An Indiana abortionist who failed to report the rape of a 13-year-old girl to authorities in a timely manner and who ran a dilapidated abortion clinic has voluntarily surrendered his license. His decision to surrender his license in Gary, Indiana comes just days before a a hearing with state medical officials.
Indiana Right to Life has learned that longtime abortion practitioner has surrendered his medical license. Klopfer’s surrender follows the release of an alarming report by the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) showing deplorable conditions and safety hazards at his Gary, Indiana abortion clinic. The pro-life group says Klopfer was scheduled for a hearing on June 25 before the Indiana Medical Licensing Board, where the Board could choose to remove his medical license.
“Klopfer has been operating with shoddy business practices for years,” Mike Fichter of Indiana Right to Life told LifeNews today. “He has shown that he puts abortion revenue over the health and safety of his patients. The recent ISDH survey revealed water leaks, improper staffing, fire hazards, smells of sewage and more at Dr. Klopfer’s Gary location. He may have surrendered his license so that he doesn’t have to comply with the law in order to avoid further penalties.
Fichter said Indiana Right to Life “applauds the Pence administration and ISDH staff for taking its responsibility seriously to inspect licensed abortion facilities and hold them accountable.”
In his comments to LifeNews.com, he continued: “With Dr. Klopfer’s license surrender, there is one less abortion facility in Indiana. We now turn our attention to Dr. Klopfer’s upcoming Medical Licensing Board hearing on June 25. The Board will review 1,833 alleged abortion violations. We believe Dr. Klopfer’s carelessness does a disservice to the medical community and his patients. We urge the Board to remove Dr. Klopfer’s medical license.”
Fichter said Klofper, who lives in Illinois, still has his Fort Wayne and South Bend abortion businesses licensed with the state, despite only doing abortions in South Bend.
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Previously, Klopfer was found to have stored the remains of an aborted baby in the same refrigerator as medicine. After they found the remains, Indiana state health officials filed a formal complaint seeking to revoke the operating license of the Women’s Pavilion abortion clinic in South Bend. Papers from the state indicated the abortion clinic is charged with violating Indiana Code 16-21 and multiple health and safety rules.
The actions came after police, last March, executed a search warrant on Ulrich G. Klopfer’s Women’s Pavilion abortion clinic in South Bend, Indiana, seizing documents and other property.
Klopfer’s troubles began when volunteers with Indiana Right to Life filed 1,200 complaints against him for not reporting child sex abuse and other information required by the State based on Termination of Pregnancy reports obtained by the pro-life group through a public records act request.
The complaints prompted St. Joseph County Prosecutor Mike Dvorak to ask the Police Special Victim’s Unit to conduct a criminal investigation into the abortionist’s activities. This raid on Klopfer’s South Bend abortion clinic was part of that investigation.
Violations at that time included: Failure to comply with the 18 hour waiting period between the signing of consent forms and the abortion; Remains from an aborted baby stored in the same refrigerator as medications; and oxygen tanks and other emergency equipment lacking proper maintenance or just not working, among other violations.
In January 2014, Klopfer was criminally charged by Lake County, Indiana, prosecutors with failing to file a timely report, a Class B Misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The charge is related to an incident of statutory rape on a 13-year-old girl. Klopfer, who gave the girl an abortion at his Gary, Indiana, abortion clinic in September, 2012, filed the report nearly four months later than state statute requires, leaving the girl at risk of further sexual abuse.
Klopfer was forced to temporarily close his Fort Wayne abortion clinic due to his inability to obtain a required hospital transfer agreement or an emergency care pact with another physician.
