Abortionist Allan Zarkin had a long history of sexually harassing his women patients at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. But he went too far when he carved his initials into Liana Gedz’ abdomen after operating on her. When asked why he committed this atrocious act, Zarkin airily responded that “he thought he did such a beautiful job, he thought he should sign it.”
Zarkin (now called “Zorro” in the medical community) was hired on as medical director of the Choices Women’s Medical Center, a Queens abortion clinic, on November 1, 1999, shortly after being fired from Beth Israel on September 17. He had been doing abortions at this clinic since 1983. When the director of the abortion mill learned of the Beth Israel incident, she dismissed him the same day.
Gedz sued the Beth Israel Medical Center and Zarkin for $5.5 million, charging that the incident left her physically and emotionally scarred. Zarkin’s lawyer, Kenneth J. Platzer, said that “Our legal response to the lawsuit was that what was done was not a willful or intentional act,” leading pro-lifers to wonder what on earth would constitute a “willful or intentional act.”
Zarkin eventually settled for $1.75 million in exchange for Gedz dropping her claim against the Beth Israel Medical Center, where Zarkin assaulted her. Gedz said that what Zarkin did to her made her feel “like a branded animal.”
Zarkin has had his medical license suspended, and the Manhattan district attorney’s office is also investigating him. The abortion clinic did not bother to check Zarkin’s credentials before hiring him, a violation of state law.
The Department of Health is also investigating at least two allegations of sexual harassment against Zarkin. In one instance, a patient filed a complaint stating that Zarkin made increasingly lewd remarks to her over a period three years. He finally told her that he was taking Viagra three times per day and masturbating in the shower.
Shortly afterwards, on February 11, 2000, the Choices Women’s Medical Center was closed after authorities discovered that the abortion clinic performed “hasty” abortions, lacked the required equipment and infection control, failed to properly screen and monitor employees and did not have enough nurses. The clinic was fined $20,000 and closed until it could rectify the situation.
The clinic continued to refer women to other locations.
References: Jennifer Steinhauer and Edward Wong. “How System Let Doctor Work After Carving Incident.” The New York Times, January 27, 2000; “Chronology: A Doctor’s Past Outpaces the Safety System.” The New York Times, January 27, 2000; “Abortionist Carved Initials Into Woman’s Stomach.” LifeSite Daily News at http://www.lifesite.net, February 4, 2000; “Abortionist Carver Settles Out of Court.” LifeSite Daily News, February 14, 2000; “New York Abortuary Closed for Breach of Regulations.” LifeSite Daily News, February 18, 2000; Steve Dunbleavy. “Closed Abortion Facility Refers Women to Others.” New York Post Editorial, February 23, 2000; “Doctor Who Left Initials on Patient Quits Medicine.” Reuters, April 25, 2000; “Initial Carving Abortion Practitioner Gets Probation.” Steven Ertelt’s Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org/infonet.html, April 27, 2000. “Are There Any Feminists Left?” Catalyst [Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights], June 2000, page 5; “Abortionist ‘Dr. Zorro’ Gets Probation Only.” LifeSite Daily News at http://www.lifesite.net, May 31, 2000.
Credit; Abortionviolence.com
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