A notorious abortion practitioner who infamously stored the bodies of more than 30 aborted babies in his freezer as keepsakes has lost his medical license following a lengthy New Jersey medical board hearing yesterday. After Kermit Gosnell, he’s been called the “worst abortionist in America.”
Brigham has been accused of practicing medicine without a license in Maryland during a bi-state late-term abortion scheme he ran to avoid abortion limits in his home state of New Jersey. His nefarious practices were discovered in 2010 when he and his associate, abortionist Nicola Riley, severely botched a late-term abortion on an 18-year old patient, rupturing her uterus and pulling out part of her bowel. The majority of the baby’s body was thrust into the patient’s abdominal cavity. Brigham drove the injured patient to a nearby hospital emergency room, where his suspicious behavior prompted hospital staff to call the police.
The patient was air-lifted to a Baltimore hospital where emergency surgery was required to save her life.
Police raided Brigham’s clandestine Elkton, Maryland, abortion facility and discovered the remains of over 30 late-term babies stored in a bloody freezer. (See file photo below right of aborted babies Kermit Gosnell stored in a freezer).
In December, 2010, Brigham and Riley were arrested and charged with murder in the deaths of 11 babies who were killed during illegal abortions. Those charges were later dropped after an expert witness for the prosecution withdrew from the case.
“After a hearing that lasted approximately nine hours, the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners unanimously agreed to revoke the license of Steven C. Brigham,” Marie Tasy of New Jersey Right to Life told LifeNews.
Tasy attended the hearing and has attended several other hearings over the years involving Brigham and she said Brigham tried to blame his misfortunes on pro-lifers who he referred to as the “forces of hate.”
“The New Jersey Attorney General pointed out that this tactic was nothing more than his attempt to deflect attention away from his own misconduct and dishonesty,” Tasy said. “It has been reported in earlier press accounts that Brigham would no longer be allowed to operate clinics if his license is revoked under New Jersey law. We certainly hope that is the case, but given Brigham’s penchant for flouting the law, it is a situation that will have to be monitored closely.”
Other leading pro-life activists had hoped the medical board would revoke his license.
“Given this man’s horrific track record, anything less than revocation is unthinkable, and would only continue to put the lives of women in jeopardy,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue.
Here’s more on what happened:
Finding several counts of gross negligence, deception and official misconduct against him, the state Board of Medical Examiners also ordered Brigham to pay $140,000 in penalties. At a future hearing, the board will decide how much of the state’s court costs he will be ordered to pay; the tab is expected to exceed $500,000.The board suspended Brigham’s license in 2010 after the Attorney General’s Office argued he used the two-state process to evade New Jersey’s requirement that terminating pregnancies must take place in a hospital or licensed health care facility after 14 weeks. Brigham did not have hospital privileges at the time and is not an obstetrician or a gynecologist.
Writing at LifeNews, Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue provided more background on Brigham:
Brigham has battled legal issues throughout his entire career, having had his licenses revoked in New York and Florida. He surrendered this Pennsylvania license under pressure and was ordered to never hold ownership of an abortion facility in that state again – an order he violated last year by opening an abortion facility in Philadelphia, which was soon closed by the state after pro-life activists complained.
Brigham’s abortion facilities in Maryland were also closed by the state after dangerous practices were repeatedly found, including a patient death at one of his offices he ran out of a residential condominium complex.
Despite the orders, Brigham continues to troll for abortion customers in those states. The phones for his defunct clinics still ring into his American Women’s Services central appointment line.
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According to New Jersey law, unlicensed practitioners are not allowed to hold ownership in medical facilities in that state, so if Brigham’s license is finally revoked, he should be ordered to shut down his eight abortion offices in New Jersey.
It is believed that Brigham currently operates 17 abortion facilities in at least four states. Because he has been run out of one state after another, he has taken to the practice of attempting to conceal his ownership of abortion centers, five of which are so far under the radar that their whereabouts are currently unknown.
Whatever the New Jersey Board decides, it is not expected to affect the remaining abortion facilities he continues to own in Virginia, Delaware, and Florida.
“Steven Brigham is the kind of man that is not affected by traditional discipline. We strongly believe that jailing him is the only way to stop him from operating illegally and secretly, as he has done his entire career,” said Newman. “However, license revocation will ensure that he cannot ever practice again, and if he does, his old jail cell awaits him.”
