Erie
Murder, Aggravated Assault (2 incidents), Assault and Making Terroristic Threats
On June 8, 2002, at a graduation party, pro-abortionist Corinne Wilcott sneaked up behind Sheena Carson, who was 15 weeks pregnant, dragged her to the ground by her hair, punched her in the face, and kicked her repeatedly in the side, shouting "I hope the bastard dies! I told you I was going to get you for sleeping with Kareem!" [Wilcott's husband].
An autopsy revealed that Sheena's unborn child died four days later from blunt-force trauma to the mother's placenta. During the trial, medical experts testified that Sheena's unborn child suffocated in her womb because a blow broke the life-giving bloodlines that connected the child to his mother.
On March 26, 2003, a seven-man, five-woman jury found Wilcott guilty of third-degree murder, aggravated assault of the unborn child, aggravated assault on Carson, simple assault of Carson, and of making terroristic threats. She was acquitted of a charge of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing. Third-degree murder is an unintentional killing committed with malice.
The verdict came after a five-day trial before Judge John J. Trucilla. It marked the first time a person has been convicted of killing a fetus in Erie County under the state's Crimes Against Unborn Child act. It is one of the first such verdicts in the state, District Attorney Brad Foulk said.
On June 26, 2003, Erie County Judge John Trucilla sentenced Wilcott to seven to fourteen years in prison. He said that the fetal protection law is constitutional because a pregnant woman can choose to have an abortion, but she has no choice in an attack that kills her unborn child. At the sentencing, her family and friends wore T-shirts that said "Corinne Wilcott" on the front and "Unborn Child Act unfair" on the back.
References: "Erie Murder Case has Grown Into a Debate Over When Life Begins." 35 WSEE TV News [Erie, Pennsylvania], December 27, 2002; "Judge Upholds Law Allowing Murder Charges in Deaths of Fetuses." Canton Reporter, January 26, 2003; "Pennsylvania Judge Upholds Fetal Homicide Charges." LifeSite Daily News at http://www.lifesite.net, January 28, 2003; Lisa Thompson. "Judge Denies Request to Move Fetal Homicide Trial." Erie Times-News, February 1, 2003; Lisa Thompson. "Wilcott Dumps Plea, Takes Trial." Erie Times-News, February 11, 2003; Lisa Thompson. "Jurors Told to Set Aside Abortion Views." Erie Times-News, March 25, 2003; Lisa Thompson. "Abortion Key Issue in Jury Selection." Erie Times-News, March 25, 2003; Lisa Thompson. "Doctors: Blow to Woman Killed Fetus." Erie Times-News, March 27, 2003; Lisa Thompson. "Wilcott Found Guilty of Murder." Erie Times-News, March 27, 2003; Debra Rosenberg. "The War Over Fetal Rights." Newsweek Magazine, June 9, 2003; "Woman Gets 7 to 14 Years for Killing Rival's Fetus." Arizona Republic, June 27, 2003; Maria Gallagher. "Pennsylvania Woman Sentenced Under Unborn Victims Law." LifeNews.com, June 30, 2003; Associated Press. "Woman to Appeal Third-Degree Murder Conviction in Fetal Homicide." Burlington County Times, August 23, 2003.
Practicing Medicine Without a License (2 incidents), Unprofessional Conduct (5 incidents) and Negligence
Harvey Brookman was an abortionist at Erie's American Women's Services abortion mill from September 2003 until April 2004, when he was fired for not having a medical license. He also performed abortions in the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia and worked for two years as an "independent contractor physician" at the State College Medical Services abortion mill in State College, Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Department of State charged him with unprofessional conduct and negligence. The State of Pennsylvania said that he practiced medicine without malpractice insurance, gave expired drugs to his patients, allowed unlicensed staff members to administer those drugs, failed to check his patients' age and identity, and performed abortions without a licensed registered nurse present.
In April 2005, the State of Pennsylvania filed an amended list of complaints against Brookman, and suspended his medical license for six months. The amended complaint noted that Brookman perforated a teenager's uterus and colon during an abortion at the King of Prussia abortion mill, and now faces a lawsuit filed by her.
Susan Rogacs of the pro-life group Centre County Citizens Concerned for Human Life said that "We checked the state department Web site. It said he only had an active-retired license," meaning that Brookman could treat only himself and family members, Rogacs said earlier this year.
Brookman had his medical license revoked or suspended New Jersey and New York 1996, and it was previously suspended by Pennsylvania in 1995. According to the New York Department of Health, Brookman routinely examined the uteruses of pregnant women without a medical reason. He was also found guilty of maintaining inadequate patient records and altering others.
Shortly after Brookman was charged, the other abortionist on the American Women's Services abortion mill's staff, Gerald Applegate, was found to have been on probation with the state for prescribing controlled substances to his wife. Shortly afterwards, the abortion mill closed down.
References: Associated Press. "Erie's Only Abortion Clinic Has Controversial Year." September 19, 2004; Newswatch Channel 16 News [Erie, Pennsylvania]. "Doctor at Closed Erie Abortion Clinic Cited by State." February 11, 2005; Maria Vitale Gallagher. "Pennsylvania Abortion Practitioner Has Medical License Suspended." LifeNews.com, April 21, 2005.
Farmington Hill
Murder (4 counts) and Suicide
Jihad Hassan Moukalled wrote a suicide note expressing remorse over his gambling debts, then killed his pregnant wife and three young children, and wound up the bloody night by committing suicide. For two years, Moukalled had made weekly trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, gambling and losing large amounts of money. He had amassed over half a million dollars in debt.
Reference: "The Toll." The Bet's Off Bulletin [National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling], February 2003, page 1.
Harrisburg
Murder (4 counts) and Attempted Murder
In April 2002, Mark Edwards stole some illegal drugs from the Bobish family, which then demanded payment. In order to avoid payment, Edwards went to the Bobish house and shot and killed 50-year-old Larry A. Bobish, Sr., 42-year-old Joanna M. Bobish, and 17-year-old Krystal Bobish, who was 28 weeks pregnant at the time. He also attempted to murder fourteen-year-old Bobish, Jr., who suffered a bullet lodged in his skull.
Edwards was sentenced to death for the murders.
In May 2004, Edwards was also found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Krystal's preborn child, who was 28 weeks old and was sentenced to life in prison on top of the death sentence he had already received.
References: Maria Gallagher. "Pennsylvania Man Prosecuted Under Unborn Victims Law." Lifenews.com, May 19, 2004.
Milford
First-Degree Murder (2 counts), Murder and Evidence Tampering (2 counts)
We have come to expect despicable, murderous and dishonorable behavior from pro-abortionists in general, but it doesn't get any lower than this. What kind of pro-abort scumbag would blame his own mother for the murders he committed?
Gregory Rowe, that's who.
Rowe lived with his girlfriend, Kristin Fisher, and their seven-month-old daughter Kaylee in their home in Greentown, Pennsylvania. She was pregnant by him again, and then they broke up. Rowe moved in with his mother, Cheryl Kunkle. He repeatedly demanded that Kristin have an abortion because he did not want to have to pay child support, but she refused, saying that she was pro-life.
So he decided to take care of things his way — the pro-abortion way — by killing those who inconvenienced him.
First, he drew a bath. Then he took the little girl and held her under the water until she stopped struggling, drowning her. Then he knocked Kristin unconscious and hanged her. After the murders, his mother helped him set up the scene to make it look as if Kristin had drowned her little daughter and then committed suicide.
In January 2006, a jury found Rowe guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, and he was imprisoned for life without the possibility of parole.
Kristin's grandmother, Kathleen Fisher, who discovered the girls' bodies when she came home from work, called Rowe a "heartless, soulless creature" and "psychopath." She also said that "Kristin chose life for Kaylee even though Rowe wanted her to get an abortion. In hindsight, this early expression of the lack of regard he had for human life should have spoken volumes to Kristin and I. ... He wasted his life and the lives of my daughter and granddaughter. One day, he'll meet his Maker. There's forgiveness, but you have to ask for it and be truly sorry for what you did." Rowe did not respond to Kathleen's comments.
Rowe appealed his verdict, blaming his own mother for the killings. He claimed that he was completely innocent, and said "The truth is out there, but they failed to see it." When a reporter from The Record asked him if his mother, Cheryl Kunkle, had killed Kristin and Kaylee, he said "Yes."
Perhaps we shouldn't be too hard on Rowe, because he apparently absorbed his values and his techniques from his mother, who murdered her ex-boyfriend not long after Rowe had murdered Kristin and her baby girl.
