Abortion activists often claim that legalized abortion is necessary to protect women, but the existence of substandard care in the largely unregulated abortion industry says otherwise. The argument that women will seek out “back alley” abortions if it becomes illegal fails to hold water. Studies show that women are less likely to seek elective abortion when it is illegal or restricted. But possibly the most important oversight of this pro-abortion argument is that four decades of legal abortion reveals that it is not “safe” and legal abortion facilities are not well regulated. Reports available to the public show that when abortion facilities are inspected, horrific violations of health and safety standards have been found. Some abortion facilities go uninspected for years.
READ: How the abortion industry allows abortionists like Gosnell to flourish
In addition to these substandard conditions, there is a trend of abortionists illegally prescribing controlled substances. While the nation grapples with an opioid epidemic that killed more than 130 people every day in opioid-related drug overdoses in 2016 and 2017, several prominent abortionists have been illegally selling prescriptions for narcotics or prescribing for friends under the table.
Kermit Gosnell
One of the most memorable examples of an abortionist running a “pill mill” is that of notorious abortionist and convicted killer Kermit Gosnell. Despite the total regulatory collapse that allowed Gosnell to operate his “house of horrors” with impunity, his criminal enterprise was finally brought to an end when authorities raided his West Philadelphia abortion facility following a drug bust in 2010. It is estimated that Gosnell made millions through his illegal prescribing of controlled substances and late-term abortions committed past the legal limit in Pennsylvania.
Abortion activists are quick to dismiss Gosnell as an outlier. However, the many other examples of abortionists illegally prescribing narcotics and abortion facilities involved in illicit drug use make it hard to say that Gosnell is not, in fact, indicative of abortion industry as a whole, though he is one of the most extreme examples.
Harley Blank
Recently, Live Action News reported that Ohio’s first abortionist, Harley M. Blank surrendered his medical license following allegations that he prescribed controlled substances to an unknown number of men. Blank allegedly prescribed these men drugs that are known to be addictive and can be lucratively sold on the street, and he did not maintain any charts or patient records on the men receiving prescriptions.
Robert John Santella
Last year, California abortionist Robert John Santella surrendered his license after the Medical Board of California alleged he “over-prescribed narcotics to six patients and botched an abortion on another patient.” Live Action News’ Carole Novielli reports:
In detailing Santella’s “gross care” in the treatment of several of his patients, the Board noted that Santella failed to maintain accurate records and failed to document “a clear medical indication” for prescribing the controlled substances in question. And, in some instances, Santella also failed to document that the drugs had been administered along with the reasons why they were prescribed.
The document reveals that Santella was over-prescribing the following opioids: Dilaudid, Oxycodone, Percocet, Norco, Demerol, and Fentanyl. In one instance, Santella told the Medical Board that he refilled one patient’s prescriptions just to “get rid of her.”
David Burkons
In yet another example, reported by Operation Rescue, abortionist David Burkons had his license suspended after it was discovered that he was prescribing narcotics to fourteen patients, several of whom were friends, without documenting the prescriptions in their patient records. The drugs being furtively prescribed without record included Xanax, Adderall, Valium, Ativan, and Percocet.
James Scott Pendergraft and Michael Roth
Two chilling examples of abortionists who both illegally committed abortions out of their cars and were illegally in possession of narcotics are James Scott Pendergraft and Michael Roth. Pendergraft was charged with possessing illegal narcotics following a traffic stop. At the time of the arrest, Live Action News reported, the Florida abortionist also had in his possession surgical implements covered in blood and human tissue allegedly from illegal abortions committed throughout South Carolina.
Roth, whose car was impounded following an accident in West Bloomfield, Michigan, was charged with illegally possessing the narcotic Fentanyl, found in his car and home. Roth became known as the “trunk abortionist” after it was discovered he committed abortions in women’s homes and kept the bodies of aborted babies in his car, along with prescription drugs allegedly stolen from his former employer.
Other abortionists
Other abortion facilities have been implicated in drug abuse, such as that of notorious late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart. Employees have alleged illegal drug use among the staff and reported that narcotics would frequently go missing. (See the video below for more on LeRoy Carhart.)
In the case of another abortion facility, NBC 13 reported that health officials found an administrator “ordering and diverting narcotics for her own personal use.” This same administrator was found to be a nurse whose license was revoked for drug abuse.
In Arizona, abortionist Gabrielle Goodrick had her medical license restricted after abortion facility staff reported to the board that Goodrick was taking Fentanyl from her office for personal use and that “she may have a substance abuse problem.” It is alleged that Goodrick was taking these powerful narcotics while operating on patients.
READ: Abortionist featured in ‘Gosnell’ movie isn’t the only one committing horrors
Abortion is, by design, unsafe for preborn children. The legal abortion industry is also unsafe for women, although abortion activists continue to claim that their motivation is the safety of women. The many examples of abortionists illegally prescribing controlled substances and drug abuse in the abortion industry is one example of its systemic problems that endanger women and society.
