Seasons of Grace
Whew! Our nation is relieved that the horrible newborn killer, Kermit Gosnell, is finally safely behind bars and will remain there, out of sight and out of mind, for the rest of his natural life.
So now we can rest easy, knowing that no late-term babies will be born alive, only to have their necks “snipped” to stop their inconvenient breathing. Right?
WELL, NO.
A report released yesterday by Lifenews.com provides clear evidence that another abortionist, Douglas Karpen of Texas Ambulatory Surgical Center in Houston, has engaged in the same gruesome child-killing practices that shocked the nation when exposed in Philadelphia
Unlike Gosnell’s clinic, Karpen’s medical offices were not spattered with blood and medical waste and inhabited by cats. However, the abortionist has had a troubled career, including a series of botched abortions as far back as 1988, when a fifteen-year-old patient hemorrhaged and died following a 26-week abortion performed by Karpen.
And now, the just-released testimony by three of Karpen’s employees revealed that Karpen used the chilling “spine-snipping” tactic on infants born alive in his clinic. Their reports are corroborated by cell phone photos of aborted babies—staring faces distorted in pain, bruised limbs evidence that the heart was beating when the abortion procedure was begun. And there are those tiny necks, with bloody incisions severing spine and arteries, just as we’ve seen in the Gosnell trial.
The testimony of informants Deborah Edge, Gigi Aguliar, and Krystal Rodriguez was obtained by Operation Rescue through their Abortion Whistleblowers Program. Yesterday, the group released a video interview with the three former Karpen employees, which is available here.
In the shocking video testimony, Deborah Edge, who worked as a surgical assistant for Karpen for fifteen years until leaving in March 2011, explained:
“When he did an abortion, especially an over 20 week abortion, most of the time the fetus would come completely out before he cut the spinal cord or he introduced one of the instruments into the soft spot of the fetus, in order to kill the fetus.… I thought, well, it’s an abortion you know, that’s what he does, but I wasn’t aware that it was illegal…Most of the time we would see him where the fetus would come completely out and of course, the fetus would still be alive.”
But the late-term procedures, and the delivery of living infants—that was rare, right? Not according to Edge:
“I think every morning I saw several, on several occasions,” she said. “If we had 20-something patients, of course ten, or twelve, or fifteen patients would be large procedures, and out of those large procedures, I’m pretty sure that I was seeing at least three or four fetuses that were completely delivered in some way or another,” said Edge, acknowledging that these babies would be alive.
She described how some babies would emerge too soon and would be alive, moving, and breathing. She also told of how Karpen would sometimes deliver the babies feet first with the toes wiggling until he stabbed them with a surgical implement. At the moment the toes would suddenly splay out before going limp. Sometimes he would kill the babies by “twisting the head off the neck,” according to Edge.
Women would be given doses of Cytotec, a drug that causes strong and unpredictable uterine contractions, and would deliver while they were waiting in line to see Karpen, some in toilets, one in the hallway.
I don’t know how Texas laws compare to those in Pennsylvania, but abortion in that state is illegal after the 24th week. Will LifeNews’ publicizing of the witnesses’ dramatic testimony force the Texas Medical Board to prosecute Karpen?
Information on operations of Karpen’s clinic was presented to the Texas Medical Board as early as February 2005, when an employee of a neighboring car dealership took photographs of severed legs and human body parts mixed with sewage that spilled out from a broken water line at the clinic. A Health Department worker called 911 to report a second spill at the clinic, telling the dispatcher,
“…we handle normal medical waste… but this is beyond us. He says he can see fetuses and fingers and everything.”
Informant Deborah Edge came forward to provide information to Operation Rescue. In addition to illegal late-term abortions, Edge reported the following violations in Karpen’s clinic:
- Falsification of ultrasounds to produce younger fetal ages of babies over the legal limit or older fetal ages to extract more money out of women.
- Fraudulent billing practices.
- Surgical equipment not properly sterilized.
- Reuse of disposable instruments.
- Unqualified workers drawing and administering drugs.
- Late-term abortions done at 28 weeks and later. (Texas law permits only to 24 weeks.)
- Lack of adequate nursing staff.
- Concealing poorly kept logs from inspectors to prevent deficiency citations.
- Hiring nurses through a temp agency to work only on days when inspections are scheduled.
- Mistreating heavy women and inappropriately touching attractive women while under sedation.
- Sexual harassment.
But despite these serious allegations, the Texas Medical Board dropped the investigation, stating in a letter dated February 8, 2013:
The investigation referenced above has been dismissed because the Board determined there was insufficient evidence to prove that a violation of the Medical Practices Act occurred. Specifically, this investigation determined that Dr. Karpen did not violate the laws connected with the practice of medicine and there is no evidence of inappropriate behavior, therefore no further action will be taken.
With the case officially closed in Texas, Operation Rescue had no recourse but to bring the story before the public. According to LifeNews.com:
For years, Gosnell evaded accountability, shielded by a political atmosphere that ignored complaints and refused to inspect clinics out of fear of limiting access to abortions. That political climate was one in which Gosnell thrived. Karpen appears to enjoy the benefits of a similar political climate in Texas, which has inexplicably chosen to ignore a total of four former employees and the images of the babies Karpen dispatched in a similar manner that earned Gosnell two life sentences in prison.
Operation Rescue has finally made public Karpen’s identity in order to attempt bypass the stonewalling of the TMB and bring him to justice.
“We are asking all those who were appalled by the details of Gosnell’s behavior that have come out throughout the trial to take action to bring Karpen to justice in a court of law,” said Newman. “We know that it is possible to prosecute him because of the outcome of the Gosnell trial. We just need prosecutors like those in Philadelphia who are willing and courageous enough to enforce the law.”
Visit LifeNews.com for more information and dramatic photo and video coverage.
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