Reference: Steven Ertelt. "Pennsylvania Man Who Killed Woman Who Refused Abortion Blames Mom." LifeNews.com, February 9, 2006.
Felony Assault
Jerome Butler, 26, had molested a 15-year old girl and impregnated her. After learning of the pregnancy, police said, Butler and his wife came up with a plan to terminate the pregnancy by having Butler kick the girl in the stomach repeatedly.
Butler and his wife, Nicole, 25, had previously pleaded guilty to the charges stemming from the alleged scheme. Nicole Butler received a suspended prison term as the result of a plea bargain. The baby survived the attack and was born in good health, officials said.
Under the plea agreement, Butler received a total sentence of 10 years, suspended after five served, with 10 years probation. He was ordered to submit to sex offender evaluation and treatment and to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
Superior Court Judge Richard Arnold labeled Butler a "savage criminal with no sense of remorse" and sentenced him to five years in prison.
References: "5-Year Sentence for Abortion Attempt." The American-Republican, August 24, 2001; "Connecticut Man Sentenced for Attempted Forced Abortion." Waterbury Republican American [Connecticut], August 27, 2001; Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, August 28, 2001.
Philadelphia
First-Degree Murder (9 counts) and Third-Degree Murder (3 counts)
Shawne Mims and Jennifer Penning decided to steal some drugs from Maurice D. "Riz" Jones, Harold "Mikey" Murray IV, and Ernest Reginald "Dinero" Morris at gunpoint.
It was the last mistake they would ever make.
Jones, Murray and Morris took their revenge in the most extreme way possible by murdering Mims and Penning, who was six months pregnant. They shot Penning two times in the face, and shot Mims twice in the chest with two guns, including an AK-47-style assault rifle.
Police found Penning's body in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park and Mim's naked body in a motel in King of Prussia, on January 31, 2005.
Montgomery County assistant district attorney Kevin Steele said that "We've charged the death of an unborn child in this case because the victim had a six-month fetus, who was healthy otherwise." Steele also said that this was the first time Montgomery County had prosecuted someone for the death of a preborn child.
References: Jennifer Penning. Channel 10 Television News [NBC, Greater Philadelphia]. "Man Faces Three Murder Charges." April 22, 2005; Margaret Gibbons. "Death Penalty Cases Begin." The Times Herald [Philadelphia], January 4, 2006; Margaret Gibbons. "Trial of Three on Triple Homicide Charges Begins." The Courier [King of Prussia, Pennsylvania], January 19, 2006.
First-Degree Murder (3 counts), Kidnapping (2 counts) and Armed Robbery (7 counts)
Michael G. McGrory and Matthew Eshbach had committed many acts of armed robbery, and operated an armed robbery "ring" that included Joshua Sheeler, 22, of Boyertown; Ian Taylor, 23, of Boyertown; and Travis Drumheller, 20, of Boyertown, Eshbach's nephew.
In September and October of 2002, the gang committed holdups in Montgomery, Chester, Somerset, Butler and Erie Counties, police said.
In November 2002, McGrory and Eshbach went to the home of Kerry Schadler, 21, and his 20-year-old wife, Katherine, who was 20 weeks pregnant, in order to threaten them, because they knew about the robbery gang.
McGrory and Eshbach tied up the Schadlers and forced them at knifepoint into McGrory's vehicle. After driving some distance, McGrory pulled Kerry Schadler out of the car and squeezed his neck until "his body went limp," Carroll said. Returning to the car, McGrory began to look for a place to unload the body. He stopped the car, put his arm around Katherine Schadler and started to strangle her; Eshbach finished murdering her.
Then they dumped the bodies in Tow Path Park in East Coventry Township.
On February 17, 2004, McGrory finalized a plea bargain in Montgomery County, agreeing to serve 25 to 50 years in prison for his string of armed robberies. On the same day, he signed another deal in the Chester County Courthouse, agreeing to serve three consecutive life sentences for the murders.
On June 18, 2004, Eshbach was convicted of two counts of murder.
Elizabeth Richard, Katherine Schadler's mother, said "I have one picture of my granddaughter," referring to an ultrasound image.
References: Kathleen Brady Shea. "Three Life Terms in Killing of Husband, Pregnant Wife." The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 18, 2004; "Jury Selection to Begin in Trial of Man Accused of Killing Couple, Fetus." The Times Leader [Northeastern Pennsylvania], June 8, 2004; "Two Men Sentenced to Life for Killing Couple, Unborn Child." The Times Leader [Northeastern Pennsylvania], June 28, 2004.
First-Degree Murder (2 counts)
On July 18, 2005, after they had gone to a prenatal examination earlier in the day, Stephen Poaches demanded that his girlfriend, Latoyia Figueroa, who was five months pregnant, have an abortion. She refused, so he used his bare hands to strangle her to death.
He then dumped her body beside train tracks in a wooded area in Chester, Pennsylvania. Chief Inspector Joseph Fox of the Philadelphia Police Department said that "He strangled Latoyia on the night of July 18. He then put her body in plastic bags and placed the body in the trunk of his vehicle sometime after 11 p.m. on the night of July 18. He drove to the Chester area."
On August 13, 2005, police followed a tip call. Police said that Poaches had offered a man $300 for a body bag and use of his car. This man immediately called police, who followed Poaches to a Chester field and watched him struggle with Letoyia's decomposing body and then leave the area. Police then arrested him a short distance away. He was carrying a gun and wearing a bulletproof vest. Police believe that he planned to murder the man who was going to assist him in permanently disposing of Latoyia's body.
Poaches confessed to murdering Latoyia, and was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on August 15, 2005. He admitted that he had killed her because she would not abort their child. He confessed that he strangled her in a rage when she said that she was pro-life and did not believe in abortion.
Melvin Figueroa, Latoyia's father, said that "It's not easy to lose a child, and deep in my heart I knew it was him." Cathy Reed, who worked with Latoyia at a TFI Friday's restaurant, said "She was going through drama with him [Poaches]. I can't say that I'm surprised that it was him."
References: "Search Resumes For Missing Pregnant Woman." Television 10 News [NBC, Greater Philadelphia], August 1, 2005; "K-9 Team Searches For Pregnant Woman." Television 10 News [NBC, Greater Philadelphia], August 1, 2005; "Reward Increases In Case Of Missing Pregnant Woman." Television 10 News [NBC, Greater Philadelphia], August 2, 2005; "Woman Claims She Saw Missing Pregnant Woman." Television 10 News [NBC, Greater Philadelphia], August 18, 2005; "Police Disavow Reported Sighting Of Missing Woman." Television 10 News [NBC, Greater Philadelphia], August 18, 2005; "Source: Ex-Boyfriend Tried To Move Figueroa's Body." Television 10 News [NBC, Greater Philadelphia], August 20, 2005; "Police Confirm Poaches Confessed To Girlfriend's Murder: Poaches Faces 2 Murder Charges Including Death of Fetus." Television 10 News [NBC, Greater Philadelphia], August 21, 2005.
Murder, Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Abuse of a Corpse [Norristown]
On May 10, 1978, Richard L. Greist, Jr. went berserk and fatally stabbed and strangled his pregnant wife Janice. Then he attacked his six-year-old daughter, Beth Ann, who lost an eye during the savage attack, and beat his 71-year-old grandmother, Anna Gresko. Then he took the time to cut an 8-month-old male preborn child from Janice's body.
Greist was found not guilty by reason of insanity of the charges during a trial in Chester County Court in 1980.
After being institutionalized for 12 years, Greist married Patricia Louise Griffin in May 1990. She said that she was not bothered by her husband's past and that she was looking forward to a good marriage. She committed suicide a year later.
Greist was married a third time on November 29, 2004, to Frances Mary More.
Greist must remain a resident at Norristown State Mental Hospital for the rest of his life.
References: Carl Hessler Jr. "Wedding Bells Ring Again for Wife Killer." The Mercury, December 3, 2004.
First-Degree Murder, Cocaine Trafficking, Reckless Endangerment and Theft by Deception
Billy Rinick of South Philadelphia was an aspiring mobster. He wanted to sell Adam Finelli an $85,000 row house. But he decided to keep both the row house and the money, so he shot Finelli five times in the back of the head on October 31, 2001.
He had taken Deborah Merlino, the wife of jailed local mobster Joey "Skinny Joey" Merlino to Maryland for an abortion. She was pregnant by a New York football player. Rinick said that "She was cheating on her husband with a guy from New York, a football player. She had gotten pregnant. ... She didn't want South Philadelphia to know." Deborah Merlino agreed to be a prosecution witness in Rinick's trial.
