An Orlando abortion facility which racked up nearly $200,000 in fines for breaking a Florida law will remain open due to the fundraising efforts of abortion activists.
The Center of Orlando for Women (the new LLC name for the well-known Orlando Women’s Center) allegedly committed 193 abortions without adhering to the 24-hour waiting period as required by Florida law. Each violation brought a $1,000 fine, with the total equaling $193,000. Julie Gallagher, an attorney for the facility, wrote in a court filing that the amount “would likely force the clinic into bankruptcy or closure.”
So abortion activists mobilized, starting a crowdfunding effort that quickly went above the needed amount. “It’s honestly really, really shocking. We definitely were very ambitious with this goal, and we had no idea if it was even remotely possible,” the social media manager for the campaign, who remained anonymous, told the Orlando Sentinel. “We definitely didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.”
In an interview with The Guardian, Gallagher didn’t admit the abortion facility was breaking the law — instead, she said it was being “picked on” by the state of Florida.
“I think they think if a few abortion clinics go out of business, then that’s a good thing, under this current climate and this current administration,” she said. “Nobody is too worried about the impact of the fines on abortion clinics.”
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Yet Gallagher — in addition to not acknowledging the facility’s own lawbreaking — ignored the facility’s controversial history.
The Center of Orlando for Women was founded by James Pendergraft, a late-term abortionist who has repeatedly injured women in botched abortions. He has been the subject of medical malpractice suits and has been suspected of committing illegal abortions. Some of Pendergraft’s abortion victims survived abortion but were left to die afterward. He also has a criminal record relating to drug charges, and when he was arrested, was found to have surgical instruments covered in blood and human tissue. After losing a medical malpractice suit, he was caught laundering money.
In 2018, the licenses for all four of Pendergraft’s abortion facilities in Florida were revoked. Despite this background, his name remains on the abortion facility’s website. The abortion business was also renamed to the Center of Orlando for Women, and ownership was transferred to Denise Williams — his ex-wife and the mother of his children.
Other abortionists reportedly associated with the facility at one time or currently are, according to AbortionDocs.org: Christ-Ann A.E. Magloire, Susan Kathleen Hirtz, Candace Sue Cooley, Jose Raul Quintana.
The Center of Orlando for Women previously said it planned to appeal the state’s decision in hopes of not having to pay the fines. The crowdfunding organizer has not said what would happen to the money raised if the fines were dropped.
