Germantown, MD – In the wake of a third trimester abortion death by LeRoy Carhart last week, the Maryland Attorney General’s office has notified the Maryland Coalition for Life and Operation Rescue that is has Carhart and Germantown Reproductive Health Services (GRHS) under an active criminal investigation for illegal dumping, based on complaints made by both groups last year.
This investigation is separate to ongoing investigations into the abortion-related death of Jennifer Morbelli on February 7, 2013, that are currently underway by the State Medical Examiner, the Montgomery Police Department, and the state’s Office of Health Care Quality.
Yesterday morning, David Williams of the Maryland Attorney General’s Environmental Crimes Unit contacted Janet Kotowski, Manager of Germantown Pregnancy Choices, to notify her that an investigation was underway. Kotowski wrote a letter last November asking the agency to look into illegal dumping of biohazardous waste and private patient information at Germantown Reproductive Health Center in follow up to a complaint filed by Operation Rescue in July, 2012.
Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue also spoke with Williams yesterday and has agreed to turn over unedited video-taped evidence of the illegal dumping documented last year to aid in his investigation.
“This is a very serious criminal investigation,” Williams told Sullenger.
In July, 2012, Operation Rescue filed a formal complaint with the Environmental Crimes Unit and released edited video and photographic evidence that showed GRHS and Carhart engaged in the illegal dumping on a routine basis. Evidence included:
1. Documents containing private patient information concerning birth control prescriptions and abortion procedures, as well as copies of patient driver’s licenses.
2. Bloody refuse blood clots and possible human fetal remains.
3. Drug control violations.
“For years we have documented Carhart’s abortion abuses. This time we pray authorities will quickly act before he has the opportunity to kill again,” said Sullenger.
Other incidents documented by Operation Rescue include the 2005 third-trimester abortion death of Christin Gilbert in Kansas, unsafe abortion practices reported by former Carhart employees in Nebraska, and the falsifying of information to gain licensure in Maryland.
Sullenger continued, “The tragic death of Mrs. Morbelli from a botched 33-week abortion may be the catalyst that will finally bring Carhart to justice. It’s too bad that a woman had to die before authorities would sit up and take notice.”
