Report: Abortionist tried to remove woman's bowel

A New Jersey abortionist tried to remove a woman's bowel during an abortion, and she was saved when Johns Hopkins medical experts repaired her small intestine and uterus, removing the remainder of the dead child from her abdomen, documents obtained under an open-records request by Operation Rescue show.

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The injuries to the patient, identified only as "D.B." "were so severe," the report found, "that the decision was made [by a local hospital] to transport her via helicopter to Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore where she was rushed into surgery immediately upon her arrival."

"There, doctors removed the remains of her partially aborted baby from her abdominal cavity, removed and repaired part of her small intestine, and repaired a tear at the back of her uterus," said the report.

The report was by Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue, a frontlines pro-life organization with headquarters in a former abortion business in Wichita, Kan. The organization bought the building so that the renter, the abortionist, could not continue operations.

The information came via 302 pages of documentation from the state of New Jersey that was obtained Sept. 9 through an open records request, Operation Rescue said.

Sullenger reports, "The documents tell a shocking story of a well-planned conspiracy to circumvent abortion laws, evade discovery of the unlicensed practice of medicine, and deceive women and authorities who have long suspected illegal activity at the chain of clinics operated by troubled abortionist Stephen Chase Brigham."

The case of "D.B." was part of that story.

Said the report:

She is only eighteen, but she is lucky to be alive. The ordeal that nearly cost her life began in early August. D.B., as records identify her, was on a popular brand of birth control pills that limited the number of periods, so she was unaware that the pills had failed until her pregnancy was advanced. On August 9, 2010, D.B. went to American Women's Center in Voorhees, New Jersey, and discovered she was 21.5 weeks pregnant.

What happened next led to a dramatic abortion clinic raid, the suspension of the medical licenses of three abortionists, and launched investigations that span four states. News of the discovery of a multi-state illegal late-term abortion scheme has shaken the abortion industry to its crumbling foundations.

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Authorities believe that if D.B. had not suffered her terribly botched abortion, the dangerous late-term abortion ring would still be one of the abortion cartel's dirtiest of secrets.

The organization said the focus of the investigation has been the work of Brigham, whose license was suspended Sept. 15. His case is pending before the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners on Oct. 13.

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Operation Rescue said the state documents show Brigham opened a "secret office" in a rented space in Elkton, Md., that was not advertised under Brigham's American Women's Services, a four-state empire of 15 other known abortion businesses.

"Documents show that the Elkton facility's paperwork often bore the name Grace Medical Services, but the people that worked there simply referred to it as Elkton. …The purpose of this under-the-radar office was to complete second and third trimester abortions that were illegally initiated at Brigham's Voorhees, N. J., headquarters," Operation Rescue said.

The report said New Jersey law allows abortions only up to 14 weeks at clinics that don't have state certification as ambulatory surgical centers. Upper limit for any abortion in the state is 18 weeks.

The report reveals how Brigham would see women who were beyond 14 weeks in Voorhees, where he would inject digoxin to kill the baby, then tell the women to report back in the morning so they could be taken to another "undisclosed location" for their abortions.

The catastrophic failure of D.B.'s case illustrated what really was going on, the reports show.

"D.B. … was under the impression she was going to a clinic in Baltimore and was surprised to find herself in Elkton. In the caravan were some of Brigham's New Jersey clinic workers, which were transported to Elkton to assist with the abortions," the report said.

"When they arrived at Elkton, the patients along with their accompanying family members were separated and placed into cubicles, or 'booths' where they waited for the conclusion of the abortions," it continued.

When D.B. was summoned for her abortion, Brigham introduced her to Nicola Irene Riley, an abortionist from Salt Lake City who had been hired recently. D.B. reported it appeared Riley was being trained.

But things didn't go well.

D.B.'s mother estimated her daughter was in the procedure room for two hours.

"C.B. was disturbed by her daughter’s screams of pain. She told the MDBP, 'Well, I kept hearing her [D.B.] screaming and hollering. And then – I mean, it did take long. It took like two hours, I think…But all I kept hearing was her screaming and hollering. And I told the lady that worked there, I can't stand this. I got to leave out. So I kept going out to the hall, you know, to the other part of the building, you know, in front… Because, you know, I didn't want to hear her [screaming] – and why is she screaming now because they put her to sleep," the report documented.

Then come the horrific details of the mistakes.

"Meanwhile, in the procedure room, Riley had begun the abortion procedure. She admits she remembers removing an arm, a leg, and some soft tissue. As she was going in to search for the cranium, Riley discovered what appeared to be a bowel in D.B.'s birth canal. Brigham confirmed that the tissue was likely a bowel. The abortionist had perforated D.B.'s uterus, shoved the remains of baby into her abdominal cavity, and pulled out part of her bowel through her vagina," Operation Rescue reported.

Officials at Union Hospital, to which the abortionists took D.B., reported she arrived unmonitored and without IV support."

At the hospital, the report said, "Riley and Brigham were said to have behaved strangely. Riley identified herself as a physician 'that works at [a] secret clinic that performs second trimester abortions in town.' … Brigham did not identify himself and hung back from the conversations."

The paperwork explains that Riley insisted that the emergency room doctor "come outside and speak with her."

Union officials immediately determined D.B. needed the help of Johns Hopkins.

The reports obtained by Operation Rescue also reveal that when police went to the "clinic" to talk with Brigham, he "had already fled the building."

Concluded Sullenger, "Brigham has a long history of problems that span his entire medical career. Brigham lost his New York license after lacerating the cervix, uterine artery and uterus of a 20-year old patient and taking hours to realize it. The patient eventually suffered an emergency hysterectomy in what the Heath Department described as a 'life-threatening' incident in which Brigham did not seem to understand the severity of the situation.

"His medical licenses have been revoked in Florida and allowed to lapse under controversy in Georgia. He allowed his California license to expire under a cloud of accusations of negligence. He spent 120 days in jail in 1998 for billing fraud.

"Brigham also voluntarily surrendered his Pennsylvania license, yet keeps a string of clinics open there. In July of this year, the Pennsylvania Department of Health ordered Brigham to cease abortions at all clinics owned by him in Pennsylvania. To circumvent the order Brigham transferred ownership of the clinics to an elderly woman in Ohio who reapplied for and was granted clinic licenses, so Brigham's clinics never missed a day of work," she wrote.

The case is continuing, she said, suggesting criminal charges would not be out of line.