The Maryland Board of Physicians announced December 2 that it permanently revoked the medical license of George J. Shepard Jr., an abortionist who worked at the Maryland clinic of Steven Chase Brigham. The board found Shepard "guilty of unprofessional conduct and that he had practiced medicine with an unauthorized person," according to the Courier-Post.
Brigham, who did not have a Maryland medical license, has been accused of operating a secret abortion clinic that performed late abortions in a two-step process that took place in New Jersey and Maryland, the Newark Star-Ledger reported. Shepard assisted Brigham in the Maryland clinic two days a week, according to the Courier-Post.
Brigham had a medical license in New Jersey, which was suspended in October and is currently being considered for revocation by the state board of medical examiners, the Associated Press (AP) reported. A complaint filed by New Jersey officials in September detailed Brigham's abortion procedure. In a typical incident, a pregnant woman went to Brigham's Voorhees, New Jersey, clinic, where he dilated her cervix and "administered a drug that killed the fetus," according to the AP. The woman was told to drive to Elkton, Maryland, the next day, where the now-dead baby was dismembered and removed.
After the scheme was discovered, investigators searched the Elkton clinic, "where a chest freezer held about 35 late-term fetuses," the Courier-Post reported. Maryland officials suspended the licenses of Shepard and Utah abortionist Nicola Riley, who also assisted at the clinic. The board decided October 28 to extend the summary suspension of Riley's license, according to a document on the board's web site. Riley now has the opportunity to request a full evidentiary hearing before an administrative law judge.
The Maryland board's order to revoke Shepard's license, dated November 18, details his involvement with Brigham and the two-state abortion process. The board ruled that Shepard "practiced with an unlicensed individual, Dr. Brigham, or aided an unlicensed individual, Dr. Brigham, in the practice of medicine in Maryland."
It added, "This arrangement potentially places patients at grave risk for harm or catastrophic outcomes." Brigham's clinic, the board asserted, "poses a threat to the public, to the patients who undergo procedures there, and to the profession of medicine."
Contact: Liz Townsend
Source: National Right to Life
Publish Date: December 7, 2010