Five weeks later, when drug agents raied Deborah Merlino's luxury townhouse, they found Rinick hiding under a bed. He claimed that he was looking for a prosthetic leg that he used as a replacement for the leg he had lost in a motorcycle accident. The agents also found about $85,000 in cash in the townhouse.
On October 29, 2003, a jury took three hours to find Rinick guilty of first-degree murder, reckless endangerment and theft by deception.
Rinick had previously in 2003 been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for cocaine trafficking.
References: "Suspect: Mob Boss' Wife had Affair, Abortion With N.Y. Player." WNBC Channel Television [Philadelphia], October 28, 2003; Jacqueline Soteropoulos. "Rinick is Found Guilty of Murder." The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 30, 2003.
First-Degree Murder, Criminal Homicide, and Endangering the Welfare of Children
Pro-abortionist Henry C. Hohberger III found out that his pregnant girlfriend, Diane Grant, was carrying a baby girl, and he was upset about this because, as he told a maternity nurse, "I already have a daughter. ... It's supposed to be a damn boy." He also did not feel like paying child support, so he repeatedly tried to get his girlfriend to have an abortion. He went so far as to schedule four appointments for Grant at local abortion mills. He took her to three of them. The other time he arranged for a limousine to pick her up. Each time, Grant said, she found herself unable to go through with the procedure.
Hohberger told longterm friene Garry Newman that he was "freaked out" by Grant's repeated refusals to have an abortion, police said, and that he was upset at the prospect of paying more child support.
According to police reports, on November 2, 2001, when the baby girl — named Nicole — was just seven weeks old, Hohberger beat and shook his little girl so severely that she suffered skull and rib fractures, and died five days later, according to coroner's reports. Hohberger claimed that the girl simply fell off a sofa while he was in the bathroom.
A Children's Hospital doctor told police that Nicole's injuries were "diagnostic of physical abuse in its most severe form." Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said that "The story given to us by the father after the fact is false. ... These injuries were inflicted by shaking and blunt force trauma." Caster said that an autopsy performed by Bennett Preston of the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office confirmed this. Preston ruled Nicole's death a homicide.
Among Nicole's injuries were four broken ribs that were healing. The little baby girl also had 11 newly broken ribs, two fractures to her skull, and multiple hemorrhages to her head and eyes, Preston's report stated.
On November 14, 2001, Hohberger was charged with capital murder and held without bail until his trial. The District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty against Hohberger, who is charged with first- and third-degree murder, criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of children, unsworn falsification to authorities and false reports to law enforcement officials.
Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said the abortion issue is a critical element to establishing that Hohberger intentionally killed his newborn daughter. She said that there was "a chain of circumstances and events" that started with Hohberger expressing a desire for his girlfriend to have an abortion, his reaction after Grant refused, and his comments to others about how he did not want the child.
During a July 2002 pretrial hearing, Assistant District Attorney Frank Genovese said "After his child was born, he told his ex-wife he wanted a boy, that he did not consider Nicole his child, and (how) he considered to be his child only the child he fathered with his ex-wife."
On March 4, 2003, Hohberger avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to the third-degree murder of his 7-week-old daughter rather than take the case to trial. He also pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree unsworn falsification to authorities.
He was sentenced to 17½ to 35 years in prison. But pro-abortionist Hohberger sniveled that the sentence was too harsh, because "He is unable to adapt to the harshness and severity of his confinement," "The commonwealth unfairly attempted to portray him as a dishonest person even though it is a known characteristic of alcoholics to be untruthful so as to hide their addiction," and "He believes that he will be unable to survive in prison."
His motions for a reduction in sentence were turned down. Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said "He made his bed, and now he should deserve to lie in it for the next 35 years. He is living in conditions a malicious murderer deserves to live in."
References: Mark Stroh. "Father is Charged with Baby's Murder." Philadelphia Inquirer, November 15, 2001; "Man Murders Baby After Mother Refuses Abortion." Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, November 16, 2001; Matthew Gilbert of Court TV. "Pennsylvania Man Accused of Killing Infant Daughter." November 16, 2001. Downloaded from the Courtroom Television Network LLC Web site on November 26, 2001; Beth Cohen. "Montco Murder Trial Delayed Until March." The Mercury, January 13, 2003; "Judge May Allow Abortion Mentioned in Infanticide Case." Philadelphioa Inquirer, February 5, 2003; Steve Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org, February 6, 2003; Beth Cohen. "Man Pleads Guilty to Killing Daughter." Downloaded from http://www.reporteronline.com, March 6, 2003; Beth Cohen. "Hate in Her Heart: Victim's Mother Not Forgiving." The Times Herald [Philadelphia], June 12, 2003; Beth Cohen. "Baby Killer Claims Prison is Too Harsh for Him." The Mercury [Philadelphia], June 20, 2003.
Infanticide
In January 1989, abortionist Connie Tan Yen was charged with infanticide after allowing a third-trimester aborted baby to die of deliberate neglect.
Reference: Liz Townsend. "Pennsylvania Doctor Charged In 'Failed' Abortion." National Right to Life News, March 26, 1991, page 9.
Infanticide and Illegal Abortion
In May 1990, abortionist Joseph Melnick was convicted of allowing a viable and healthy 32-week baby girl, who weighed 3 pounds and 9 ounces, to die by ordering 'no care' to be given her after she survived his botched third-trimester abortion attempt. The girl was only 13 years old, and the killing took place at what was then the West Park Hospital in Philadelphia in 1984.
The nursing supervisor testified that "Baby Girl Smith" showed signs of life and gasped and moaned following the abortion. Other medical personnel in the room pointed out the infant's condition and requested that Melnick aid the infant. A nursing supervisor testified that she attempted CPR on the infant and detected heartbeat, and that she found a death certificate filed by Melnick stating that the infant was stillborn. She tore up the death certificate, whereupon Melnick filled out a birth certificate for the infant. Another doctor ordered resuscitation, but the infant died after 90 minutes. Melnick indicated on medical records that he observed "agonal breathing" in the infant, which he defined for the judge as "It's the last effort a human being makes to sustain life." After the judge asked him three times, he admitted that agonal breathing would not be observed in a stillborn infant. The autopsy found that the infant had a full head of hair, and skin typical of a neonate [newborn]. Melnick allegedly admitted, "After the fact, it occurred to me that I had miscalculated." When the patient insisted that she was four months pregnant, Melnick noted the size of her infant and told her "if that's true, your baby would have been 18 pounds at birth." Predictably, the defense claimed that the prosecution was based on "frustration raised over the abortion issue" rather than evidence, and that a conviction would have a "chilling effect" on other doctors' willingness to perform abortions.
References: Los Angeles Times Magazine, January 7, 1990; Houston Chronicle, June 13, 1989; United Press International (UPI), October 3, 1984; Associated Press, March 16, May 15, June 12 and December 20, 1989; Leslie Bond. "Melnick Convicted Of Infanticide in Death of Live-Born Aborted Baby." National Right to Life News, June 22, 1989, pages 1 and 11; Debra Braun. "Murder Charge Dropped Against Abortionist." National Right to Life News, March 14, 1985, pages 1 and 8.
Assault (2 incidents) and Destruction of Property
On November 24, 2002, pro-lifers from Full Quiver Mission and Life and Liberty Ministries witnessed to the deadly truth of abortion at the Philadelphia Marathon. They held signs along the marathon route, and preached about abortion to the passing runners.
Passing runners, secure in their speed, demonstrated that even physically fit pro-abortionists are rank cowards. They spat on the pro-lifers many times. Then a large middle-aged runner approached a small 12-year-old pro-life boy, who grabbed his sign from his hands and then threw him hard onto the ground [as you can see from countless incidents described elsewhere in this database, pro-abortionists always physically attack pro-life women and children, never the men]. The pro-abortion coward stuffed his race number under his jersey so he could not be identified, and kept on running.
Another pro-abort grabbed the sign out of another pro-lifer's hands, ran with it, and threw it across the street. Another doused a street preacher with an entire quart of water. And a bicyclist ran over one of the girls' signs. Plainclothes Police tried to stop one of the runners, but he refused to stop.
A bicyclist reported that there was a "crying child" holding one of the signs. That was a little 9-year-old boy, Evan. With tears streaming down his face, even said, "That woman came up to me and said 'I couldn't care less about those babies'." Evan was weeping that anyone could be so callous and hard-hearted and uncaring as to look at the photos of dismembered little boys and girls and say, "I couldn't care less".
