Michigan Asked to Reveal Why Abortionist Evaded Illegal Dumping Charges
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 24, 2010
Lathrup Village, MI (LifeNews.com) — Why did Michigan-based abortion practitioner Alberto Hodari essentially avoid being held accountable for illegally dumping patient records and biohazard waste? That’s what the Thomas More Society, a pro-life legal group, wants to know and it has filed a lawsuit to learn more.
In 2008, members of a local pro-life group found the illegal dumping at a couple of the abortion businesses Hodari owns and operates in the Detroit area.
Monica Miller of the Citizens for a Pro-Life Society found the patient records, medical waste and bodies of unborn children in the dumpster.
The incident caused a national controversy when Womancare received only a slap on the wrist from Michigan environmental officials for violating illegal dumping laws.
Hodari didn’t receive a fine from the state nor was he prosecuted on any charges. He did eventually receive probation from a local judge on local charges in the case.
Hodari pled no contest to twelve counts from the Oakland County prosecutor’s office of violating Michigan law requiring the proper filing and disposal of patient records, even though records were found concerning hundreds of abortion patients.
Now, in a Monday filing, Thomas More Society attorneys filed suit to compel disclosure of public records that indicate why Hodari was not disciplined further. Robert Fleming, local counsel for the Chicago-based pro-life legal group filed the lawsuit on behalf of Miller and CPLS in Ingram County Circuit Court.
Miller filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to learn the results of an investigation of Hodari and his abortion center, the Women Care Clinic in Lathrup Village, Michigan. The FOIA request was denied earlier this year when they were told only that there was insufficient evidence to "substantiate" their charges, without any explanation as to why or how their evidence was deemed deficient.
"The Freedom of Information Act is meant to foster transparency and openness in government, and this pro-life group and its leader, who uncovered Dr. Hodari’s despicable actions, have been left completely in the dark," said Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society.
He told LifeNews.com: "The public has a right to know the details as to Dr. Hodari’s grievous and gruesome aberration from professional medical norms and simple human decencies."
TMS contends the cited reason for Miller’s FOIA denial, "an unwarranted invasion of the individual’s privacy," is moot, as the medical and financial records found behind the Women Care Clinic were already publicly disclosed and a gross violation of the patients’ rights and expectations of privacy.
The Society also asks the court to review the withheld records in chambers to redact or edit out any personal identification or embarrassing details.
Miller told LifeNews.com last year after the hearing on the local charges that she was disappointed Hodari continues to receive little in the way of punishment for his actions.
"This court decision is disappointing. Hodari violated the rights of literally hundreds of his patients in total disregard for proper medical practice," she said. "This is just another slap on the hand in a sad and sorry case that has involved the improper disposal of bio-hazard waste and even the dumping of the remains of aborted babies in the trash."
"The law should have come down hard on Hodari — but instead he will likely just walk away from this whole debacle," Miller added.
"It is a travesty of justice. The people of Michigan have not been served — much less the women he violated and the aborted babies he threw away in the trash," she concluded.
After the incident at Womancare, Miller’s group found more biohazard waste and patient records at the Women’s Advisory abortion business in Livonia. Miller told LifeNews.com her organization found the remains of six aborted babies 16 to 20 weeks gestational age.
Related web sites:
Citizens for a Pro-Life Society – https://www.prolifesociety.org
Thomas More Society –
https://www.thomasmoresociety.org
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