An abortion clinic operator was arrested Thursday in Southern California and jailed on charges of practicing medicine and prescribing drugs without a license. Bertha Bugarin, who has no medical training, is accused of posing as a doctor and performing abortions illegally.
The arrest came after nine women recounted stories of incomplete abortions and hospitalizations. One woman was hospitalized three times before eventually giving birth; her baby died three hours later.
Bugarin faces 10 felonies and one misdemeanor, which could bring nine years in jail.
Operation Rescue has been working since 1999 to expose and close Burgarin’s abortion clinics, which allegedly target Hispanic women. Operation Rescue President Troy Newman said he was thrilled by the arrest.
“The only way to stop someone like Bugarin from hurting people is to put her in jail, because she obviously has no respect for the law or for the lives of the women she seeks to exploit," he said.
