Life Legal Defense Foundation's Fact Sheet Reveals Flaws of California's SB 1338
Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net
OAKLAND, Calif., June 19, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) has created a fact sheet about the dangers of California Senate Bill 1338, which would allow non-physicians to perform abortions after training is provided pursuant to the Health Workforce Pilot Project #171 (HWPP), which is managed by The University of California, San Francisco/Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. SB 1338 was pulled from committee, but LLDF has learned that it still can be acted upon at any time.
The fact sheet is available here and lists several new facts, including:
- Involvement of Doctors Disciplined by the Medical Board: Jesse James Joplin, M.D. and Mark Maltzer, M.D. contributed to a training workbook. Dr. Joplin was disciplined by the Medical Board of California for causing the death of a patient and for drug and alcohol abuse while working at Planned Parenthood sites, and Dr. Mark Maltzer was successfully sued over the death of a woman at a Planned Parenthood clinic.
- Discrepancies in Number of Unknown Trainees: Financial documents received from UCSF indicate only 30 trainees completed the training, but the project is supposed to train about 60. However, no one knows the real number.
- Lack of Physician Oversight for Contraindicated Complications: Several hundred patients were deemed ineligible to participate, but under SB 1338, there will be no "supervising physician" to screen out at-risk patients.
- Bad Policy, Bad Law: It is illegal for non-physicians in California to perform surgical abortions, but SB 1338 has been narrowed so that only the 41 persons who participated in the Project will get the benefit of legal protection from prosecution.
Earlier this year, Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) introduced SB 1338, and it is sponsored by Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and other pro-abortion organizations. The HWPP program received $3.5 million from an undisclosed private foundation.
"We have the right to find out who's behind the secret funding and the shoddy standards they've set," said Dana Cody, Executive Director of the Life Legal Defense Foundation. "SB 1338 isn't dead, and women or babies shouldn't end up dead, either."
Earlier this year, the LLDF filed a Writ of Mandate to compel disclosure with a public records request for complete information. The Writ is available here.
About the Life Legal Defense Foundation
Life Legal Defense Foundation is a non-profit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens, committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information, go to www.lldf.org.