References: "Full Quiver Mission Runs the Philadelphia Marathon: The City of Brotherly Love: NOT!!" Downloaded from the Web site of the Full Quiver Mission at http://www.fullquivermission.com/Philly_Marathon.htm on December 2, 2002.
Assault and Felony Drug Possession
A Teamsters union official was arrested in an incident where a pro-lifer was severely beaten. Anthony Michael Mucillio, a business agent for a Philadelphia Local of the Teamsters Union, was taken into police custody after a group of Teamsters hospitalized pro-lifer Donald Adams, one of about 70 pro-lifers staging a protest outside Philadelphia city hall where President Clinton was in a meeting. According to a report in the October 5, 1998 Philadelphia Daily News, Morris "clapped his hat onto" Adams' head (a signal to his thugs to attack), and immediately Adams was pounced upon by numerous Teamsters, resulting in the hospitalization of the 5-foot-6, 130-pound pro-lifer. A few days later, police took Mucillio and his wife into custody following a year-long investigation. In his house police discovered 22 pounds of methamphetamine valued at $450,000 as well as 19 firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, military explosives and a book on how to build explosive devices.
References: "Teamster Union Official Arrested." LifeSite Daily News at http://www.lifesite.net, October 22, 1998; "Unionists Assault Pro-Lifer." LifeSite Daily News, October 6, 1998; Philadelphia Daily News, October 5, 1998.
Battery, Malpractice and Violation of Constitutional Rights
In a landmark victory that must have sent shivers all through the pro-abortion movement, abortionist Charles Benjamin settled out of court in October 2003 because he did not properly inform one of his patients about the link between abortion and breast cancer.
When 16-year-old Pennsylvania teenager "Sarah" became pregnant, her high school guidance counselor arranged for a secret second-trimester abortion just across the border in New Jersey without her parents' knowledge. Pennsylvania requires the consent of at least one parent for a teenager to have an abortion; New Jersey has no such requirement.
Now 22, Sarah has suffered tremendously in the aftermath of her abortion. Sarah is not afflicted with breast cancer (yet), but she sued the abortion mill because it failed to inform her of the possible risk. An overwhelming majority of studies have shown that induced abortions increase the risk of contracting the disease.
Sarah's attorneys say she must now obtain expensive mammograms at an earlier age because she could contract breast cancer earlier than the average woman. She also was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the abortion. Doctors estimated that the cost of the mammograms alone would be $2,500 annually. The settlement also includes funding to cover future psychological counseling.
Sarah's attorney, Joseph P. Stanton, told WorldNetDaily that "This case establishes abortion clinics can't escape civil penalties by aborting for kids from other states when they know the state where they come from has parental-consent statute[s]."
Abortion clinics in no-consent states like New Jersey and Illinois are known "dumping grounds" for abortions by out-of-state minors, say pro-lifers. According to Stanton's statistics, an average of 43 women from Pennsylvania travel to New Jersey every month to have abortions. Ten of those are teens, some as young as 12.
Stanton said one New Jersey clinic routinely promotes its "no parental consent" services in advertising to minors in Pennsylvania.
The settlement proceeds will help Sarah to obtain the early medical screening for breast cancer and the future psychological counseling that she needs.
Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, said that "This settlement will teach the medical establishment that it can no longer profit by keeping women in the dark about the breast cancer risk. ... This case also establishes that abortion providers can be sued for battery if the abortion provider performs no parental consent abortions on minors from neighboring states (with parental consent statutes), even if the state where the abortion is performed does not have a parental consent statute."
As always, when a woman is injured in any way by abortion, the pro-abortionists, who say that they are "for women," line up against the injured woman. Linda Rosenthal, a lawyer with the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP) law firm in New York, petitioned the court to represent both Charles Benjamin, the abortionist, and the Cherry Hill Women's Center abortion facility.
Sarah was disappointed that the pro-abortion law firm was more interested in keeping access to abortion unfettered rather than her rights as a victim. But she found help in the pro-life movement.
Susan Marie Gertz, an attorney and the director of the Women's Injury Network (WIN), said that "Abortion malpractice lawsuits help expose the deceptive practices of the abortion industry and hold doctors legally and financially accountable to the women they've harmed.
In addressing the transportation of teens across state lines for secret abortions, pro-life members of Congress have proposed the Child Custody Protection Act. The pro-life bill would make such practices illegal. The House of Representatives has approved it, but it has never come up for a vote in the U.S. Senate.
Sarah's parents successfully sued the high school in a separate lawsuit for violating their 14th Amendment rights to raise their child without interference by the public school.
Opened in 1978, the Cherry Hill Women's Center abortion mill bills itself as "a safe place to make an important decision." According to its Web site, a specialized group of medical care providers help make the center "one of New Jersey's leading ambulatory surgical centers for women's health."
Since 1957, 29 out of 39 published studies on the subject worldwide and 13 out of 16 studies in the United States show a positive association between induced abortion and breast cancer. Seventeen of the 29 are statistically significant, which means there's a 95 percent certainty that the association is not by chance. Seven of these 17 report more than a two-fold risk increase.
Five medical organizations recognize a link between abortion and breast cancer. They include the National Physicians Center for Family Resources, the Catholic Medical Association, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute and The Polycarp Research Institute.
Groups such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL attack the validity of these studies and refuse to inform prospective abortion clients of the existence of the studies, dismissing even the statistically significant findings as "misinformation" being used "as a weapon in the campaign against safe, legal abortion."
"Undaunted by the absence of compelling evidence associating induced abortion with a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, anti-choice extremists insist on making the connection anyway," says Planned Parenthood on its Web site.
References: Diana Lynne. "Abortion Doctor Caves in Lawsuit: Settlement Given to Patient for Not Warning About Breast-Cancer Risk." WorldNetDaily.com, October 23, 2003; "Abortion Practitioner Settles Abortion-Breast Cancer Malpractice Suit." Steven Ertelt's LifeNews.com, October 29, 2003.
Involuntary Abortion
Abortionist Joel Lebed committed an unwanted abortion on Colista Gemmel. She complained of minor spotting and a late menses and told Lebed she suspected pregnancy. Lebed did not conduct a pregnancy test and conducted pelvic examination. He told her that she was not pregnant, and diagnosed her as having benign polyps in her uterus. He performed uterine scraping to remove polyps. Lebed was negligent in not ascertaining whether or not she was pregnant. Gemmel suffered from severe emotional distress upon discovering that her preborn child had been killed and was awarded $1 million in damages by a jury.
Death Threat [Lansdale]
On October 16, 2001, a hazardous materials squad was called to the North Penn Pregnancy Counseling Center in Lansdale, Pennsylvania after an employee opened a letter that contained a powdery white substance.
An office manager at the pregnancy center opened an envelope that had a small amount of white powder spilling from it, Lansdale police said. The letter was immediately sealed in a plastic bag and left on a desk. Employees evacuated the building and called police.
Police, firefighters, county officials and the hazardous materials team arrived to secure the envelope and clean up the spill. The envelope and powder were taken to Philadelphia by Lansdale police for testing.
Police said the incident appears to be associated with ongoing anthrax threats against abortion facilities and numerous other places nationwide.
References: "Pennsylvania CPC Receives Anthrax Threat Letter." Lehigh Valley News [Pennsylvania], October 17, 2001; Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, October 18, 2001.
Illegal Abortion [Hatboro]
William Hickey, a guidance counselor at Hatboro-Horsham High School, coerced and assisted in the arrangement of an illegal, out-of-state abortion for Howard and Marie Carter's daughter, who had just turned seventeen, in order to circumvent the state's parental notification law.
The settlement of the ensuing lawsuit by the parents requires the Hatboro-Horsham Pennsylvania School District to issue and enforce a directive prohibiting school personnel from encouraging any student to obtain an abortion. The policy also prohibits personnel from in any way assisting, aiding, or abetting a student in obtaining an abortion, or from using school resources to do so. It specifically forbids advising students to cross state lines to avoid Pennsylvania's parental consent requirement.
The lawsuit contended that Hickey: 1) was deeply involved in directing the teenager to schedule an abortion at a New Jersey abortion clinic to evade Pennsylvania law that requires a minor to obtain parental consent before such a procedure; 2) that he deliberately concealed from her parents that their daughter was in a crisis; 3) that he helped arrange the financing for the abortion; and 4) that he promised to provide false excuses to cover for the student's absence from school while the abortion was being performed. It also charged that Hickey indicated that he had "helped" other teenagers to obtain secret abortions in the past. The suit also contended that when the teenager told Hickey about her deep concerns and conflicts over having the abortion, Hickey told her not to worry about it, and offered such advice as "welcome to the adult world," "time heals everything," and "someday you'll look back on this and laugh."
