Abortion Doc Who Killed Woman in Failed Abortion Under Investigation

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 11, 2013   |   11:39AM   |   Annapolis, MD

LeRoy Carhart, the Maryland abortion practitioner who recently killed a woman in a failed legal abortion is now under investigation by Maryland officials on the state health board.

Jennifer McKenna Morbelli, a 29-year-old woman from New Rochelle, New York died from a botched 33-week abortion on February 7. The medical examiner’s office confirmed a botched 33-week abortion killed the young woman.

The Maryland Board of Physicians has confirmed in a letter to the pro-life group Operation Rescue that it is conducting a preliminary investigation of the late-term abortion practitioner regarding his treatment of Morbelli, who died from complications to a 33-week abortion February 7.

The letter, dated March 1, 2013, was addressed to the pro-life group, which has filed a formal complaint against Carhart to ensure that he is properly investigated since other agencies looking into the Morbelli death had no direct jurisdiction over Carhart’s medical license.

“The Board will conduct a preliminary investigation into the allegations. This will include requesting a response from the health care practitioner, and/or obtaining medical records and any other material pertinent to the investigation. There are no witness interviews obtained during the preliminary investigation,” the letter stated.

Operation Rescue informed LifeNews today about the letter and said it indicated that the preliminary investigation could take six months or longer to complete.

“We appreciate that the Board is conducting a preliminary investigation of Carhart, but we remain concerned that he continues to conduct dangerous late-term abortions in Germantown at an outpatient clinic that lacks immediate access to emergency facilities or any kind of arrangement with a hospital to ensure continuity of care in the event of a medical emergency,” said Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue, who filed the complaint. “Given the tragic result of Mrs. Morbelli’s late-term abortion, we continue to urge the Board to suspend Carhart’s medical license until their investigation can be completed to ensure the safety of the public.”

Sullenger alleges that Carhart showed negligence and unprofessional conduct when he abandoned his patient by leaving the state and not answering calls for help. Just hours after the abortion, Morbelli began to suffer shortness of breath and other symptoms of distress. Efforts made by the family and later the hospital to contact Carhart failed, causing a delay in emergency care.

The pro-life organization has also raised concerns

about the safety of the late-term abortion process itself since the surgical abortion process takes several days and requires patients to stay overnight in hotels without access to monitoring or emergency care even while experiencing active labor.

A previous complaint filed by Sullenger against Carhart resulted in a letter of admonishment being placed in his file by the MDBP after her allegations that he lied on his Maryland medical license application were found to have merit.

Sullenger was also a complainant in the disciplinary case against a Kansas associate of Carhart’s, Ann Kristin Neuhaus, that resulted in the revocation of Neuhaus’ Kansas medical license last year after it was determined that she regularly provided Carhart and others with illegitimate late-term abortion referrals based on phony mental health excuses.

A letter from seventeen members of the Maryland House Delegates raising concerns about abortion clinic safety led to state officials looking into Morbelli’s death has uncovered the death of yet another woman from a legal abortion in Maryland.

The chief medical examiner in Baltimore has confirmed Morbelli died when amniotic fluid seeped into her bloodstream, according to new entries on her death certificate. The entry lists “amniotic fluid embolism following termination of pregnancy” as one of two causes of death. The second is “disseminated intravascular coagulation,” a condition during which small blood cots form in blood vessels.

As LifeNews reported, papers uncovered in trash bins outside the abortion facility where a woman was killed in a botched late-term abortion are leading to questions about whether she was instructed to not go to a local emergency room after the failed abortion.

Following a new probe started by local officials, the Maryland Attorney General has opened an investigation into the late-term abortion practitioner who killed a Morbelli. The Maryland Attorney General’s office is not specifically looking into Morbelli’s deathbut it is looking at illegal dumping by the abortion clinic that could result in fines or other form of punishment.

Among the papers was a document instructing women not to go to the ER in the event of an emergency, but instead to “call and we will meet you at the clinic,” which is clearly dangerous medical advice. The number given in the instructions has now been connected to a business Carhart owns.

The Maryland Attorney General’s office notified the Maryland Coalition for Life and Operation Rescue that is has late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart and Germantown Reproductive Health Services under an active criminal investigation for illegal dumping, based on complaints made by both groups last year. This investigation is separate to ongoing investigations into Morbelli’s death, OR informed LifeNews, that are currently underway by the State Medical Examiner, the Montgomery Police Department, and the state’s Office of Health Care Quality.

David Williams of the Maryland Attorney General’s Environmental Crimes Unit contacted Janet Kotowski, a pro-life sidewalk counselor in Germantown, to notify her that an investigation was underway. Kotowski wrote a letter last November asking the agency to look into illegal dumping of biohazardous waste and private patient information at Germantown Reproductive Health Center in follow up to a complaint filed by Operation Rescue in July, 2012.

Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue also spoke with Williams yesterday and has agreed to turn over unedited video-taped evidence of the illegal dumping documented last year to aid in his investigation.

“This is a very serious criminal investigation,” Williams told Sullenger.

In July, 2012, Operation Rescue filed a formal complaint with the Environmental Crimes Unit and released edited video and photographic evidence that showed GRHS and Carhart engaged in the illegal dumping on a routine basis. Evidence included:

1. Documents containing private patient information concerning birth control prescriptions and abortion procedures, as well as copies of patient driver’s licenses.
2. Bloody refuse blood clots and possible human fetal remains.
3. Drug control violations.

“For years we have documented Carhart’s abortion abuses. This time we pray authorities will quickly act before he has the opportunity to kill again,” said Sullenger.

Other incidents documented by Operation Rescue include the 2005 third-trimester abortion death of Christin Gilbert in Kansas, unsafe abortion practices reported by former Carhart employees in Nebraska, and the falsifying of information to gain licensure in Maryland.

CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

 

Sullenger continued, “The tragic death of Mrs. Morbelli from a botched 33-week abortion may be the catalyst that will finally bring Carhart to justice. It’s too bad that a woman had to die before authorities would sit up and take notice.”

Morbelli died as the result of fatal complications suffered during an abortion at 33 weeks at the hand of late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart. The abortion took place at the Germantown Reproductive Health Center in Germantown, Maryland. Her 33-week-old preborn daughter, Madison Leigh, died in the failed legal abortion as well.

Morbelli arrived at Germantown Reproductive Health Center on February 3 to start the abortion process. Local pro-life advocates protesting outside saw her every day until yesterday, and described her as appearing “pale and weak.”