SOUTH BEND, Indiana, December 2, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – An abortionist who didn't report rapes of minors to state officials won't serve jail time, a state prosecutor has decided.
In 2014, Dr. Ulrich Klopfer was charged with Failure to Timely File a Public Report after a 13-year-old got an abortion at his clinic. Klopfer held on to the information about the girl for months, in violation of a state law requiring potential sexual abuse of minors to be reported to officials within three days.
Klopfer's actions were prosecuted as a Class B misdemeanor, which can lead to a $1,000 fine and up to 180 days in jail. However, prosecutor Ken Cotter and Klopfer worked out a “pretrial diversion agreement” that allowed Klopfer to avoid jail time if he was crime-free for a year, paid court fees and a fine, and served 24 hours of community service.
Pro-life advocates say that Klopfer didn't stay crime-free and that he should prosecuted for crimes allegedly committed since beginning the one-year period on November 28, 2014.
In a letter to Cotter, attorney Shawn Sullivan, representing The Life Center (TLC), said that the abortionist “admitted that [10] abortions were administered without informed consent.” According to Sullivan, “assuming these women were 18 years or older, Dr. Klopfer's criminal offenses are Class A Infractions … punishable by a fine of up to $10,000.”
Originally found by TLC, state health officials verified the violations this past summer. But according to Cotter's office, the violations are both unproven in court and irrelevant. “[E]ven if true, these violations would not allow this Office to void the pretrial diversion agreement,” said a press release released on December 1. “In short, these alleged violations are not criminal acts. … By definition, an infraction is a judgement that can only result in a civil penalty. An infraction, if allegedly committed, is not a criminal act and therefore cannot be the grounds for a violation of his pretrial diversion agreement.”
Click “like” if you are PRO-LIFE!
A spokesperson for prosecutor Ken Cotter clarified to LifeSiteNews that “under Indiana law, infractions are brought under the prosecutor's name, but that does not make them a criminal act.”
In a release first provided to LifeSiteNews, Sullivan accused Cotter's office of engaging in “double-speak … to provide cover for the abortionist.”
Cotter “knows that 16-34-2-7(c) falls under “CHAPTER 2: REQUIREMENTS FOR PERFORMANCE OF ABORTION; CRIMINAL PENALTIES,” accused Sullivan, noting that “every penalty under Chapter 2 of the abortion laws is a criminal penalty, that is why it is under [that] heading.”
“[T]he fact that a violation of the informed consent law allows for a penalty of up to $10,000 does not make it non-criminal,” Sullivan continued. “That is illogical to lawyer and layperson alike. Everyone knows that the prosecutor imposes and seeks fines all the time.”
Tom Borek, who works with Sullivan, told LifeSiteNews that The Life Center is in a fight with not just with Cotter's office, but also with state health officials about Klopfer's willingness to follow state laws.
“As a result of complaints of the TLC Advocates, the Indiana State Health Department investigated on June 3, 2015, discovered ten instances of abortions committed without the informed consent of the mothers, and initiated a proceeding to revoke the clinic's license on June 26, 2015,” he explained. “Since June 26, the Advocates have filed twelve additional complaints citing 49 additional informed consent violations.”
“Initially, the Department dismissed each complaint without investigation as 'repetitive,'” said Berek. “Since giving the clinic its nearly 90-day 'time out,' the Department has dismissed all TLC Advocate complaints on the grounds that the Department has no jurisdiction over a clinic that is presently unlicensed. We would like to have the complaints investigated and the information uncovered used when the Department considers the clinic's re-licensure application after the 'time-out.'”
The department's “time-out” is a three-month period during which Klopfer may not conduct abortions. However, he will be able to conduct them for more than two months before his late March hearing before the licensing board.
Sullivan also told LifeSiteNews by phone that his group believes that Klopfer did abortions for at least two days after the 90-day period began. Documents provided to LifeSiteNews by the Department of Health show that the agreement between Klopfer, who dropped his appeal of charges by the department, and state officials, who dropped their prosecution of Klopfer, for the 90-day moratorium took place on November 4.
Abortions were done at Klopfer's location until November 6, Sullivan explained. Furthermore, women who were given abortion pills returned for appointments days later – where they may have been given more abortion pills.
