ontact: Troy Newman, President, 316-841-1700; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor, 316-516-3034; both with
Operation Rescue,
info@operationrescue.org
FARGO, N.D., Nov. 17 /
Standard Newswire/ -- State's Attorney Birch Burdick has announced that he will not file criminal charges against an abortionist Lori Lynn Thorndike, who committed illegal abortions at the Red River Women's Clinic in Fargo, North Dakota, while her medical license was lapsed.
Brudick used abortion clinic rhetoric word for word by describing Thorndike's licensing issues as "an administrative oversight" and noted that she had active medical licenses in South Dakota and Colorado at the time she was doing abortions on a lapsed license in North Dakota.
"North Dakota laws are very explicit. It is a Class B Felony to commit abortions in that state without a valid North Dakota medical license. Burdick has decided all on his own that the laws of North Dakota that were enacted for the protection of vulnerable women should not be enforced," said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger.
Sullenger also received a letter today from the North Dakota Board of Medical Examiners Executive Secretary Duane Houdek, dated November 9, 2010, informing her, "At this point we are soliciting additional information regarding the complaint against Dr. Thorndike. All of this information will be forwarded to the members of one of the Board's investigative panels who will decide whether formal proceedings should be brought against this physician."
The letter went on to say that the matter would be discussed at a meeting of the Board scheduled for November 18, 2010. However, the day after the letter was written, the Board unilaterally decided to reinstate Thorndike's license without a hearing of the Board, and has since equivocated on whether or not the matter will be brought up at the referenced meetings.
"There is obviously some kind of monkey business at work in North Dakota. In this case, no one is saying that Thorndike did not break the law. They simply refuse to enforce the laws that were broken," said Sullenger.
"When authorities give abortion abuses a wink and a nod, it only serves to reinforce the dangerous notion that is prevalent among abortionists that they are above the law," said Sullenger. "Allowing abortionists to break the law without consequences creates an atmosphere that opens the door to further abuses that eventually cost women their health and sometimes their lives. Burdick and Houdek will have a lot to answer for when - not if - their lack of good judgment comes back to haunt the women of North Dakota."
Background
About Operation Rescue®
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation and has become a strong voice for the pro-life movement in America. Operation Rescue is now headquartered in a former abortion clinic that it bought and closed in 2006. From there, Operation Rescue launches its innovative new strategies across the nation, exposing and closing abortion clinics through peaceful, legal means. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to stop abortion and ultimately restore legal personhood to the pre-born in obedience to biblical mandates.
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