Abortion doctor James Pendergraft headed to trial in five drug charges, performing abortions without license
Abortionist James Pendergraft, IV is now scheduled for criminal trial in Spartanburg following his arrest in 2015 during a routine traffic stop. The outcome of the trial by jury will have implications on the future of a chain of four Central Florida abortion businesses.
Pendergraft was charged with five drug-related crimes and an additional five drug counts were added on May 6, 2016, after a grand jury issued indictments against him. Pendergraft was in the possession of illegal narcotics, such as marijuana, LSD and drugs used to sedate women for abortions. Sheriff’s deputies also found surgical implements that were covered in blood and human tissue from abortions that Pendergraft had illegally performed without a license throughout South Carolina.
photo by Carrie Z. via pixabay
On May 5, 2017, the Florida Department of Health revoked the facility licenses of four abortion facilities where Pendergraft serves as Chief Financial Officer. Those facilities are:
* EPOC Clinic, LLC in Orlando.
* Ft. Lauderdale Women’s Center, LLC in Ft. Lauderdale.
* Orlando Women’s Center, LLC in Orlando.
* Ocala Women’s Center, LLC, an Ocala abortion facility that closed in 2015.
The Florida Department of Health cited Pendergraft’s arrests as the basis for the facility license revocations. According to Florida law, criminal arrests are disqualifying acts, meaning that even an arrest without a conviction disqualifies the person from employment that requires licensure. If convicted, Pendergraft should lose his Florida medical license.
Pendergraft’s abortion clinics have a notorious history. For example, on April 2, 2005, 911 Emergency received a frantic call from a woman claiming her friend had given birth to a live baby at Pendergraft’s EPOC clinic in Orlando. When the mother alerted medical staff that her 22-week-old baby was born alive, the staff told her to leave the baby in the toilet. The young mother held the child and the amniotic sac in her hands as she called a friend at a nearby hotel who had traveled with her to Orlando from out of state. An ambulance was dispatched, but arrived too late to save the baby. An autopsy report and photos showed a perfectly formed baby boy who died from premature birth, confirming part of the mother’s story. Liberty Counsel represented Baby Rowan’s mother.
The photographs of Baby Rowan posted on the Liberty Counsel website were taken by Mat Staver at the morgue.
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Pendergraft was previously convicted of extortion and conspiracy and spent time in a federal prison. The case arose out of his Ocala abortion clinic. He has also been sued for malpractice regarding an abortion and the jury awarded the plaintiff $36.7 million.
“James Pendergraft has a long history of hurting women and killing innocent babies,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “Liberty Counsel represented a mother whose perfectly healthy son, Rowan, was born alive after a botched, late-term abortion at one of Pendergraft’s abortion facilities. Cradling Rowan’s moving body, the mother screamed for help and pleaded with abortion clinic workers to call 911, but she was ignored until her son died in her arms. Pendergraft should be locked up and lose his medical license so that he can never hurt women and children. We must make the womb a safe place again,” said Staver.
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About Liberty Counsel
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Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
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