Abortion Empire Collapses as Abortionist Pleads Guilty to 9 Felonies

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Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-841-1700; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor, 316-516-3034; both with Operation Rescue, info@operationrescue.org

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 8 /Christian Newswire/ -- In a surprise appearance, abortionist Bertha Pinedo Bugarin, 48, walked into a San Diego County courtroom on Thursday, December 4, 2008, and pled guilty to nine felony counts of committing abortions without a medical license. Just three days earlier, Bugarin plead no contest to seven comparable felonies in Los Angeles.

Her entire abortion empire has collapsed and every abortion mill in her infamous Clinica Medica Para La Mujer abortion chain has permanently closed.

Bugarin now faces up to nine years in jail for her convictions in San Diego County, and up to ten more years for her Los Angeles case. She is scheduled for sentencing in Los Angeles on January 20, and in San Diego on February 6, 2009.

San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis stated, "This criminal preyed on women in the Hispanic community and has now been held accountable. By passing herself off as a doctor, she put these women's lives in serious danger."

Bugarin once owned a chain of 11 abortion mills, staffed by abortionists who, one by one, lost their licenses or left due to offences ranging from medical negligence to Medi-Cal fraud. One of Bugarin's abortionists, Laurence Reich, was stripped of his license after being convicted a second time for sex crimes. Reich was arrested earlier this year for continuing to do abortions at Bugarin's clinics without a license. He faces his own trial sometime next year.

Operation Rescue began to focus on Bugarin's clinics in 1999, documenting and exposing the dangerous nature of the abortion chain to the public. Within a year, several of Bugarin's abortionists, including co-owner Nicholas Braemer, lost their medical licenses.

Operation Rescue continued over the years to expose and report wrong-doing by Bugarin and her abortionists, and brought public pressure to bear.

Today, eviction and utility shut-off notices are posted on Bugarin's former abortion offices. Only one, the Santa Ana location, has been reopened under a new owner and continues to operate under another name.

"This is a huge victory for the pro-life movement, and a prime example of how we can use the laws that are on the books to close abortion mills forever," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "Bugarin acted as if she was above the law, as so many abortionists do. The prosecutors did not agree, and now Bugarin should remain behind bars for many years. Thank God!"

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Background

Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.