ARTICLES

NEWS

ROAMIN' CATHOLIC

Contents © 2000
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

Unlicensed to Kill

Has Notorious Abortionist Really Left the Killing Business?

By Maggie Garcia

One of California's most notorious abortionists has purportedly been put out of business by the Medical Board of California. Nicholas Braemer, MD, surrendered his medical license on August 1, 2000. Dr. Braemer owns a string of clinics that span from San Diego County to North Hollywood. Although he has had a long history of problems with the medical board, it was not until this year that he decided to surrender his license.

Dr. Braemer's troubles go back to 1987, when the medical board filed an accusation against him after he botched an abortion on a young woman. The medical board's accusation details how Braemer "performed an elective abortion by dilation and extraction on Z.A., a twenty-seven year old ... then approximately 15-18 weeks pregnant with a viable female fetus." According to the accusation, Braemer "was successful in removing only one arm of the fetus and the remainder was left behind." Without checking to see if the abortion was successful, Braemer sent the patient home with antibiotics. The following day, Z.A. gave birth to a stillborn fetus who was missing an arm. In 1993, Braemer was put on five years probation with the medical board.

Throughout the years that Braemer has been on probation with the medical board he has continued to ignore the conditions of his probation and the restrictions on his license.

Putting Braemer out of business, said Candis Cohen of the medical board, was in "the public interest." Cohen apparently believed that Braemer's clinics' had ceased operation. Yet I called all ten of Braemer's clinics and was able to make appointments to undergo an abortion. Four of the clinics, in largely Latino communities, accepted Medi-Cal. (Physicians who do not posses a valid medical license are not allowed to participate in the Medi-Cal program.)

Over the years, Braemer has sometimes relied on others who are not doctors to perform abortions at his chain of clinics. These people, known to pro-life sidewalk counselors, include Steve Turnipseed, a physician's assistant who has worked under Braemer's license.

Cheryl Sullenger of the California Life Coalition filed a complaint with the Medical Board against Dr. Braemer's assistant, Steve Turnipseed, on August 4, 2000 after it was learned that he was the one performing abortions at some of Dr. Braemer's clinics. This practice was confirmed when I had a young woman make an appointment to have an abortion done by Steve Turnipseed at Braemer's Baldwin Park clinic, the day after Dr. Braemer lost his medical license.

After Sullenger filed the complaint against Braemer, the medical board responded with a form letter stating that the matter had been turned over to "the Board's Woodland Hills District office ... for further investigation." Sullenger noted that the form letter also stated, "please understand that due to the number of complaints received by this agency, many of which deal with an immediate threat to public safety, the investigation of your complaint will be conducted as soon as staff resources are available." To which Sulleger retorted, "I think that there is an immediate threat to the public safety when there is an unlicensed man performing abortions."

One pro-lifer who would only speak on the condition of anonymity said that Steve Turnipseed "is a licensed physician assistant and has been committing illegal abortions on low income, primarily Latina women for years while under the 'supervision' of abortionist Nicholas Braemer." This activist claimed that a young woman named "Lupe" (the name has been changed to protect the women's identity) "recently went to Clinica Medica para La Mujer de Hoy for an abortion. She paid cash. She was led to believe that Turnipseed was a doctor -- he wore a white lab coat and was referred to as 'the doctor.' He never gave her any anesthesia or pain relief during the surgery and she screamed in agony. He gave her prescriptions and sent her home to return for follow up. Other young Latina women have come forward to report the brutality and the deception. All were misled to believe that he is a doctor."

Another potential violation involving Dr. Braemer stems from the statement of the operator of his clinics, Bertha Burgarin, that she is the owner of the clinics utilized by Braemer. California law does not allow non-physicians to own or operate medical clinics. Public records, however, state that Braemer is the sole owner of his chain of clinics. In spite of this prohibition, the Braemer clinic, which is located on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles, is owned by Bertha Bugarin according to public records at the California Secretary of State's office.

A further charge against Dr. Braemer comes from a letter written by Bugarin's accountant, which states that "when a patient comes to the clinics, they ... don't come to see Dr. Braemer or any other doctor in particular.... Dr. Braemer is not a primary or essential part of the operation."

Bugarin is quite frank in stating the purpose of her clinic: "In conclusion, the success of the operation consists on the patients and on the concept which targets Hispanic women in certain key areas. The concept, the name and the approach all belong to Bertha Bugarin."

When he learned that Braemer was purportedly out of business, Troy Newman of Operation Rescue West said "Braemer may have lost his license to kill but the killing hasn't stopped at his clinics. He's merely using unlicensed people to continue to kill. Let's see if the Medical Board of California does something about this."

TOP