Anti-abortion protestors on Thursday called for a Houston clinic under local and state investigation to be shut down, claiming it performs gruesome late-term abortions similar to those done by a Philadelphia doctor sentenced last month to life in prison.
The group of 15 to 20 protestors, who included three speakers from out of town, gathered near the entrance to Texas Ambulatory Surgical Center, 2502 N. Shepherd.
They called for it to be closed while it is under investigation following allegations by former workers that the facility performs illegal late-term abortions.No official has presented any proof that the clinic or staff members have done anything wrong. The Texas Medical Board also recently looked into complaints made by an anti-abortion group and found no evidence that the clinic's operator, Dr. Douglas Karpen, had violated any standards of medical practice.
Karpen's attorney, Chip Lewis, said Thursday's demonstration was a "pathetic political ploy" by those pandering to the emotional reaction to Dr. Kermit Gosnell's recent trial in Philadelphia.
Last month, Gosnell was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murder in botched abortions. During the trial, prosecutors said Gosnell snipped the necks of babies born alive.
Karpen's practice in no way resembles what Gosnell was doing, Lewis said.
"There is absolutely no truth to any allegation that Dr. Karpen has violated any law or committed any crime whatsoever," Lewis said. "He never performed any abortion outside the law."
On the contrary, Lewis said, Karpen has a long history of cooperating with law enforcement on various cases that have come before him.
In this situation, Karpen has opened all his records to the Houston Police Department and the Harris County District Attorney's Office, Lewis said.
"We will continue to do that as Dr. Karpen has absolutely nothing to hide," he said.
A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services said Thursday there is an open investigation of the facility.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office is cooperating with an investigation by the Houston Police Department, said DA's Office spokeswoman Sara Marie Kinney.
When the investigations are complete, Lewis said, they will confirm Karpen's innocence.
"And when they have done so, we will take the appropriate legal action to redress the malicious and false allegations made by these and other political opportunists," he said.
During the morning protest, there were five uniformed Houston police officers and at least as many police vehicles. The event was peaceful, drew no counter protesters, and nobody carried placards or graphic photographs.
Day Gardner, president of the National Black Pro-Life Union, flew in Thursday morning from Washington, D.C., saying she thought it important to be there.
Gardner and other speakers said the North Shepherd clinic, one of two operated by Dr. Karpen, performs late-term abortions similar to those done by Dr. Gosnell in Philadelphia.
"Kermit Gosnell is not an anomaly," Gardner said at the Houston protest. "Planned Parenthood and others who support abortion tried to make it seem like it was. ... Believe me when I say that abortionists across America are continuing where Gosnell left off."
According to reports from some of Karpen's former workers, sometimes the doctor would kill babies born alive by twisting their heads off their necks, Gardner said.
A woman at the clinic said Thursday, "We have absolutely no comment."
Pastor Stephen E. Broden of Dallas, spokesman for the Black Pro-Life Coalition, said abortion clinics tend to be in black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
"It is clear that the abortion industry and Planned Parenthood are targeting the black and Hispanic community," Broden said. "They have convinced women in our communities that (the answer) is to kill babies. This must stop."
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