted by a San Diego County Grand Jury on five felony counts of grand theft and Medi-Cal fraud.
He was also charged with Perjury Under Oath for lying to the grand jury that eventually indicted him.
On July 2, 2009, Rios pled guilty to perjury and insurance fraud, both felonies. He was given a sentence of three years of formal probation.
The conditions of the probation included Rios having 365 days of confinement stayed pending successful completion of probation, payment of fines totaling $1,360, he cannot possess a firearm, ammunition, or deadly weapon, and he must obey all state laws.
However, in December, Rios become the subject of an investigation because records showed that Rios had three firearms registered to him without a change of ownership on file. Police conducted a search of Rios’ residence and he admitted to the police that he still had the guns in his possession at his Chula Vista abortion clinic.
Rios admitted that he understood he was not allowed to possess the firearms.
Special agents found three handguns, two of which were semi-automatic, locked in a filing cabinet fully loaded with ammunition. Possession of the firearms constituted a violation of his criminal probation.
This action prompted the California Medical Board to take steps to revoke Rios’s medical license for crimes, unprofessional conduct, and dishonesty or corruption. A petition was filed against him by the Board on May 10, 2010 but a hearing date has not yet been set.
Operation Rescue officials called Rios’ Chula Vista abortion clinic and it is still taking appointments for abortions.
Operation Rescue President Troy Newman told LifeNews.com that patients who are unsuspecting of his criminal background or of the Medical Board’s attempt to revoke his medical license are going there for abortions.
"Not only did Rios break the law when he committed billing fraud, but then he broke the law again by lying to the grand jury. Then Rios broke the law a third time by knowingly possessing weapons he knew he was not allowed to keep. This is yet another example of an abortionist acting as if the law does not apply to him, making his a danger to the public," Newman said.
"It is outrageous that he is still seeing patients and doing abortions under these circumstances," he added.
Newman continued, "Eventually we expect that Rios will lose his medical license and serve jail time. It is just unfortunate that the system moves so slowly that women and their pre-born babies are placed at risk while the wheels of justice slowly grind. They deserve better protection than that."
Operation Rescue has worked to expose Rios’ abortion business since the early 1990s and sent letters asking him and other abortion practitioners to quit killing babies in the womb. Rios’ office continues to be the site of pro-life prayers and outreaches.
"We call on the California Medical Board and prosecutors to act swiftly to revoke his license and put Rios behind bars where he belongs," said Newman.
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