By Sarah Neely

Orlando, FL – Despite the Florida Department of Health (DOH) requesting a revocation of her license by the state medical board, abortionist Candace Cooley recently walked away with only a $10,000 fine and a few hours of continuing education after ignoring Florida’s 24-hour waiting period for 193 separate abortions in 2022. 

This is not the first time Cooley has been in trouble with the Florida Board of Medicine. Currently employed at the Center of Orlando for Women abortion facility, Cooley previously worked at the now defunct American Family Planning abortion clinic in Pensacola, part of Steven Chase Brigham’s notoriously dangerous abortion chain, American Women’s Services.

Around the same time Operation Rescue confirmed Cooley was working for Brigham, she was arrested in March 2017 for “driving under the influence.” A few months later, the DOH filed an Administrative Complaint stating Cooley was “unable to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to patients” due to alcohol abuse. 

According to records from the New York Department of Health, Cooley was convicted of a second DUI in Florida around May 2018. The 2017 and 2018 convictions resulted in revocation of her New York medical license. Back in Florida, a final order came down in 2019 restricting Cooley’s license and fining her $6,497. 

At that time, it appears Cooley was still working for Brigham. However, sometime in 2019, Cooley also began performing abortions at the Center of Orlando for Women. In May 2022 – the same month that Cooley was ignoring state law at her new Orlando clinic – Brigham’s Pensacola clinic was ordered to shut down overnight after severely injuring three women. The clinic never reopened.

“While it is unclear whether Cooley was still involved with American Family Planning at that point,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, “any association with Stephen Brigham should be a glaring red flag for any medical board reviewing a medical license, especially when that same ‘doctor’ is found breaking the law at another abortion clinic.”

Moreover, Operation Rescue recently discovered that Cooley is still abusing alcohol – something the Florida Board of Medicine, overseen by the Florida Department of Health, may not have even been aware of during the recent investigation into her medical license. 

According to records obtained from the Colorado Medical Board, Cooley was arrested in the state for yet another drunk driving charge in October 2023, to which she pled guilty in May 2024. Shortly after the conviction, the Colorado Medical Board placed her medical license on probation for five years. The terms of the probation include total abstinence from alcohol or any other “habit-forming or controlled substance,” required treatment from the Colorado Physician Health Program, and tissue or urine tests whenever requested. 

“Even though she was already under investigation in Florida, Cooley still couldn’t control her dangerous and destructive behavior,” said Newman. “Alcohol and drug abuse is rampant among abortionists – likely because they spend their days killing children. Cooley is clearly unstable, and three state medical boards have already recognized that makes her unsafe. Florida and Colorado should follow New York’s lead and completely revoke her license.”

Operation Rescue is taking steps to ensure Florida officials are aware of Cooley’s most recent arrest which, according to Florida law, is grounds for disciplinary action.

“We continue the call for state medical boards to cease treating abortionists like a privileged class of doctors who deserve special protection,” added Newman. “Instead, Cooley and others like her should be held accountable for their unconscionable behaviors by the state agencies set in place to protect citizens – not the abortion industry.”

This report may be republished with inclusion of the following acknowledgement: “This article was originally published by Operation Rescue, a leading pro-life, Christian activist organization dedicated to exposing abortion abuses, demanding enforcement, saving innocent lives, and building an abortion-free America. The author, Sarah Neely, is Project Coordinator for Operation Rescue.”