By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
A chain of 11 abortuaries targeting mostly Hispanic women in southern California was forced to close after their owner pled guilty to performing abortions without a medical license.
Bertha Pinedo Bugarin, 48, pled guilty to nine felony counts in a San Diego county courtroom on Dec. 4 which resulted in the permanent closing of the Clinica Medica Para La Mujer abortion chain.
Bugarin admitted to putting women’s lives in jeopardy by performing abortions in spite of the fact that she is not a licensed physician. Just three days earlier she pled guilty to seven comparable felonies in Los Angeles county.
She could be jailed for up to 19 years if sentenced fully on all counts.
San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis commented after the hearing that “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.”
The pro-life group Operation Rescue (OR), which has been following the Bugarin case, told LifeNews.com that all of Bugarin’s abortion clinics have now been shuttered. OR president Troy Newman says that eviction and utility shut-off notices have been 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,” Newman said.
“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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