While the defendants admitted no wrongdoing, the settlement agreement also requires the school district to pay $20,000 to compensate the Carters and their daughter.
Reference: "Settlement Announced in Pennsylvania Teen Abortion Case." Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, March 15, 2000.
Death Threats (5 incidents) [St. Davids]
After the DeMoss Foundation aired its pro-life television advertisement "Life, What a Beautiful Choice" in 1993, Nancy DeMoss, Executive Director of the Foundation, received numerous death threats from pro-abortionists by mail.
Reference: Glenn Ellen Duncan, "The Shocking Violence Against Prolifers." Catholic Twin Circle, September 11, 1994, page 11.
Death Threat
On June 21, 1980, Jean Neary was sidewalk counseling outside the Northeast Women's Center abortuary. She approached a couple proceeding to the abortion mill, and the man first shouted at her and cursed her, then pulled aside his coat to reveal a holstered pistol. He asked Neary "Do you see this?" She answered "You can shoot me, but what you will be doing to your baby is much worse." The man was an off-duty policeman from nearby Morrisville.
Reference: "Jane Neary Threatened By Gunman." National Right to Life News, July 7, 1980, page 10.
Sexual Assault and Interfering with the Custody of a Minor
Without Joyce Farley's consent, her 12-year-old daughter was taken across the border to New York for an abortion in 1995. The girl was transported by Rosa Hartford, whose 18-year-old son had gotten the girl pregnant. Farley learned of the abortion only after her daughter experienced complications, including severe pain and bleeding. Hartford's son was later convicted of interfering in the custody of a minor. Farley went on to campaign for a federal law to make it a crime to circumvent state parental-consent laws by taking minors across state lines. This incident shows how far pro-abortionists will go to ignore the law in order to cover up their own crimes — in this case, sexual abuse.
Reference: Tony Gosgnach. "Cases Reveal a Path of Destruction Through Women, Children, and Society." The Interim, September 1998.
Tax Evasion (2 counts)
Abortionist Malcom Polis pled guilty of 2 of 13 counts of tax evasion relating to his abortion mills.
Reference: United States District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania Criminal Case #83-00250.
Pittsburgh
Murder (2 counts) and Arson
On January 1, 1999, 46-year-old pro-abortionist Joseph P. Minerd firebombed Deana Mitts' Connellsville townhouse, which killed Mitts, her 3-year-old daughter Kayla, and her unborn child.
On May 7, 2002, three of Minerd's co-workers at the Elliott Company in Jeannette — Michael Franchock, Paul Serwonski and Art Shincovich — told a Federal jury that he talked about using a stun gun on Deana in order to kill his unborn child. Franchock said Minerd gave the stun gun to the maintenance department at his company to see if it could be fixed. Serwonski testified that he saw the stun gun sitting on a table in the machinery repair department. Shincovich, who repairs machine tools at Elliott, testified that he worked on the stun gun for Minerd in August 1998.
He and one of his colleagues took the gun apart and found a few components they recognized. After checking the gun out for 45 minutes, Shincovich said he left the gun in pieces because it was the end of the day. He also told the jury that Serwonski told him not to fix it because Minerd planned on using it to shock his ex-girlfriend into a miscarriage.
"Joe had serious problems that he brought to almost every person at that plant," said Franchock.
Daniel Boeh, a group supervisor with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), testified that he was present during a search of Minerd's home on April 16, 1999, when a receipt from the plumbing department at Brilhart's Hardware in Scottdale was recovered. The receipt indicated parts that could be used in a bomb were purchased at that time.
Lt. Detective Thomas Cesario of the Connellsville Police Department testified that when he arrived at Mitts' townhouse on McCormick Avenue on January 1, 1999, it was fully engulfed in flames. He spoke to other tenants to get their impressions on what occurred and then, after finding out that Minerd was the father of Mitts' baby, left to notify him of the incident.
Assistant United States District Attorney Leo Dillon said in his opening statement that Minerd's crime was so heinous that he deserved to die. He recounted testimony from witnesses who heard Deana Mitts screaming after the explosion and saw her engulfed in flames "like a human torch," reaching out to a frantic neighbor for help. Three-year-old Kayla was so badly burned in the fire, he said, that her bones fractured from the heat. He said "It's hard to imagine more anguish than Deana and Kayla Mitts endured before they died. This was a monstrous crime. He plotted, he planned, he stalked the victim, and in the wee hours of December 31, he put his plan into action."
On August 8, 2002, Minerd received a sentence of life in prison for the murders without the possibility of parole. Two weeks earlier, the same jury convicted Minerd of malicious destruction of property using fire or explosives resulting in death, the same law used to prosecute Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
The Minerd case was the first federal death penalty case tried in the history of the Western District of Pennsylvania.
References: Amy Fauth. "Co-Workers Knew Minerd Had Problems." Pittsburgh Daily Courier, May 8, 2002; "New York Man Convicted of Killing Girlfriend Who Refused Abortion." Associated Press, May 18, 2002; Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, May 20 and June 4, 2002; Torsten Ove. "Convicted Bomber's Relatives Plead for His Life." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 21, 2002; Chris Osher. "Federal Jury Deciding Minerd Penalty." Tribune-Review, May 21, 2002; "Pennsylvania Man Sentenced for Killing His Pregnant Ex-Girlfriend." Associated Press, May 31, 2002; Torsten Ove. "Fayette Co. Man Gets Life in Fatal Firebombing." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 9, 2002; "Jury Hands Life Sentence to Bomber." O-R Online, August 9, 2002.
Murder (2 counts)
On January 28, 2003, Aaron Luster and his girlfriend, Christine Karcher, who was seven months pregnant, became involved in a kind of deadly rolling domestic disturbance as they were driving down Route 60 in Moon Township in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania near the Pittsburgh International Airport. Luster attempted to strangle Christine, then pushed her out of the moving vehicle. She fell to the pavement, and was immediately struck by a following car. The driver of the following car called emergency dispatchers and said that he thought that he had struck a deer. When police officers arrived at the scene, they found Christine's mangled body.
During Luster's trial, jurors heard Christine's frantic cell phone call for help just nine minutes before she died. Luster's voice, encouraging her to jump from the car, was clearly audible.
On March 26, 2004, a jury found Luster guilty of two counts of murder, one for Christine and one for her viable preborn baby.
References: "Jurors Mull Murder Charges in Route 60 Death." KDKA Television 2 [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania], March 18, 2004; Associated Press. "Penn. Man Convicted in Girlfriend's Death." Bucks County Courier Times, April 2, 2004; "Law Center: Man Convicted in Highway Death of Pregnant Girlfriend." CNN.com, March 20, 2004.
Infanticide
Leonard Laufe of West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, specializes in late-term abortions. In 1985, a woman falsely claimed that she had been raped, and Laufe aborted her 32-week baby. The prostaglandin abortion resulted in the baby being born alive. The little baby began to gasp and kick, and Nurse Monica Bright testified that Laufe ordered that no help be given to the child. In fact, one of the staff doctors ordered nurses to directly murder the child with a fatal injection of morphine. At least three nurses refused to kill the child. The entire episode, including closeups of the baby gasping and kicking, was filmed for "educational purposes." The original birth records indicated that the little girl weighed more than three pounds and was 18 inches long. In order to cover up his killing, Dr. Laufe altered hospital records to read a weight of two and a half pounds and a length of only 11 inches. Medical student John Kenny testified that Dr. Laufe's attorney promised him that, if he testified in court, he would never be able to get a medical license or practice in any hospital in Pennsylvania. Dr. Laufe claimed that the baby was dead at birth. Despite the film of the entire episode, he was acquitted of all charges! This episode decisively proved that the purpose of abortion is not just to be rid of a child; the purpose is to kill the child.
Reference: Francis Schaeffer and C. Everett Koop, M.D. Whatever Happened to the Human Race? Fleming H. Revell Publishers, Old Tappan, New Jersey, 1976, pages 46 and 47; and Pittsburgh Press, November 1, 1974.
Criminal Homicide
On December 18, 2003, James "Herc" Pinkston beat up his pregnant girlfriend Toni Koonce at his apartment. Five days after the beating, doctors at Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh performed emergency surgery on Toni, because the embryonic membranes had ruptured and the leaking fluid could have resulted in a fatal infection which might have killed her. Her preborn baby died during the surgery.
Allegheny County Deputy Coroner Timothy G. Uhrich recommended that Pinkston be charged with criminal homicide of Toni's preborn child, as she was 16 weeks pregnant at the time. She said "He took something from me that he had no right to."
