During the trial of Kermit Gosnell, only one time during the entire horrific trial did the jury audibly gasp. That was when Dr. Charles Benjamin testified in a matter-of-fact way that he had performed over 40,000 abortions in his over 30 year career.
His private practice, Berger and Benjamin, LLP, has been performing abortions since 1978. However, after an inspection by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on June 24, 2019, the facility “voluntarily ceased services and relinquished their registration certificate.” Their website now states, “The office of Doctors Berger and Benjamin has closed.”
With this closing, nine abortion clinics in Pennsylvania have closed since 2012.
Why Mandating Inspections Matters
State inspections were only mandated into law by the passage of new abortion clinic regulations in 2011, a major initiative by Pennsylvania Family Institute after the horrors of Kermit Gosnell’s clinic were revealed. After nearly a year’s battle in the legislature,, the common-sense regulations finally passed into law, classifying abortion clinics as ambulatory surgical centers (treating any place that performs abortions like any other surgical facility).
Five abortion clinics closed as a direct result of this new legislation when it went into effect in 2012. Another clinic in Harrisburg, Hillcrest Women’s Medical Center, was forced to shut down in 2017 after failing numerous health inspections.
Planned Parenthood connection
Benjamin has previously stated that he performs abortions at the Einstein Medical Center and for Planned Parenthood at their Comly Road facility in Philadelphia.
The Comly Road Planned Parenthood location performs the most late-term abortions for Planned Parenthood than any other Pennsylvania location. In 2017, reports show they performed 260 abortions at 15 weeks or later into pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion business in Pennsylvania, performing half of all abortions in the state. In total, their Comly Road location performs the third highest number of abortions for Planned Parenthood in the state, accounting for over 2,000 abortions every year at this one location.
Planned Parenthood has made Dr. Benjamin a millionaire. Since 2008, Planned Parenthood has compensated him as an abortionist for over $3 million.
How many abortions did Benjamin’s clinic perform?
Reports filed with the PA Department of Health are perplexing. Each facility that receives any type of state funding must file a quarterly report with the state on the number of abortions performed. Since 2013, Berger and Benjamin filed two quarterly reports – one in 2013 stating 269 abortions performed in the 1st quarter. Then in 2016, a report filed for the 3rd quarter shows 154 abortions performed. No other data was provided for any other quarter.
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The website for Berger and Benjamin states they performed surgical abortions between 4 and 20.5 weeks and the abortion pill/RU486 up to 9 weeks. They also advertised how they had no protesters because they were in a private office in a medical office building.
Benjamin’s Influence
Not only has Dr. Benjamin carried out over 40,000 abortions, but his clinic has had an influence on pro-abortion politics. His clinic was one of ten Pennsylvania abortion clinics that joined an amicus brief filed by the Women’s Law Project against a Texas law that would have put the same health and safety standards on abortion clinics in Texas that Pennsylvania did in 2011. They claimed Pennsylvania’s law was “disastrous” and that it had “potential of grievous harm to women.” Of note, one of the then abortion clinics on their brief was Hillcrest Women’s Medical Center, a facility forced to shut down after numerous failed inspections that included not having a registered OB/GYN or nurse to help patients, not giving background checks to staff and using unsterilized and expired medications. The inspections were only mandated by law thanks to the new abortion clinic regulations. One Google review of Hillcrest stated that she wouldn’t let her cat go there for any services, much less herself.
In 2000, Benjamin was sued by a Pennsylvania teen for violating Pennsylvania laws after he performed an abortion on the then-16 year old in New Jersey but she then suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result. The case was settled out of court three years later.
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40,000 abortions. And what’s chilling is Charles Benjamin is certainly not the only Philadelphia abortionist who can say that. Another one: Kermit Gosnell, on record performing 40,136 abortions from 1988 – 2009.
LifeNews Note: Emily Krpes writes for the Pennsylvania Family Council where this article originally appeared.
