By JIM WALSH • Courier-Post Staff • October 14, 2010
TRENTON — State regulators on Wednesday night
temporarily suspended the medical license of a
Voorhees abortion doctor.
The Board of Medical Examiners in its decision
called Dr. Steven Brigham a "clear and imminent
danger to the public's health, safety and welfare,"
according to an account from the state Attorney
General's Office.
Brigham's attorney, Joseph Gorrell, could not be
reached for comment.
The case now is to go before an administrative law
judge, who will hear arguments and review
evidence. The board will review the judge's initial
decision before making a final ruling, said Paul
Loriquet, a spokesman for the Attorney General's
Office.
The Attorney General's Office contends Brigham
improperly performed late-term abortions at his
Voorhees clinic. State rules limit abortions there to
women who are no more than 14 weeks pregnant.
Authorities said Brigham terminated pregnancies as
far along as 33 weeks by starting the procedure in
Voorhees. His patients then would travel a day or
two later to complete the process in Elkton, Md.
Brigham, who has run the American Women's Center
on Alpha Avenue since 1992, denied any
wrongdoing. He argued the abortion did not occur
until the fetus was removed in Maryland, and so
New Jersey's rules were not broken.
Officials moved against Brigham after one of his
patients, an 18-year-old woman, needed emergency
surgery in Maryland. A doctor working for Brigham
perforated the woman's uterus during an abortion
attempt in August, officials said.
The woman was one of five patients, each more than
14 weeks pregnant, cited by authorities in the case
against Brigham.
Brigham had a similar dispute with the state in
1996. Brigham prevailed at that time, Gorrell said.
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