Dangerous Abortion Biz Owner Could be Released From California Prison

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 7, 2011   |   2:46PM   |   Los Angeles, CA

Budget cuts in the state of California could allow the release of a dangerous abortion business owner who put women at risk with health and safety violations that resulted in killing and injuring women in botched abortions.

Bertha Bugarin ran several seedy abortion clinics in Southern California that once constituted the second largest abortion business in the state. Her abortion centers, which targeted Hispanic women, were squalid and dangerous and ultimately responsible for two decades of fraud, rape, botched abortions, and a patient deaths.

In February 2009, Bugarin was sentenced to three years and four months in prison on charges of pretending to be a physician and doing abortions without a medical license. She pleaded no contest to seven felony counts in Los Angeles Superior Court after facing charges that she put more than a dozen patients at risk by doing abortions on them or giving them the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug without having medical training.

Had she been found guilty and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law on all charges, Bugarin could have faced 15 years in prison but she sobbed uncontrollably and begged  for leniency and mercy and received a slightly lesser sentence than the five years prosecutors sought. Now, she may be free entirely.

California Gov. Jerry Brown is asking for 37,000 “nonviolent” offenders to be transferred from state prison facilities to county jails or released on probation in an effort to realign services. The Los Angeles Times has reported that Bugarin is among those that could face early release.

“Go back to the drawing board. From my standpoint, it does not work. It endangers public safety, and I will continue to oppose it,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley told the State Assembly’s Budget Committee last week,” the newspaper said.  “The realignment proposal is a public safety nightmare.”

Cheryl Sullenger, of the pro-life group Operation Rescue, which led the way in exposing Bugarin, is upset to learn the abortion business owner could receive an early release.

“Releasing Bugarin after only serving a small fraction of her sentence sends the wrong message to abortionists who already have the attitude that they are above the law. Her release would constitute a danger to the public,” she told LifeNews.com.  “Bugarin is a ruthless predator that has demonstrated absolutely no respect for the law. If she gains an early release, I have no doubt that she will be back in business in no time. Keeping her in jail is the only way to protect the public.”

Sullenger said, “Bugarin’s business model of offering shoddy, unsafe abortions to predominately Hispanic undocumented immigrants using financially desperate and troubled abortionists made her millions. Bugarin employed abortionists who were known sex offenders, drug addicts, alcoholics, and frauds. Those that had licenses soon lost them when their nefarious activity caught the eye of the California Medical Board.”

“When Bugarin ran short on abortionists, she began doing abortions herself, even though she had no medical training of any kind,” she said.

“The fact that Bugarin could be considered a nonviolent offender boggles the mind, considering the injuries and death that occurred at her mills and by her own hand,” said Sullenger. “We encourage the public to contact Gov. Brown and demand that Bugarin remain in prison for the remainder of her sentence.”

The pro-life group is urging people to contact Gov. Jerry Brown at (916) 445-2841 or https://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php and urging him to not allow Bugarin’s release.