ARTICLES

Senator Boxer Calls for Revocation of Abortionist's License

Dr. Reich Has a 20-year History of Sexually Assaulting Patients

BY MARIA ELENA KENNEDY

Pro-abortion Senator Barbara Boxer has called upon the Osteopathic Medical Board of California to have abortionist Laurence Reich's osteopathic medical license removed. The call for action by Boxer was prompted by recent media revelations that Reich has been convicted of sexual molesting his patients. In a December 8th letter to Osteopathic Medical Board director Linda Bergmann, Boxer demanded that Reich's license be revoked immediately. "I believe that immediate action should be taken to suspend Dr. Laurence Reich's medical license until a full hearing is held and any legal cases against him are completed."

Although pro-lifers have long pointed out that Reich was convicted of sexually molesting a woman, no action was taken until the Los Angeles Daily News ran a story about Reich earlier this year. It was after this story, and a subsequent CNN report, that Boxer took action. In the letter, Boxer accuses Reich of endangering women. "According to CNN and other media and your Board's records," she wrote, "Dr. Reich has a long history of sexual misconduct against patients, which led to a license suspension in 1982 and a 10-year probationary period that ended in 1994. Further, he was arrested in 2002 on sexual battery charges and pleaded no contest to sexual exploitation by a physician. In short, this individual has a clear pattern of violating the public trust that has been placed in him, yet he continues to see patients.

"I understand that an administrative law judge will hold a hearing in February 2006 regarding the June 2000 complaints -- approximately three years after his admission of sexually exploiting a patient and nearly six years after the original complaints that triggered this latest process."

Russ Heimerich, spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, said that Boxer's letter would not make a difference. Reich, Heimerich contended, could not be removed until after an administrative law judge issued an order to that effect. "The reason for this is that there has to be due process."

Asked why it has taken the board so long to address the issue, Heimerich admitted, "Yes, this has taken far too long. The way to have done this was to get a PC 23 order but this didn't happen in this case."

A PC 23 order is a section of the California Penal Code which allows authorities to remove the license of a medical professional who has been convicted of criminal conduct.

When asked why the PC 23 order was not pursued, Heimerich replied, "Too much time has lapsed. We are looking into why this was not done when this occurred so it doesn't happen again."

But Heimerich rejects the idea that the board was not aggressive enough in its treatment of Reich. "The Board has rejected three settlement offers from Dr. Reich," he says. "Yes, it should not have taken three years but were are looking into it."

According to public records, Reich received an osteopathic license in 1979. Several months later, a patient accused him of sexual misconduct. In 1982 the osteopathic board filed an accusation against Reich containing complaints from six women, four who alleged that Reich had sexually molested them, and two alleging negligence. Because of these allegations, Reich served a 10 year probation period which required that he have a third person in the room when he was examining women. In 2002, Reich was criminally convicted of exploiting his patients. Reich pleaded no contest and served one day in jail. He is now facing another accusation which was filed on July 14, 2004.

According to this latest accusation, on February 8, 2000, patient Yvette Chambers went to the clinic were Reich worked, Family Planning Medical Center in Santa Ana for an abortion. According to the accusation, Reich fondled Chamber's breasts and genitals. Reich also gave the patient his phone number after asking explicit questions about her sex life. Another allegation against Reich involves a woman who is only identified as "S.E." According to this patient, Reich fondled her during an examination and also asked for her phone number and gave her his phone number. "S.E." was told by Reich that she had cervical scarring and required visits to his other offices in Los Angeles. When "S.E." went to a second doctor to see about the cervical scarring she was told she had none. The accusation accuses Reich of attempting to establish a non-professional relationship with "S.E."

The accusation asks the court to remove Reich's license and order him to pay for the investigation and enforce ment of the case against him. According to pro-lifers, the most worrisome aspect of Reich's behavior is the fact that he fronts abortion clinics for Bertha Bugarin whose clinics are in poor Latino areas. As medical director for Bugarin's Clinica Medica Para La Mujer de Hoy, Reich has been given access to vulnerable woman for many years. Bugarin has clinics in Chula Vista, Santa Ana, and Panorama City.

Patricia Mendoza, who sidewalk counsels with her husband Luis in front of the Chula Vista Clinica Medica, sent a letter to Senator Boxer applauding her call for the removal of Reich. "Thank you for taking a stand against Dr. Reich," she wrote. "Are you aware that he is the clinical director of a chain of abortion clinics that prey on poor Latina women and hires the worst doctors -- all on probation for gross negligence, drug abuse, or sexual offense? Dr. Reich not only victimizes his own patients sexually, he profits from the butchery of the other women seeking obstetric care at his clinics. He partners with a woman named Bertha Bugarin who is the true owner of the clinic, but needed a doctor as partner due to the laws in California."

Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue West knows Reich well. The former San Diego pro-lifer now living in Kansas has complained about Reich to the California Osteopathic Board for years. Sullenger said Reich needed to be locked up. "Reich found the perfect place to preys upon women: abortion mills in Hispanic neighborhoods. These women are especially vulnerable for a number of reasons. They are less likely to go to the authorities because they may not speak particularly good English, or they may be in the country illegally. And because of the shame of having aborted their children, some may even believe they deserved to be abused, and will bear the emotional scars the rest of their lives. Reich should have been permanently banned from the practice of medicine over 20 years ago after his first sexual battery conviction. We warned the board of osteopathy six years ago that this would happen again, and now it has. The inaction of the board is partially responsible for Reich's latest crimes because they knew the danger he posed and chose to ignore it."

The fact that the osteopathic board is holding hearings to revoke Reich's license is heartening to pro-lifers who stand in front of Bugarin's clinics. Tim Nissen, a sidewalk counselor who prays in front of Bugarin's Santa Ana clinic, said he has sent Boxer a letter applaud ing her call for the removal of Reich's license. "I am thankful to Barbara Boxer," he said, "for her letter to the California Osteopathic Board calling for the revocation of the license of Dr. Laurence Reich. My earnest desire, however, is that she does not stop with this one doctor but rather spearheads a campaign in California to ensure that patients are safe from the kinds of abuse and negligence that doctors such as Reich -- and there are many -- perpetrate."

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