References: Glenn May. "Fetus' Death Ruled Homicide." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, February 26, 2004; Paul Novak. "Wisconsin, Pennsylvania Men Charged Under Unborn Victims Laws." LifeSite Daily News at http://www.lifesite.net, March 22, 2004, February 26, 2004.
Assault (12 incidents), Torture (6 incidents) and Sexual Abuse (8 incidents)
On February 25, 1989, Pittsburgh police tortured a group of pro-life rescuers which included students from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and sexually abused the women students. What happened two weeks later, however, was far worse. On and after March 11, 1989, Pittsburgh police brutally assaulted and deliberately tortured scores of pro-life rescuers to the point of severely injuring many of them. This incident, now known as "The Pittsburgh Nightmare," is so extreme that it deserves a detailed description. When reading this, try to imagine police treating civil rights or homosexual protesters in such a manner. At a March 11, 1989 rescue mission at the Allegheny Reproductive Health Center abortion mill, Pittsburgh police, upon arriving at the scene, immediately removed their badges and name tags. A very young rescuer named Frank, one of about sixty men and sixty women, was arrested and falsely charged with assault by a police officer who was a member of the board of directors of an abortion clinic. As a result of this, all the other rescuers went limp in order not to cooperate with the police. Per the typical plan at rescues, all rescuers were limp throughout all the arrests and booking procedures. The police separated the women from the men, and once the women were in jail, the male police verbally abused them and made lewd comments about their breast sizes. The male police told the women that they were going to rape and sodomize them. Police ripped the blouses off of two women, completely exposing their breasts. Police brutalized and sexually harassed 24 of the sixty women. One pro-life woman in the jail was knocked unconscious by the abuse, and the police would not let anyone tend to her. Janet Cooke testified: "The police held twelve women to a one-man cell without food or water. They denied phone calls to attorneys or others. The rescuers weren't told the charges against them. The police dragged the women from the cells, while using vulgar language, and put them into a paddy wagon. Then they drove violently while the prisoners bounced off the walls in the back. They would go up and down twelve inch curbs. The prisoners were not told where they were going." When the police took the women to the male-only county jail, they threw them on the ground and dragged them along the pavement by their hair, arms, and clothes. They tore the clothes completely off of one young girl. As the police dragged the women up the stairs, they paused occasionally to beat them with sticks and fists. For twelve hours nobody was even allowed to go to the bathroom, or call their attorneys. In the county-jail processing area, the male police mocked the women using vulgar language and threatened to rape them. They photographed several of the women after tearing off their clothes. Janet Cooke continues: "Then they were dragged around the stairwell where no one could see, and while one man held my head up by my hair, two others kicked me in the side. They did this because they wanted me to walk instead of being limp. They said that if I didn't take my 'bleep bleep' up those steps, I would be thrown into the cells with the men to be raped by the inmates. They were serious. I knew now that if I didn't cooperate, they would kill me." Finally upstairs, Cooke was strip-searched in front of a male guard. Men were walking in and out, and the men made her do some things that were too graphic to describe. Other women were brutally beaten at the same steps. Arlene Eddy testified: "Policemen were joking and laughing. They had the appearance that they couldn't wait to get their hands on them. At each landing/level, the "guards" threatened even when the prisoners were cooperating by walking. They again threatened to throw them into cells with prisoners who would rape and sodomize them." Janet Smother testified: "The police blew smoke into the face of the woman who had the asthma attack." After the jail, the women were taken to the state mental facility. When leaving the jail, the male inmates, having heard all that had happened to the women, clapped for them. Also, two or three hundred Christians were waiting on the side of the hill clapping for the women. All charges against all the women were dropped. Concerning the male pro-life prisoners, they police put ten men in one-man cells for 36 hours without food or water. Afterward, the city and county government would not accept papers from these victims for legal complaints. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights asked the FBI and the Justice Department to investigate the various law-enforcement agencies. The remainder of this description is taken from testimony was placed in the Congressional Record: "Many were strip-searched in front of male guards and prisoners, fondled and punched in the breasts. In one case a matron kicked a naked prisoner between the legs. "One guy was gonna carry me up the stairs but the other guy said not to and make it hard on me. ... He grabbed me between my breasts and dragged me up the stairs by my wire-rimmed bra. My breasts were fully exposed as I was being dragged up the stairs. My hands were still behind my back and I couldn't pull my top down. Then I was taken to another room and thrown to the floor." Another woman in the same rescue reported difficulty with a matron assigned to perform strip searches: "After I had my picture taken I was carried up the stairs. Before being carried a policeman pulled up my shirt in order to expose me. Then he and one other policeman took me up the stairs. One, whose name was ...,
after she realized I wouldn't stand, threatened to take off my clothes .. and molest me in front of the male guards." Other women complained of male police officers taking full advantage of their passive resistance: "As I was being carried onto the bus, one of the officers .. reached down my pants to carry me and told the other guy, "Hey just reach down her pants." ... Then when we got to the Allegheny County Jail .. people grabbed my clothes and just heaved me way up in the air much more than was necessary and I just felt like I was flying through the air. ... When they carried me out they lifted my shirt up [and] it went over my head and I couldn't see anything ... they carried me that way up the whole flight of stairs and I think down a couple hallways and left us on the floor. They made no effort to cover me in any way. ... I'm really afraid of police officers now and I always thought they were there to protect us." "They threw me in ... and rolled me over a bunch of people ... I was the last one out. He got me out and they laughed and he put his arms around me and held me around by boobs. ... And he squeezed super hard and I thought he was trying to break my ribs. ..." One woman reported the following acts of sexual harassment: "[W]hen I was being dragged onto the bus ... I was drug by my ponytail and a lot of my hair came out... . I was dragged in front of a table and they asked — told me to get up and I didn't say anything back. Then the male officer started to undo my coat and he tried to undo my pants and I just like pushed my stomach out so that he wouldn't be able to... . And then he opened my coat and they stood me up on my feet and I went limp and they raised me to the table. Then a male officer frisked me, a female was standing there but a male officer actually touched me ... on my breasts and also between my legs ... I felt them pull my T-shirt and my bra all the way up above my head ... [and] one of the guards ... punch[ed] me in the chest on this side and on this side and I have bruises ... I don't know if it was two or three and I felt one of the guards take me by my breast and squeeze and I have bruises all around where he squeezed with his fingers."
References: "The Pittsburgh Nightmare: An Interview with Attorney Larry Washburn and Two of the Victims," audio cassette; "The Brutal Truth," American Portrait Films, 1990; Congressional Record, 101st Congress, 1st Session, 1989. 135: 4, 6, 7. Chicago Suburban Rescue (CSR) news release, August 21, 1993.
Assault
Pro-abortion activist Dean Rubine physically attacked pro-life sidewalk counselor Sharon Henry outside the Highland Building in East Liberty. He was subsequently convicted of assault.
References: Indictment #CC:8907011, Allegheny County, PA Criminal Division. Operation Rescue National, Violence and Disruption Report, December 12, 1994.
Malpractice (10 incidents)
Julie Speicher, the mother of two small children, went to abortionist Gerald Applegate on February 24, 2000 for a routine monthly checkup because she was five months pregnant with her third child. During this checkup, Applegate determined that her unborn child had died, and decided to perform the removal procedure, called an evacuation, in his office, but it failed. The next day, Applegate tried to remove the preborn child again. But Speicher's condition deteriorated and she stopped breathing. Applegate called 911, and paramedics inserted a breathing tube and took her to UPMC Passavant Hospital, where she died the next day, February 26, 2002.
The Allegheny County coroner's office classified Speicher's death as a "therapeutic misadventure." She was 32 and left behind her husband, their son, Adam, 6, and daughter, Alyssa, 4.
In December 2001, Speicher's family filed a wrongful death suit against Applegate and UPMC Passavant Hospital, alleging that Applegate improperly started the operation in his North Hills office and was unprepared for the emergency that resulted. The suit says that Applegate should have begun the operation in a hospital because he and his staff were unable to deal with an emergency in the office. He had no nurse-anesthetist, did not monitor Speicher's vital signs, did no blood testing and, when Speicher stopped breathing, didn't know how to intubate her because he'd never done it, according to the suit. The abortionist also did not perform a procedure called osmotic dilation to soften the cervix, which the suit said is a mandatory precaution in second trimester evacuations.
The suit also says that Applegate lied about his previous lawsuits when he applied for staff privileges at Passavant, and that Passavant knew about Applegate's problems and allowed him to stay on the staff.
