Late-Term Abortion Practitioner LeRoy Carhart Faces Nebraska State Investigation
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 18, 2009
Bellevue, NE (LifeNews.com) — Nebraska-based late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart is facing an investigation from state officials. A pro-life group that has been trying to stop Carhart from expanding his abortion business into Kansas to take over from slain abortion practitioner George Tiller informed LifeNews.com of the probe.
Operation Rescue officials say they have received written confirmation from the Nebraska Attorney General’s office about the investigation.
The office says a request for a comprehensive investigation into Carhart’s abortion business has been directed to the Nebraska Department of Health and Environment where the progress that agency’s investigation will be monitored by the Attorney General’s office.
"We asked for an investigation, and we are getting one. This alone is a victory," OR president Troy Newman told LifeNews.com.
"This is the first step down a road that could lead to the revocation of Carhart’s medical license or even criminal charges," Newman added.
Three other groups including Christian Defense Coalition, Nebraskans United For Life, and Rescue the Heartland joined in asking for the probe.
They asked Nebraska Attorney General Jon Buning to open a probe into whether Carhart is following state law or putting women’s health at risk.
Carhart runs an abortion business in Bellevue, an Omaha suburb, and the pro-life groups expressed concerns about the legality of certain aspects of Carhart’s abortion business. They are also worried about the condition of Carhart’s run-down abortion facility that was damaged by an accidental fire earlier this year.
In their letter to Buning, they asked that "your investigation not be limited solely to the concerns listed in this letter. Women’s lives and future health literally depend on it."
They also supplied Buning with a packet of documents including information about incidents of botched abortions involving Carhart that required emergency transport to the hospital along with photos of the ambulances involved in those incidents.
The information included a complaint filed in Kansas about Carhart’s part in the third-trimester abortion death of Christin Gilbert.
It also included photos of dilapidated conditions at his abortion clinic, the Abortion and Contraception Clinic of Nebraska. The abortion center didn’t stay open long after the fire because repairs on it hadn’t passed a city inspection.
He was accused of putting women’s health at risk by reopening without the inspection and broke the law by operating the abortion center without an occupancy permit he needed to do so. Carhart later admitted to the Bellevue Leader newspaper that he operated without a permit for three days.
"We have additional information that we plan to forward to the NDHE that should be of further assistance in their investigation," said Newman today. "Carhart is a danger to the public and we believe that this investigation will prove that."
"We are opposing Carhart’s plans in at least two states now, and are monitoring several other states for any indication that he may be shifting his plans elsewhere," Newman added.
He said the goal is to stop Carhart from opening a late-term abortion business "that would draw women from every state and from around the world for abortions that are illegal in their areas, and perhaps put him out of business altogether."
Carhart was employed until its closure at Tiller’s Women’s Health Care Services in Wichita, Kansas and also licensed to operate in Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Related web sites:
Operation Rescue – https://www.operationrescue.org
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