No Indictment for Abortionist Accused of Killing Babies Born Alive

A Harris County, Texas grand jury has cleared late-term abortionist Douglas Karpen following a seven-month investigation into allegations of illegal late-term abortions and the killing of babies born alive at two of his abortion clinics.

In May, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst demanded an investigation of Karpen after a video exposé of his Aaron Women’s Clinic in Houston depicted gruesome details of his practices. Karpen was already facing a criminal investigation for allegedly allowing babies to be born alive during late-term abortions, then twisting their heads off with his bare hands.

In the video, produced by Life Dynamics, three of Karpen’s employees alleged that the abortionist would cut the spinal cord of babies born alive during late-term procedures, introduce an instrument into the baby’s soft spot to kill it, or twist the head off the neck of the babies with his bare hands.

According to Operation Rescue, the allegations against Karpen were based on information provided by his former employees and photographs of dead late-term babies taken by workers on their cell phones.

“The refusal to indict Karpen is a gross miscarriage of justice. 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,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “It’s upsetting to know that the kind of brutality shown in the photos taken at his clinic will be allowed [to] continue.”

Karpen’s former employees also claimed to Operation Rescue that Karpen routinely performed abortions past the then-legal limit of 24 weeks.

“I respect the grand jury’s efforts on this difficult case, but I do not want anyone to reach the wrong conclusion from this no-bill,” said Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson in a press release on Friday. “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.”

“It’s simply unbelievable that a grand jury would not find that Karpen broke the law, just based on the photographic evidence alone,” said Newman. “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.”

Newman continued, “We are not giving up on the Karpen matter. 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.”

When asked for comment on the matter by Breitbart News, Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst said: “I was shocked that Karpen was no-billed by the Harris County grand jury, as apparently was the prosecutor. Texas will continue to hold the abortion industry to a higher standard as a way to protect Texas women’s health and their unborn children.”