Abortionist Applegate has a long history of hospital suspensions and malpractice lawsuits and was under suspension by Magee-Womens Hospital at the time of the operation. Applegate, who still has staff privileges at UPMC Passavant and Magee, had been under a three-month suspension by Magee at the time of the procedure, according to the suit, because of failure to respond to pages to deliver babies. He didn't tell Speicher about the suspension, however, and used a Magee consent form for the procedure. Because Magee operated the obstetrics unit at Passavant, according to the suit, Applegate's suspension at Magee meant he should have been prevented from using the Passavant facility. According to the suit, he also used his own equipment at Passavant, a violation of hospital policy.
The suit alleges that Applegate lied on his original 1993 application for privileges at Passavant by claiming he had no lawsuits against him when he actually had five. He was kept on junior active status for three years instead of one because he had 43 violations for failure to complete hospital charts on time, the suit says.
In all, Applegate has had nine medical malpractice lawsuits brought against him in 10 years and has changed insurance carriers three times, according to the suit, but Passavant did not suspend him.
References: Torsten Ove. "Young Mother's Death Brings Lawsuit." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 18, 2001; "Abortion Practitioner Sued for Killing Woman After Miscarriage." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 18, 2001; Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, December 19, 2001.
Vandalism
St. Scholastica Roman Catholic Church in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania erected a pro-life display consisting of two hundred crosses and a large sign explaining the display.
On the night of June 24, 2002, pro-abortionists vandalized the display, overturning about fifty of the crosses and the explanatory sign.
The crosses are owned by People Concerned for the Unborn Child, a grassroots pro-life group based in Brookline, Pennsylvania.
References: "Pittsburgh Church Asked to Remove Crosses Mourning Abortion." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 25, 2002; Steven Ertelt's Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, June 25, 2002.
Reading
Assault, Destruction of Property and Threats
The owner of Chubby's Sandwich Shop in Reading, Pennsylvania, stands six feet tall and weighs over 400 pounds. Mrs. Linda Beckman, who is 63 years old, 5 feet 2 inches tall, and weighs in at about 100 pounds, was walking down the sidewalk while bringing a sign to another pro-lifer standing at the end of the block. As Mrs. Beckman passed Chubby's Sandwich Shop, the owner accosted her on the sidewalk. Two videotapes show that he screamed obscenities at Mrs. Beckman, wrenched the sign out of her hands, and destroyed it by stomping on it. He then turned his attention to one of the pro-lifers who was taping the incident, Vincent Sumoski, and attempted to grab his video camera. "Chubby" screamed repeatedly at Somoski to "turn it off," and threatened Sumoski. Eventually passers-by positioned themselves between the out-of-control sandwich salesman and Mr. Sumoski, so "Chubby" began to threaten other pro-life activists who rushed to the defense of Mrs. Beckman. He told the pro-lifers that he "would stick the sign up the ass of the first person who dared stand on his sidewalk with one."
During the entire incident, Reading Police Sergeant Jerry Boyer simply stood by and refused to take action to protect Mrs. Beckman. He ignored the pleas of the pro-lifers calling to him for help. Police officers who eventually responded to the scene refused to take statements from the dozens of witnesses gathered on the sidewalk where the assault took place.
Pro-lifers gave the tape showing the assult to Berks County District Attorney Mark Baldwin. Baldwin subsequently claimed he couldn't do anything because the crime happened in Reading and that he has no jurisdiction in that city, even though he is the District Attorney for the entire county.
Vincent Sumoski's videotape of the incident shows all of the above events.
We all know what would happen if a pro-lifer assaulted an abortionist or any pro-abortionist in Reading, Pennsylvania. He or she would instantly be arrested and would spend months or years in prison for the offense.
As of May 1, 2002, the Reading Police Department still had taken no action against the attacker, and had ignored all pleas from pro-lifers to do justice.
References: John Miskell. "Berks County Law Enforcement Takes Side of Attacker." Christian Gallery News at http://www.mttu.com, downloaded on August 28, 2000; John Miskell. "Berks County Law Enforcement Takes Side of Attacker." Christian Gallery News, May 1, 2002.
State College
Sexual Abuse (3 incidents) and Gross Malpractice
Abortionist Vikram Kaji was suspended from practicing medicine for having sex with a female patient in his clinic in 1985. According to the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine, the woman suffered from depression and was a childhood victim of sexual abuse. A newspaper account from 1993 says that Kaji was aware of her vulnerability as a depressed woman who had been abused as a child. Kaji was fined $5,000. The New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners also accused Kaji of "gross malpractice" for prescribing steroids for the woman when she took up weightlifting. Two other patients accused Kaji of sexual misconduct by performing improper examinations on them. Kaji did not challenge the accusations and was suspended from practicing medicine in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for three years. Abortionist Eric Harrah hired him to do abortions at Penn State's State College Center. Harrah said he was aware of the first incident in Kaji's past, but not sure of the truth of the other allegations. He said that Kaji "is a fine human being. He's a wonderful doctor. I would send my sister to him, and I would send my niece to him without hesitation."
References: Centre Daily Times, October 3, 1997. "Clinic Doctor's Past Has 'Citizens' Concerned." Daily Collegian, October 6, 1997, page 1; American Life League's Communiqu‚, November 14, 1997; Tony Gosgnach. "Cases Reveal a Path of Destruction Through Women, Children, and Society." The Interim, September 1998; Bicks County Intelligencer, October 28, 1993; Philadelphia Inquirer, October 29, 1993; and Levittown-Bristol Courier Times, March 22, 1995.
Improper Disposal of Medical Waste
Eric Harrah was a pro-abortionist who set up shop in conservative State College, Pennsylvania, in the Spring of 1997.
But he was not an ordinary pro-abort. In fact, he made other anti-lifers look positively middle-of-the-road.
Harrah was an admitted publicity hog, a six-foot-four, 295-pound hulk of a homosexual with permanently tattooed eyeliner and a young Simba from The Lion King emblazoned on his arm. His friends and associates called him "the Hit Man," because he dropped in on unsuspecting towns and opened abortion mills where no one else would.
Harrah became President of the Delaware state chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Harrah and NOW soon parted ways. NOW members said he was too domineering, that he promoted his own views ahead of the organization's.
He was an abortion mill escort, and then became manager of his own abortuary. He became the first to promote free abortions to victims of rape, incest and HIV infection. Then he offered discounts for minors, out-of-staters and Medicaid recipients.
His antics (and great business sense) outraged other abortionists. Planned Parenthood, that great expert in ethics, labeled him "unethical." The Delaware Women's Health Center abortuary accused him of "bravado" and "pseudo-machismo."
Harrah was even a female impersonator — a drag queen with the stage name Alexis "You Know You Want Me" Horowitz.
In 1994, Eric and clinic owner Melvin Soll were fined $43,000 for clinic workers flushing fetal tissue down garbage disposals. The pair claimed ignorance of the law and struck a deal with prosecutors.
Steven Brigham became Harrah's new partner, and they owned a string of abortion mills in the Northeast.
But he became one of the many pro-abortionists who turned their backs on evil and embraced the Truth.
Harrah made a press statement that read "On Saturday, November 1, 1997, I made a deeply personal choice to commit my life to Jesus Christ and to take a new direction in my life. I have resigned my position as director of State College Medical Services, effective immediately. ..."
Eric says the clinics he ran were responsible for thousands — perhaps hundreds of thousands — of abortions, but he's not going to spend his days wallowing in guilt. He believes he's been forgiven, if not by all his former enemies, then by God.
Eric was baptized on April 26, 1998. It was his 30th birthday, nearly six months after his conversion. There was no mention of abortion or homosexuality, of clinics or cross-dressing. Just before he was baptized, he said "I have to say, my worst day as a Christian is still better than my best day when I wasn't saved by Jesus Christ. And I want everyone to know that God is good."
Reference: Jeff Hooten. "Only God Could Stop This Man." Citizen Magazine [Focus on the Family], August 1998.
Wilkes-Barre
Third-Degree Murder with Mental Illness and Voluntary Manslaughter
On January 1, 2003, Matthew Bullock strangled his girlfriend to death. She was six months pregnant and he did not want his baby. So he decided to abort both her and her preborn child. He then tied up her body and hid her in a closet. The killing occurred after the two attended New Year's Eve parties, ingesting cocaine and alcohol.
Five days after Hargrave was killed, Bullock walked into Wilkes-Barre police headquarters and said he was "turning himself in for just killing his girlfriend." Police responded to Hargrave's Sheridan Manor apartment, where they found the victim's body on a closet floor, bound with duct tape. Bullock told police he strangled Hargrave after they got home from a party, where they had ingested cocaine and consumed alcohol. Strangely, he said he was angry with her because she continued to take drugs even though she was six months pregnant.
