Dr. James Pendergraft (center), his bodyguard and attorney enter the Golden-Collum Memorial Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in 2001, in Ocala, Fla. (AP Images/ Ocala Star-Banner, Bruce Ackerman) |
Flip Benham of Operation Save America
describes the civil lawsuit verdict against James Pendergraft.
A Florida abortionist who frequently has run afoul of the law, James Scott
Pendergraft, was in court last month facing damaging testimony in the case of
a baby born alive after a botched abortion.
A few years ago, I began to
chronicle the numerous criminal activities and botched abortions that surround
James Pendergraft’s chain of Florida abortion centers. Pendergraft is featured
in the new DVD, The Abortion Matrix, and more prominently in abortion clinic 911
Calls.
In
2007, pro-life evangelist Patte Smith and I put together a series of videos
about Pendergraft. According to Smith, “Viable infants have been being killed by
labor and delivery abortion each week at James Pendergraft’s abortion centers
since 1996. Some of the babies have been born alive.”
In
the clip below from abortion clinic 911 Calls, Smith describes the type of labor and
delivery abortion that often results in second and third trimester babies being
born alive and left to die. Here the case that resulted in this lawsuit, is
described.
Plaintiff
is awarded $36.7 million from notorious Florida abortionist
On November
15, 2001, a 20-year-old single mother drove her car to Orlando Women’s Center to
abort her baby at 22.3 weeks gestation (a little more than halfway to her due
date). If all went according to plan, her infant would be stillborn. She paid
$1,300 cash to have her infant killed, but all did not go according to plan.
The
young mother was induced into labor at Orlando Women’s Center that day. She
remained at the abortion center from 1:30 p.m. until well past midnight. At 1:30 a.m. she left in anger and went to a nearby hospital, where her baby girl was
born alive with severe problems due to her early induced birth. Abortionist
Randall Whitney and James Pendergraft, owner of Orlando Women’s Center, were
later sued for damages to cover this little girl’s life-long care.
The
civil lawsuit case concluded on July 22. On July 21, all
the jurors pronounced abortionist James Pendergraft “guilty” with the exception
of the last juror who exclaimed, “Absolutely guilty!” The plaintiff was awarded
over $18 million to be paid into a trust that will be used for medical
care for her daughter, while a smaller portion went to a fine. The next day, the
punitive damages against abortionist James Pendergraft brought the total to
$36.7 million.
This case has taken many years to come to trial. In the
years since Pendergraft arrived in Florida, he has been incarcerated in federal
prison for extortion and perjury and has had his license to practice medicine
suspended four times by the Florida Department of Health. His chain of five
abortion clinics in the state of Florida remains open. We pray that we may be
seeing the beginning of the end of James Pendergraft’s reckless trail of
terror.
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Cheri Fuller and Cindy Lamb Curry 
Marilyn Hickey 
Charisma Staff 
