2 Abortion Doctors Charged With Murder – 35 Fetuses Found In Freezer

Two abortion doctors have been arrested and charged with murder, related to abortions of late-term fetuses that were viable, after a discovery of 35 fetuses in a freezer at a clinic in Maryland. One of the fetuses was believed to have been aborted at 36 weeks. Steven Brigham, was taken into custody on Wednesday in New Jersey and is charged with five counts of first-degree murder, five counts of second-degree murder, and one count of conspiracy. Nicola Riley, his coworker, is charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder and is being held in a Utah jail. According to the Maryland State Board of Physicians, both Brigham and Riley have both had their medical licenses suspended by the state of Maryland.  They are awaiting extradition back to Maryland.

This stems from an investigation which began August 2010 after Riley brought a woman, who was 21 weeks pregnant, to a Elkton hospital because of a “complication resulting from a medical procedure”. Investigators later determined the woman had driven from New Jersey, where the abortion was started, to Maryland. The laws in Maryland are less restrictive than in nearby states with regard to late term termination of a fetus. This more than likely explains why the procedure was initiated elsewhere and completed in Maryland. Some states require that later abortions be performed at a hospital or surgical center rather than a doctor’s office. In New Jersey, pregnancies after 14 weeks cannot be ended at a doctor’s office.

ABC 2 News reported

During that procedure something went wrong and her uterus was perforated. The doctors drove the woman to Union Hospital but did not stick around.  The victims injuries were so severe she was later transported by helicopter to Johns Hopkins Hospital.  Surgery was done to repair the failed abortion.