Maryland Board Will Not Allow Abortionist to Surrender License to Avoid Discipline

Nicola Riley’s Legal Woes Compounded By Pro-Life Efforts
By Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor for Operation Rescue and Pro-Life Nation

Salt Lake City, Utah – The Maryland Board of Physicians has refused to allow abortionist Nicola Irene Riley to surrender her Maryland medical license “on several occasions” in order to avoid discipline for her part in Steven Chase Brigham’s illegal late-term abortion scheme, according to the liberal, pro-abortion blog, the Daily Kos.
In addition, Riley has published an essay about her legal woes that was a requirement of her Stipulation Agreement with the Utah Department of Professional Licensing (DOPL) that also banned her from doing abortions in Utah where she attempts to shift the blame for her problems.
“Surrendering her license would place Riley outside the disciplinary jurisdiction of the Maryland Board of Physicians. She is doing everything she can to avoid the well-deserved consequences of her actions,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue and Pro-Life Nation. “We support the Board’s decision to not allow Riley to surrender her license. This is an egregious case that requires stern discipline. It would be a miscarriage of justice to allow her to weasel out of taking responsibility for the harm she has caused. ”
Riley’s Maryland license was suspended in September, 2010, after she botched an abortion on a woman who was 22 weeks pregnant at a secret late-term abortion clinic in Elkton, Maryland. Brigham had started the patient’s abortion at his clinic in New Jersey, which is not licensed for abortions after 14 weeks. She was then led in a caravan by Brigham across state lines to the Elkton location where Riley perforated her uterus and injured her bowel during an abortion Riley failed to complete. The patient was transported in a private vehicle to a nearby hospital where Riley’s suspicious behavior delayed emergency care for the injured woman, who was later air-lifted into Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for emergency surgery that saved her life. Police later raided the Elkton clinic and discovered the bodies of 35 late-term babies stored in a freezer.
Riley and Brigham were charged in Maryland with the murder of viable babies, but charges were later dropped after a key expert witness changed his testimony that the babies had died in Maryland. The criminal investigation remains open and the possibility remains that murder charges could be refiled.
After the botched abortion incident became public, Operation Rescue dug deeper into Riley’s background and discovered that she had lied about her criminal conviction and incarceration while serving in the US Army in order to gain admittance to medical school and licensure in Utah, Wyoming, and Maryland. Operation Rescue then filed complaints in those states asking for Riley’s licenses to be revoked based on her dishonesty on her license applications, as well as a complaint in Virginia where Riley had an open license application.
As a result, Riley’s Wyoming license was surrendered in order to avoid revocation proceedings and her Utah license was restricted to ban her from doing abortions. She was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine in Utah after she admitted to the deception. Maryland filed additional charges against Riley for lying about her conviction to gain licensure in that state and Riley’s Virginia license application has been blocked.
Riley complained about this and more in her essay to the Utah licensing authority. She says that because of her actions in Maryland and dishonestly concerning her criminal background, she has:

Lost her certification from the American Board of Family Medicine

Been terminated from a job position

Lost privileges at two Utah hospitals

Been sued for malpractice

Lost her malpractice insurance

Lost many of her patients

“Riley is not the victim as she would have us believe. She brought all these problems on herself. No one made her commit identity theft and credit card fraud or lie about her criminal conviction. No one made her go to work for Steven Brigham, one of the nation’s most dangerous abortionists, knowing he was not licensed in the State of Maryland. No one made her botch that abortion or stonewall the police investigation. When we found out about her wrong-doing, we exposed it to the public and filed additional complaints so that others might be protected from her chronic abuses. We are unapologetic about that,” said Newman.
“We want this case to be an encouragement to pro-life supporters everywhere to research and document abortion abuses of their local abortion clinics and report them to the proper authorities. In reporting abortionists, we are performing a public service that will serve to protect women and save lives.”