Bullock confessed to police that when he woke from a blackout on the couple's bedroom floor, his hands were around Hargrave's neck and her eyes were half open. He went into the kitchen, but heard Hargrave yelling and returned a short time later and taped her hands and ankles. He said Hargrave continued to yell, so he returned a third time and taped her mouth. Bullock said she was breathing heavily through her nose and trying to move around, so he strangled her until she stopped breathing and dragged her body to the closet.
Wilkes-Barre police Officer Alan Gribble and detectives Robert Zavada and Captain Jerry Dessoye testified Monday that Bullock showed no signs of intoxication or mental illness when he went to the police station with his father on January 6 and confessed to the murder. Dessoye noted that Bullock was articulate and well spoken and had no problems with dexterity during his confession.
Bullock was charged with two counts of capital murder.
Bullock's lawyers tried to argue that he suffered from severe mental illnesses. They said that his drug abuse, past sexual abuse and failure to properly medicate himself triggered him to hear voices and hallucinate when he killed Hargrave, and that he only stopped strangling her when the voices stopped.
Luzerne County District Attorney Dave Lupas sought the death penalty in the case on the grounds that Bullock knew Hargrave was pregnant at the time of the murder.
Judge Joseph Augello refused defense requests to dismiss the capital murder charges. He also denied defense counsel's challenges that the state's Unborn Child Act and capital punishment sentencing scheme are unconstitutional. Pennsylvania is one of 27 states that have fetal homicide laws. The Bullock case marks the first time such a charge has been filed in Luzerne County.
Knowledge of a victim's pregnancy only recently became one of 18 aggravating circumstances Pennsylvania district attorneys may use as grounds to seek capital punishment.
On October 29, 2003, a jury found Bullock guilty of third-degree murder with mental illness and manslaughter.
In November 2004, a judge ordered Bullock to serve 20 to 60 years in a secure mental health facility.
References: Lisa Napersky. "Jury Selection Begins Tuesday in Bullock Homicide Trial." The Citizen's Voice, September 23, 2003; Jon Meyer. "Murder Trial Begins in Wilkes Barre." WNEP-16 Television [Tamaqua], October 20, 2003; Lisa Napersky. "Defense Witness Outlines Bullock's Mental Health History." The Citizens' Voice, October 24, 2003; David Weiss. "Testimony in Bullock Case Ends: Wilkes-Barre Man Charged with Murdering Lisa Hargrave and Her Fetus May Learn Decision Today." Times Leader [Northeastern Pennsylvania], October 28, 2003; "Verdict in Bullock Murder Trial." Channel 28 News, October 30, 2003; "Man Sentenced to Mental Facility in Death of Pregnant Girlfriend." KTRK-13 Television News [Houston, Texas], November 18, 2004.
York
First-Degree Murder (2 counts)
Damien Michael Schlager was committing adultery with Christina Joyce Colon, and she was five months pregnant with his child. He was growing desperate and did not want his wife to find out about his philandering, so, on July 21, 2004, he shot Christina once in the back of the head, execution style, and dumped her near the Funkhouser Quarry in Peach Bottom Township, where her severely decomposed body was found eight days later.
Lancaster police questioned Schlager and one of his friends, Larry Harcum, who told them that Schlager had confessed to him that he had murdered Christina. The police then put a listening device on Harcum, who had a conversation with Schlager, who admitted again that he had killed Christina, and revealed where her body was hidden. Police searched the indicated area and found a body, which was identified as Christina's by tatoos and dental records.
On December 13, 2005, a jury found Schlager guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison.
References: Rick Lee. "Jury Selection Continues: Two Out of 14 Jurors have Been Chosen in Damien Michael Schlager's Double Murder Trial." The York Daily Record, December 6, 2005; Rick Lee. "Prosecution Focuses on Fetus: Prenatal Records and Baby Items were Used to Try to Establish Victim's Pregnancy." The York Daily Record, December 10, 2005; Rick Lee. "Man Guilty of 2 Killings: Damien Schlager Could Get the Death Penalty for Murdering a Pregnant Woman." The York Daily Record, December 16, 2005.
Assault
On May 3, 2000, there were a number of pro-lifers peacefully protesting on the sidewalk outside the Planned Parenthood abortion mill on South Beaver Street in York, Pennsylvania.
In front of three witnesses, including a newspaper reporter, ex-policeman Michael Perelman, head of security at the abortion mill, hit 53-year-old Linda Cochran over the head with a large wooden sign.
In the May 4, 2000, York Daily Record, Tom Joyce reported what he had seen: "Perelman twisted, as though trying to wrench the sign from her grasp, and struck her with it. Cochran then hit Perelman on the shoulder with her open hand, and the two resumed their tug of war.
Perelman finally wrested the sign out of Cochran's hands, took it inside the clinic, and police then came and confiscated the sign, saying that it was "abandoned."
References: "Perelman Seen Assaulting Demonstrator With Sign." Defend Life [publication of the Mater Dei Chapter of Catholics United for the Faith (CUF)], May-June 2000, pages 3 and 12; York Daily Record, May 4, 2000.
Theft and Violation of Civil Rights
In October 2002, Full Quiver Mission joined Pastor Jim Grove of Heritage Baptist Church of Loganville and 20 members of his congregation to participate in the York, Pennsylvania Halloween Parade. This year, the pro-life marchers brought large photographs of aborted preborn babies.
Suddenly, after walking the parade route for ten blocks, a police officer angrily ordered the pro-lifers to "Get out of the road!" The pro-lifers tried to talk to her, but were threatened with arrest if they did not get out of the parade and off the road.
So the pro-lifers obeyed and began to walk on the sidewalks with the posters held high over their heads. Suddenly, police officers approached and tore the signs out of the hands of the marchers. One officer grabbed 19-year-old Aaron Murch from behind while another snatched the sign from his hands. Some local homosexuals began to cheer the police. The pro-lifers approached the sergeant and a couple of the other officers demanding an explanation for why the signs were being seized, but they refused to answer and loaded the signs into the trunk of a police cruiser. They wrote no tickets and made no arrests, but simply stole the signs. The police did not even bother to tell the pro-lifers where they could retrieve their signs.
After this incident, of course, the police fabricated a number of charges against Rev. Grove, including disorderly conduct, but he was acquited of all charges.
Donald Hoyt, the assistant city solicitor who asked Grove to remove the pictures from the 2003 parade, said they were "not in good taste" and could trigger a potentially violent reaction from the crowd, as happened last year.
And so, the City of York did not bother to protect free-speech rights; it simply banned speech deemed offensive. You can bet the City of York would place no restrictions whatsoever on a typical obscene "gay rights" parade.
Pastor Grove sued the city in 2002 in Federal court, saying officials had denied him his civil rights. He promised to amend the complaint to make note of the city's actions over the 2003 weekend.
These heavy-handed offenses against the First Amendment brought the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) into the fray. Paula Knudsen, the ACLU's staff attorney for central and Northern Pennsylvania, said "It's unbelievable. ... Although the content is graphic and unpleasant, the government is not to be engaging in deciding which speech should be protected. ... The solicitor can't be making these kinds of decisions. It's paternalistic. The people know what speech to pay attention to and what not to pay attention to. It's not his job to tell people what is or is not acceptable." She said that Hoyt was clearly out of line in forbidding Rev. Grove and his group from displaying large photographs of bloodied fetuses and other dead bodies while marching in the Halloween Parade. She also said that the city's actions are especially troubling because Grove followed the city's protocol by getting a permit. She continued by saying that the Rev. Grove experienced content-based discrimination, and that he was singled out. The parade was a public forum allowing for expressive speech, she said. Costumes and gestures should not be subject to restrictions, just as signs should not be, she said.
Pastor Grove said Halloween is the perfect time of year to talk about "the horrors of abortion" because it is a "satanic worship" holiday. He also said he thought there were other parade participants who were just as offensive, if not worse.
"There was a head floating in a cauldron," he said, adding that his group took a video of that display.
York City Police Stealing
Signs from Pro-Life Marchers.
References: "South Carolina Show the Truth Tour." Downloaded from the Web site of the Full Quiver Mission at http://www.fullquivermission.com/York_PA.htm on October 30, 2002; "Anti-Abortion Minister with Permit Barred from Parade." NEPA News [Northeastern Pennsylvania], October 27, 2003; Shawn Ledington. "ACLU: Pastor Had Right to be in Parade." York Daily Record, October 28, 2003.
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