After abortionist’s conviction, clinic whistleblower to receive award

Jan 20, 2011 / 23:35 pm

A pro-life group’s first whistleblower award will go to a former clinic worker in Massachusetts who provided evidence that an abortionist’s negligence played a role in the death of a woman injured in an abortion.

Abortionist Rapin Osathanondh ran an abortion clinic in Hyannis, Massachusetts. He was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the case of a woman, 22-year-old Laura Hope Smith, who died in 2007 after an abortion he performed.

Prosecutors charged that he failed to monitor Smith while she was under anesthesia, delayed calling emergency services when her heart stopped, and then lied to try to cover up his actions, the Associated Press says.

Osathanondh was also a research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Kim Nichols was one of the clinic workers who testified against the abortionist. She will receive $25,000 from Operation Rescue’s Abortion Whistleblowers Program at a Jan. 22 pro-life rally at the Neelsville Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Maryland.

“Due to Nichols’ courageous and truthful testimony before the Massachusetts Board of Physicians, Osathanondh was declared a danger to the public. His two abortion clinics were closed and he surrendered his medical license, rather than suffer the humiliation of revocation,” commented Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue.

Newman said Smith’s testimony was the basis for the criminal charges which resulted in the abortionist’s conviction. She also endured threats and harassment from Osathanondh.

Nichols told Operation Rescue she had begun to work at the abortion clinic about 10 years ago because she was bothered by the upset young girls in the waiting room and wanted to help them. She said the doctor’s treatment of both patients and employees was “very bad” and many quit because of the abuse.

She reported that Planned Parenthood sent many referrals to the abortionist from both the Boston area and from other states. Though she at first thought she was helping the girls at the clinic, Nichols’ world came “crashing down” when Smith died while Nichols was holding her hand during an abortion.

“Laura’s death shook me to my core. I told the doctor that we should close this clinic down. This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Nichols commented, according to Operation Rescue.

Osathanondh tried to get Nichols to lie for him. When she refused, he began to make harassing phone calls and told her she would hurt the clinic employees and the girls seeking an abortion if she told the truth.  He also claimed that she would lose her house in Smith’s mother’s lawsuit if she did not go along.

Nichols said she is now “definitely pro-life” and wants to tell young girls who are considering an abortion to reconsider.

“I want to tell them that abortion will affect them for the rest of their lives and that that it may even sterilize them. I want them to know that they can be physically maimed or worse; they could die, like Laura did,” Nichols commented.

She also commented on the babies who are aborted. "They are not told what is really going to happen to them or their babies. They are lied to about the development of the baby. The baby is called a blob of tissue. They are not told about the alternatives to abortion such as adoption. I wish abortion would end."

Nichols said she now wants to volunteer at a pro-life pregnancy center and share her experiences with young girls.

Operation Rescue’s Troy Newman praised Nichols’ actions.

"We are proud to present our first $25,000 reward to Kim Nichols and pray that her brave commitment to the truth encourages other clinic workers who have witnessed abortion abuses to do the right thing and tell the authorities what they know," he said.

The Abortion Whistleblowers Program has produced radio spots and has sent a flyer to every abortion clinic in the U.S. asking those who have credible information about crimes at abortion clinics to come forward.

Operation Rescue said it has also received information from “several abortion industry insiders” that it is currently analyzing.