HOUSTON – A Texas grand jury has cleared a controversial abortionist of criminal charges, even though former assistants of the abortionist testified that he killed newborn babies upon their delivery.
As previously reported, three women who left their jobs as assistants to Texas abortionist Douglas Karpen broke their silence earlier this year in regard to Karpen’s gruesome abortion practices. According to the women, Karpen would “snip the spine” of babies after they were born, even though “you could see the stomach breathing.”
“[M]ost of the time, the fetus would come completely out before he would either cut the spinal cord or he introduced one of the instruments into the soft spot of the fetus in order to kill the fetus,” outlined former assistant Deborah Edge in a recorded interview with Life Dynamics. “I thought, well, it’s an abortion. It’s what he does. I didn’t know it was illegal.”
Sometimes, according to Edge, Karpen would “twist the head off the neck [of the newborn baby] with his own bare hands.”
The women also shared a story that they had heard from another employee who witnessed a baby survive an abortion.
“[The baby] opened up his eyes and grabbed [Karpen’s] hand—his finger,” Rodriguez stated.
Graphic images of babies Karpen had aborted were also publicized, leading many to question the abortionist’s practices. Others compared Karpen to Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who was sentenced to life in prison for infanticide.
According to reports, the evidence against Karpen was provided to Houston prosecutors, which led to an investigation by the Texas Rangers and the Houston Police Department Homicide Division. The investigation culminated in a two-month grand jury presentation.
However, on Friday, the grand jury officially cleared Karpen of all allegations of wrongdoing. According to local news reports, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said in a statement “that the evidence does not justify an indictment.”
“I respect the grand jury’s efforts on this difficult case,” Anderson stated, “but I do not want anyone to reach the wrong conclusion from this no-bill. Notwithstanding the outcome of this case, this office is ready and willing to prosecute doctors who perform abortions that violate Texas law. In this case, however, an independent grand jury concluded, after lengthy investigation and deliberation, that the evidence does not justify an indictment.”
Following the ruling, Operation Rescue President Troy Newman said the grand jury’s decision was “upsetting.”
“The refusal to indict Karpen is a gross miscarriage of justice,” Newman wrote in a statement. “The grand jury has essentially freed Karpen to continue to violate Texas laws and take the lives of late-term babies that the law was meant to protect. It’s upsetting to know that the kind of brutality shown in the photos taken at his clinic will be allowed continue.”
“It’s simply unbelievable that a grand jury would not find that Karpen broke the law, just based on the photographic evidence alone,” he continued. “There’s no way any reasonable person could look at the images of those abortion victims and say that nothing was done wrong. The babies’ throats were cut from ear to ear. That isn’t something that can be done inside the womb.”
Although the Houston grand jury’s decision was a setback to the pro-life cause, Newman is promising that Operation Rescue will consider further legal action.
“We are not giving up on the Karpen matter,” he stated. “We will continue to seek ways through the legal system to bring him to justice. This isn’t the last anyone will hear of this.”
Photo: LifeNews.com
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