Michigan Abortionist Michael Arthur Roth, who was caught by police with 14 containers of aborted baby remains in his car, has entered a plea of “No Contest” to three felony counts of Larceny in a Building.
The 75-year-old appeared in a Macomb County Circuit Court Monday in the latest episode of a saga dating back to October, 2015, when police discovered stolen drugs, abortion equipment, and aborted baby remains in the trunk of his car.
According to reports at the time, police in West Bloomfield, Michigan, found “14 containers of human tissue, possibly fetuses, medical equipment and large amounts of Fentanyl, a drug used for pain and sedation,” leading to the suspicion that Roth had been secretly carrying out illegal home abortions.
The discovery of the cache came about as the result of an automobile accident in which Roth hit a child with special needs, critically injuring him. Police investigators obtained a warrant to search Roth’s impounded car and found the human tissue in containers along with the other contraband during the search.
Roth and an accomplice had stolen the instruments and Fentanyl from an abortion clinic owned by Roth’s former employer, Angel Ojeda. In the aftermath of the discovery, federal agents raided Roth’s home and office in Michigan and removed bags full of evidence.
The case earned Roth the nickname of the “Trunk Abortionist,” because he operated his illegal abortion business out of the trunk of his car.
This was not, however, the first time Roth made the news because of his irregular practices, which included a history of botched abortions, prescribing drugs without a license and medical board discipline, as well as a restraining order against him by his wife.
Back in 1988, Roth admitted that he had no objections to performing sex-selective abortions, which are most often carried out to weed out female children and insure male progeny.
The New York Times reported that Roth would do prenatal diagnosis to determine the sex of the child or refer patients elsewhere for it, and then do abortions if the women requested them. “I have no ethical problems with it, absolutely not,” he said. “I think that abortion should be available on demand.”
Doctors who refuse to perform abortions for sex selection but will do them for other reasons “are selectively picking out who they want to do them on and who not,” Roth said. “I haven’t turned anybody down.”
On entering his “No Contest” plea on Monday, Roth asked the court for leniency because he recently suffered a stroke, according to an eye witness present for the case.
Roth is slated to be sentenced on December 7, 2017.
Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome