Abortionist charged with felony racketeering

Naresh Patel

Oklahoma's attorney general has filed a felony racketeering charge that carries a punishment of at least 10 years in jail against an abortionist targeted in a sting operation in which he allegedly falsely diagnosed undercover investigators as pregnant, then prescribed abortion drugs and charged for his services.

An attorney for abortionist Naresh Patel, 52, told the Oklahoman newspaper he will plead not guilty.

But the pro-life group Operation Rescue said it filed complaints about Patel earlier this year based on an abundance of evidence of improper behavior.

Patel's abortion business remains closed, OR said, according to a woman who answered the business telephone number.

Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, pointed out notorious Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who was convicted killing babies who were delivered alive, also was charged and convicted of racketeering.

"Both have been accused of operating a corrupt organization," he said. "This is just another way that the two abortionists shared similarities."

The Oklahoma City newspaper reported Assistant Attorney General Megan Tilly said while racketeering charges rarely are filed, it is appropriate this time "based on the egregious nature of the allegations and Dr. Patel's use of his medical practice as a criminal enterprise to defraud vulnerable women."

WND reported when Patel was arrested a statement released by Attorney General Scott Pruitt explained the case against the operator of the Outpatient Services for Women business.

According to the attorney general, undercover agents from the Oklahoma Medical Licensure Board, the Oklahoma City Police Department and the attorney general's office set up appointments with Patel in which the doctor performed ultrasounds and pregnancy tests on undercover agents.

The doctor is alleged to have fraudulently identified each undercover agent as pregnant. He then prescribed them an abortion-inducing drug, provided directions for administering it and "charged the female agents for the unnecessary treatment."

"This type of fraudulent activity and blatant disregard for the health and well-being of Oklahoma women will not be tolerated," said Pruitt at the time. "Oklahoma women should be able to trust that the advice they receive from their physicians is truthful, accurate and does not jeopardize their health."

The attorney general called the investigation "a textbook demonstration of inter-agency cooperation to protect Oklahomans and prosecute the worst offenders."

The investigation was prompted by "a complaint that he had performed an abortion procedure on Pamela King, even though she was not pregnant," the AG's report said.

King was diagnosed and died from complications of cervical cancer, and her autopsy determined she had not been pregnant in the time frame that the abortion occurred, the statement said.

Newman and OR colleague Cheryl Sullenger have a strategy for closing down abortion businesses outlined in "Abortion Free: Your manual for building a Pro-Life America one Community at a time," published by WND Books. It recounts how they closed 18 clinics in San Diego County in the 1990s and how they brought an end to George Tiller's huge, late-term abortion work in Wichita, Kansas.

Order "Abortion Free" right away and start following the guidelines on how to make your community truly respectful of life.

In their book, Newman and Sullenger discuss making communities "abortion free."

"We have found that abortion clinics can close and lives can be saved by working strategically at the state and local level despite what the political climate might be," Newman said. "We know our ideas work because of the successes we have witnessed while employing the same tactics we share in 'Abortion Free.'"

They also found they could get abortionists' licenses revoked simply by filling out a form and discovered that records of abortion deaths helped shutter abortion businesses.

"Abortion Free" details how to employ specific tactics, such as:

Discovering and documenting abortion abuses.
Using public records requests to obtain information the abortion cartel is hiding.
Filing official complaints that can put abortionists out of business.
Getting your message past the "gatekeepers" in the mainstream media.
Using your research as the basis for new laws that will shutter abortion clinics permanently.

Newman said his organization is pleased with Patel's arrest.

"This is the result of a collaborative effort that involved gritty pro-life work, active enforcement of state laws," he said. "We also want to especially thank AUL for their contributions to efforts to bring Patel to justice."

Operation Rescue's extensive investigation report about Patel cited a number of complaints and allegations, including the dumping of dozens of unborn babies' bodies in a field.

The report earlier this year said the organization's own complaint to Oklahoma state officials about Patel alleged record-keeping violations, reporting violations, improper disposal of medical waste, and failure to observe 24-hour voluntary and informed consent requirements.

"Patel is an abortionist with a long and particularly horrific history of Medical Board disciplinary actions, malpractice claims and criminal cases," the report said, even while accumulating a net worth "listed at $28 million."

For example, the report said Patel was disciplined in 1990 for "failing to maintain dispensing records for dangerous drugs and keep complete and accurate records of purchase and dispensing of controlled drugs."

He was reprimanded in Ohio in 1992.

In 1993, he admitted he dumped the remains of nearly 60 babies that had been aborted at his clinic in a field near Shawnee, Oklahoma.

OR said he had attempted to burn them but only the plastic bags around the remains caught on fire. The bodies were discovered by two passers-by.

"Patel's excuse that he could not find a service to take away the remains lacked credibility," the OR report said.