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California Abortion Doc Convicted of Sexual Abuse Continues to Practice

Awaiting Disciplinary Hearing Three Years Later

By John-Henry Westen/Steve Jalsevac

PANORMA CITY, CA, November 1, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A California abortionist, who was convicted of two counts of sexual abuse against his female patients in 2002 is  still "negotiating" with the Osteopathic Medical Board of California over appropriate disciplinary action three years later.  Laurence Reich was reported as still in business despite his convictions by the LA Daily News (see article here: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_3165302 ), but the news organization failed to mention that Reich is an abortionist.

However, that key information comes from pro-life group Operation Rescue which has frequently picketed Reich, at his Medica Para La Mujer De Hoy abortion mill in Panorama City where he is still in operation.

Disciplinary hearings have again been postponed and one is now set for February, 2006. The delay is causing frustrations to Reich's prosecutor and victims, according to the Daily News report.

Reich only spent one day in jail for sexually assaulting two women at the abortion clinic in Panorama City. He was never fined, however, because Reich had filed for bankruptcy in 2000, and said he had no personal assets.  However, Operation Rescue asserts that Reich lived at a posh Beverly Hills estate with his wealthy wife at the time.

In 1982, Reich was convicted of sexual abuse on three of his patients. He was placed on a 10-year probation.

Operation Rescue protested Reich and warned women of his sex offender status in 2000. That year, he took over as Medical Director for the "Clinica Medica" abortion chain, replacing the notorious abortionist Nicholas Braemer, who lost his medical license after years of malpractice and negligence that led to a number of injured women.

Operation Rescue staff member Cheryl Sullenger spoke with representatives of the Osteopathy Medical Board that year to complain about sex-offender Reich. She was told that since Reich completed his probationary period, he was allowed to spend unsupervised time alone with female patients in procedure rooms.

"I told them that was absolutely outrageous and that they were placing women at risk for sexual assault by this reckless behavior with a known sex offender," said OR staff member Cheryl Sullenger. "I told them this would happen, but they wouldn't listen. In the meantime, women remain at risk while the Board haggles over 'appropriate discipline'. Common sense alone tells us he should be banned from the medical field."

Linda Bergman, Executive Director of the Osteopathy Medical Board told LifeSiteNews.com in an interview today the reason for the delay is that stipulations against Reich agreed upon by the lawyers involved in the case have so far been twice rejected by the Board members. The Board members felt both times, said Bergman, that "disciplinary action" in the stipulations "was not strong enough."

Bergman said stipulations are usually accepted by the Board, but the unusual two times rejection in this case has caused  the case to be to be placed back on the calendar now for a third time. This has caused the long lag in arriving at the final disciplinary action. Unfortunately, Reich has been allowed to continue to practice, said Bergman, because state law holds that "no action can be taken while hearings are pending." Especially given the substantial media attention the case has received, Bergman expects a final decision to be arrived at in the near future.

"Women have suffered needlessly because authorities have lacked - and continue to lack - the courage to act," said Sullenger. "This man is a sexual predator who has discovered that abortion mills are the perfect venue for him to continue to attack vulnerable women. The abortion mill where Reich works preys upon Hispanic women who are in the U.S. illegally. He knows that these women will be reticent to file complaints. The governmental bureaucracy cannot seem to function and continues to place women at risk. This is outrageous and intolerable."

Read Reich's 1982 Disciplinary Documents:
http://operationrescue.org/photos/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=2...

Osteopathic Medical Board of California
2720 Gateway Oaks Dr., Suite 350
Sacramento, CA 95833-3500
(916) 263-3100
http://www.docboard.org

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