Pro-Life News in Brief

By Liz Townsend

Court Strikes Down Arizona Fetal Tissue Ban
A three-judge federal appeals court panel struck down Arizona's 1975 ban on the use of fetal tissue from induced abortion December 29, calling it unconstitutionally vague.

The law made it a crime to knowingly use any part of a human " fetus or embryo resulting from an induced abortion in any manner for any medical experimentation or scientific or medical investigation purposes," except if an examination is necessary to diagnose a disease for which the abortion was performed.

The appeals court panel found the terms used in the statute to be "impermissibly vague." In the majority opinion, Circuit Judge Mary M. Schroeder wrote, "Individuals must be given a reasonable opportunity to discern whether their conduct is proscribed so they can choose whether or not to comply with the law."

Pro-lifers disagreed strongly with the appeals court ruling, saying that it is a "total misreading of common sense language."

The court decision comes after a growing number of reports on the lucrative fetal body part industry. NRL News has featured several articles on companies that market the body parts of babies killed by abortion, making huge profits.

Federal regulations allowing the sale of fetal tissue, passed by Congress in 1993, supposedly make it illegal to pay directly for baby body parts. However, the companies get around the law by "donating" the actual organs, then charging high fees for " retrieval" and "site fees" (see NRL News, March 2000, p. 4).

The Arizona attorney general's office "may ask the court to review its decision or consider new legislation to circumvent the panel's ruling," spokeswoman Pati Urias told the Associated Press.

Florida Abortionist on Trial for Extortion

Federal prosecutors have charged James Scott Pendergraft IV, a prolific abortionist and owner of five Florida abortion clinics, with trying to extort millions of dollars from rural Marion County. The trial of Pendergraft and his associate Michael Spielvogel began January 2.

The charges stem from a December 1998 lawsuit filed by Pendergraft that accused county officials with denying him the ability to hire extra security guards to protect his Ocala abortion clinic. According to Business Week, Pendergraft and Spielvogel suddenly filed new affidavits several months later, accusing a county official of threatening their lives and insisting the county pay them millions of dollars in damages.

Although a judge found that the county should have allowed Pendergraft to hire extra security guards, federal prosecutors insist that the allegations of threats were falsely concocted to extort money from the county. They indicted Pendergraft and Spielvogel in June 2000 on charges of conspiracy to commit extortion, lying under oath, and mail fraud.

During the trial, prosecutors introduced evidence alleging Pendergraft had attempted to force the county to pay him large sums of money months before the 1998 lawsuit was filed. Marion County Commissioner Larry Cretul testified January 5 that Pendergraft approached him several times in March 1998 offering to close his Ocala clinic for a cash payment, the Ocala Star Banner reported.

Pendergraft would agree not to perform abortions in the county for three years with a payment of $500,000 or for five years if he received $750,000, Cretul testified. Pendergraft promised to leave the county permanently for one million dollars, according to Cretul.

Pendergraft and pro-abortion organizations have accused the federal prosecutors - - representatives of Janet Reno's Justice Department - - of filing the charges in an attempt to "limit women's access to reproductive health care," Carla Johnson, president of the Orlando chapter of the National Organization of Women, told the Star Banner. However, during the trial's jury selection, Senior U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges said, "The case itself has nothing to do one way or another with abortions, or with withholding abortions."

If convicted, Pendergraft could receive 30 years in jail or $750,000 in fines, while Spielvogel could face up to 40 years and $1.25 million in fines.