Abortionist Leroy Carhart insists that the fire in the basement of his eerie and ramshackle abortion clinic in Bellevue was "suspicious." Given the fact that all that seems to have been affected was the destruction of medical records stored in the garage, others would agree. Yes, Leroy; that does seem a bit suspicious.
Could this letter to Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning from Nebraska Right to Life Executive Director, Julie Schmit-Albin, perhaps be relevant to the matter? The letter concerns the record-keeping methods of abortionists in our state, particularly possible illegalities in the cover up of statutory rape and medical complications.
Dear Attorney General Bruning:
As you recall, during a meeting with pro-life lobbyists in the Fall of 2008, the issue of statutory rape reporting by Nebraska abortion facilities was raised. We discussed the fact that the abortion reporting statistics required by the State show a percentage of minor girls procuring abortions. The question was raised, has there ever been a case of statutory rape reported by an abortion facility and if not, why not, given the hundreds of minor girls who have procured abortions since the State started gathering statistics such as the age of those receiving abortions.
It's my understanding that your office followed up in December with the LeRoy Carhart abortion facility in Bellevue and the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Lincoln about this matter. At the time of our meeting last Fall I raised the issue of why the AG's office couldn't go into the counties in question and get court records of statutory rape claims and discern whether either abortion facility had ever reported a statutory rape. Couldn't such a seemingly burdensome task be accomplished by some sort of computer search of legal records in Douglas and Lancaster Counties? Or would a report of statutory rape be made outside of Douglas and Lancaster , if a minor girl was from another county? Or were your hands tied if the records in question were in juvenile court? In any event, I was concerned to hear that the follow-up from the AG's office to the abortion facilities was going to be in the form of a letter and I left a message to that effect on your Chief of Staff's voice mail in December.
My point to Holley Bolen and to you would be, isn't asking the abortion facilities if they have ever followed the law on reporting of statutory rape sort of like putting the fox in charge of the hen house? Don't you have authority to investigate court records and discern from your standpoint whether the abortion facilities have complied with the law over the years?
I am enclosing an Omaha World-Herald article dated 1/17/09 regarding a fire at Carhart's Bellevue abortion facility. The OWH reported that "old clinic records" were destroyed in the fire which broke out in the basement of his facility. Authorities reported that they had not found anything suspicious about the fire's origin. My concern is that if you as AG had/have the authority to demand "old records" of an abortion facility in a potential criminal investigation, that certainly some of Carhart's "old records" are now destroyed.
It is unfortunate that I and other pro-life lobbyists did not press this issue sooner and I should have followed up with your office after our meeting last Fall. It was my understanding that your office was going to initiate some type of investigation into county court records, if possible. When I learned that the gist of the investigation was going to be sending a letter to the Bellevue and Lincoln facilities inquiring about their compliance with the law, I have to admit I was dumbfounded. I should have made an effort to call you personally about it and didn't, relying on leaving a voice mail for your Chief of Staff.
Another issue was brought to our attention recently by a pro-life activist who was carefully reading the 2007 State Abortion Report. She noted that the Planned Parenthood Lincoln abortion facility did not report a "complication" on the August, 2007 botched abortion which sent a woman to the hospital for an emergency hysterectomy and resulted in a medical malpractice lawsuit against the then abortionist, Meryl Severson and Planned Parenthood of Nebraska/Council Bluffs. Again, if the reporting law is to followed, it would seem like this was a glaring omission and one that would merit your follow-up.
In an effort to better communicate what happened with the statutory rape reporting and the potential for investigating why Planned Parenthood didn't report an obvious complication in 2007, I would respectfully request another meeting with you and our pro-life lobbying coalition. I personally would like to get a better handle on how the AG's office can help address these issues and you would have an opportunity to set the record straight if I am out of line in my expectations.
Sincerely,
Julie Schmit-Albin
Executive Director, Nebraska Right to Life
