Allen Palmer, who ran an abortion business in St. Louis, Missouri and also did abortions in Illinois, is reportedly retiring after a long history of doing abortions in the Midwestern states.
Mary Maschmeier, the director of the St. Charles, Missouri-based Defenders of the Unborn, informed LifeNews.com of the news.
“It has come to our attention that Allen Palmer of Women’s Care in Bridgeton has put down his suction machine and is retiring,” she said. “Allen Palmer has killed children for more than 40 years. He leaves a legacy of baby killing in Missouri as well as in Illinois. We pray that Mr. Palmer will find peace in his remaining years and use this time to support and defend life.”
Maschmeier says local pro-life advocates have plans to put together a prayer vigil outside the Women’s Care abortion center Palmer ran on McKelvey Rd. There is no information at this time as to whether the abortion business will close or if Palmer will find someone else to do abortions at his facility.
Palmer was no stranger to controversy or problems at his abortion center and, in June 2008, he was hit with what was his second lawsuit for allegedly botching an abortion at the Hope Clinic for Women, located in the Illinois side of border of St. Louis in Granite City. In the case, a young woman says the abortion center failed to do a complete abortion and left part of her unborn child inside of her — causing her infertility.
Antoinette Blanton filed a $50,000 suit against the abortion center saying the failed March 2006 abortion caused her to be sterile. According to the lawsuit, Palmer failed to remove the entire unborn child during the abortion procedure.
In April, 2008, Hope became the subject of a lawsuit from a woman who accused it of doing an abortion on her without her consent.
Brandy Hildreth of Granite City sued for having a different abortion practitioner do the abortion. She was treated by Palmer but Chicago-area abortion practitioner Lisa Memmel eventually did the abortion without her knowledge.
“That the performance of the abortion upon Plaintiff by Respondent in Discovery was totally without consent; or, alternatively, was against the Plaintiff’s will; or, alternatively substantially varied from the specific consent granted by Plaintiff,” the complaint indicated. In the lawsuit, Hildreth sought $50,000 in damages from Memmel and the Hope abortion center plus attorney’s fees.
The status of these lawsuits is unknown.
Meanwhile, Missouri Right to Life legal counsel James Cole said Palmer would frequently target pro-life advocates. “Palmer has aggressively sued peaceful demonstrators who have carried signs in a parking lot near the building where he does abortions,” he said.
He also complained that mainstream media outlets frequently ignored his abortion business when reporting on the number of abortion facilities in the state.
“Why his abortion business is always ignored by the major news outlets mystifies me. Apparently he does not seek the limelight, but even so, reporters appear to be professionally incompetent when they ignore him,” he said.
Palmer also did abortions for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and St. Louis.
