The House Select Panel on Infant Lives turned its focus from the fetal harvesting industry to the practices of a late-term abortionist in Maryland, who has allegedly sent five women to the hospital since December.
LeRoy Carhart’s abortion clinic is one of few places in the country where women can get an abortion after the six-month mark of their pregnancy. A list of services on Carhart’s clinic website notes the center offers surgical abortions for “26+” weeks, including a method that induces the pregnancy. (RELATED: Utah Forces Doctors To Give Fetus Painkillers Before Late-Term Abortions)
The panel is investigating allegations Carhart illegally performs partial-birth abortions and possibly ends the lives of babies that survive botched abortion attempts. The panel cited public reports that at least five women ended up in the hospital after visiting his clinic as reason for the investigation.
“Reports regarding the Germantown clinic are deeply troubling, both for the sake of babies whose lives are ended so close to—and possibly even after—birth and for the sake of the women who have been rushed from that clinic to the hospital with increasing frequency,” Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who chairs the panel, said in a statement Wednesday.
The panel demanded a wealth of accounting and business documents from Carhart and his clinic, such as details on his work schedule and payments for abortions, and what the clinic policy is toward botched abortions or treatment of babies born alive. The other subpoenas demanded available information about Carhart’s practices, such as patient information from hospitals and details from first responders.
The panel subpoenaed Carhart’s clinic and nine other entities, including nearby hospitals and first responders, as well as police departments and the Maryland Board of Physicians. Blackburn notes in the statement the panel’s jurisdiction includes a review of the practices of late-term abortionists and the care of babies born alive after attempted abortions.
Carhart’s clinic offers so-called “D&E” abortions and “induction” abortions in later term procedures. In the first method, the abortionist artificially dilates the woman’s cervix, then simply reaches into the womb with a metal forceps and pulls the fetus out piece by piece. Lastly, the abortionist vacuums or scrapes out any leftover flesh and blood to make sure no remains cause an infection in the woman.
For the induction method, the abortionist gives the woman drugs to induce actual labor. In many cases, to avoid an illegal partial-birth abortion, the abortionist injects a feticide into the womb to ensure the unborn child is dead when the mother gives birth.
The media contact for Carhart’s clinic is out of the office until tomorrow and unavailable for comment, The Daily Caller News Foundation was told.
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