State bars abortions at 2 clinics in Orlando

[Freddie Stubbs]

Dr. James Pendergraft's license is suspended on allegations he did illegal 3rd-trimester procedures.

Robyn Shelton | Sentinel Medical Writer
Posted August 17, 2006

The state has ordered two Orlando clinics to stop doing abortions indefinitely and suspended the medical license of their owner, Dr. James Pendergraft, on grounds that he illegally performed third-trimester abortions.

The restrictions began last week at one Orlando location, and by Wednesday, all five of Pendergraft's offices statewide had been ordered to stop providing abortions.

In addition, Pendergraft's medical license was suspended Wednesday in an emergency order that claims he has shown "a flagrant disregard for the laws of the state of Florida and a willingness to endanger the lives and health of pregnant patients."

In describing one incident, state documents allege that the physician failed to get a second doctor's opinion before proceeding with an abortion in July 2005 on a woman who was 28 weeks pregnant with a fetus that "had a swollen head, no lungs and one kidney." The procedure was done at the Orlando Women's Center on Lucerne Terrace.

more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-mabortion1706aug17,0,4963754.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state

[MercutioATC]

1. It was a legal violation, not an anti-choice issue.

I realize the doctor disputes it, but the state is saying that the women were in their 3rd trimester which means that, by state law, the procedure must be performed in a hospital unless two doctors concur that it can be done on an outpatient basis.

This doctor failed to get a second doctor's opinion.

I don't have an issue with this.

[noonwitch]

5. I don't either

In Michigan, I think most 2nd trimester abortions are done in a hospital. The liklihood of complications is higher.

I know someone who almost died from a back-alley 2nd trimester abortion. A med student did the operation and butchered her so badly she hemorraged.

A hosptial has a blood bank, for hemorrages, and can fully anesthetize the patient, if necessary.

[Lowell]

2. Swollen head, no lungs and one kidney

No wonder the administration is so against abortion. This fetus could end up in the White House if left alone.

I really can't understand why they would even object to such a horrible situation. The family would have to suffer through an awful ordeal and the fetus would suffer terribly if allowed to develop. What is the problem here?

[EST]

3. (Snort! Choke!)

So THAT'S what happened! Babs boosh musta' beeen short on abortion care.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

4. And this poor woman's case is exactly why...

third trimester abortions must remain legal!

Telling a woman who faces giving birth to a fetus that is terminal that she cannot have her pregnancy terminated is cruel.

[MercutioATC]

6. This has NOTHING to do with the legality of 3rd-trimester abortions.

They're legal in Florida.

However, since the statistical chance for complications increases in the 3rd trimester, Florida law states that, in the 3rd trimester, the procedure must be performed in a hospital unless two doctors concur that the procedure can be safely performed on an outpatient basis.

This doctor aborted a 3rd-trimester fetus in his clinic without getting an opinion from a second doctor.

That's illegal.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

7. I was simply addressing the need,,,

for 3rd trimester abortions, which have been under attack -- even by those who are "pro-choice" -- for many years now. That's all.

[Kailassa]

8. As I expected, she had tried at a hospital and been turned away.

Pendergraft would not comment, but his spokeswoman, Marti Mackenzie, said the woman's life was in danger in the 2005 case and that the woman specifically was sent to Pendergraft by other physicians who had examined her. The woman had been turned away when she initially sought an abortion at an unnamed hospital.

It's the hospital which should be closed down, not the abortion clinic, for denying necessary medical care.

Every doctor has something on their books which can be interpreted in a negative light. This is not about womens' safety, this is about a witch-hunt against doctors who provide abortions.