By Rita McInerney

An investigation of the Atlanta Surgi-Center, 1133 Spring St., N.W., is continuing after the abortion clinic was raided on May 11 by investigators from the Fulton County offices of District Attorney and Solicitor General.

Seized were patient records, files and other material which are being studied to determine whether the clinic is following procedures and reporting of abortions required by state law.

The raid was prompted after the district attorney’s office received a report that a young woman who received an abortion March 10 at the clinic was rushed to Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta shortly after the procedure was performed.

A search warrant for the raid was issued May 11 by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Luther Alverson. In the affidavit requesting it, Donald Stoop, investigator in the office of Fulton County District Attorney Lewis R. Slaton, said he was asked to assist Mark Johnson of the Fulton County Solicitor’s Office in investigating the March 10 incident.

The two investigators went to the Atlanta Surgi-Center April 10 to inquire about the reported incident and were told the abortion facility would not release any information about the case because it was confidential.

The name of the victim, Catherine Pierce, was given investigators by Charles Wysong, head of the American Rights Coalition in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The affidavit states that the young woman, who is 27, was rushed to Crawford Long Hospital in a coma approximately 30 minutes after the abortion was performed. She was later transferred to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga and is now confined to a nursing home there.

Wysong, according to the affidavit, said he had gone to the Chattanooga hospital and met with the young woman’s father who verified that his daughter was in a coma after an abortion performed at the Atlanta Surgi-Center.

In the affidavit it is mentioned that Stoop and Johnson met with an official of the Office of Regulatory Services of Georgia Department of Human Resources and were told that procedures for all clinics require a registered nurse to be with the patient in the recovery room after an abortion.

On April 27, according to the affidavit, Stoops and Johnson met with Mike Lavore, director of vital records for the state, and received from him 22 reports of induced pregnancy filed by the Surgi-Center. These reports were filed late in violation of state law which requires written reports be filed within a ten-day period after the abortion.

The two investigators went to Chattanooga and met with Ms. Pierce’s mother. They observed the comatose young woman in her room drawn up in a fetal position and being fed intravenously. Her mother told them that the doctors have no hope for her recovery and that she will remain in a vegetative state.

Medical records from Crawford Long Hospital received by the two investigators on May 9 confirm that she was transported to the hospital from the Surgi-Center and arrived in a comatose condition caused by cardio-respiratory arrest following the abortion. In the affidavit Stoops said it is unknown how long she was in this state before being found by Surgi-Center staff.

The affidavit states that the two investigators found that the Atlanta Surgi-Center has not filed documents on the case as required by Fulton County and the state.

The investigation also revealed that in 1988 the facility performed 3,976 abortions and list 3,971 dispositions of the fetus in ways other than approved by state law, that is by cremation or burial by a licensed funeral director.

Contacted May 15 by The Georgia Bulletin, Fulton County Solicitor General James L. Webb said the two investigators are continuing to investigate the case. “We just don’t know what the files will disclose. We’re looking to see if there is anything that needs a second look.”

In a telephone interview May 12 with The Georgia Bulletin, Wysong said he had been informed that two sidewalk counselors had seen an ambulance leave the Atlanta Surgi-Center on March 10. Later, he said, the American Rights Coalition had received an anonymous call giving Ms. Pierce’s name and the hospital where she was being treated.

Wysong said he notified the Fulton County District Attorney’s office of this by letter on April 8.

He said the coalition “helps women who have been damaged by abortion.” One way, he said, is to see that legal forces are marshaled to take action against the abortionists. Organized two years ago, the non-profit group works with crisis pregnancy centers, doctors and lawyers in local areas.

He said at present group has “approximately 10 cases like this in several cities.” There will be a number in Atlanta, he predicted.

The coalition has been financing billboards in Atlanta at the rate of 60 per month since December. At present there are none but he expects to have more installed when the money is available. The message asks women hurt by abortion to contact the coalition through telephone numbers.

He said plans are being made with pro-life groups in Atlanta “to discuss broader strategy to go after the abortion industry expose the injuries they’re causing. We’re coming back to Atlanta with a more powerful strategy than before.”

Michael Hirsh, head of the Operation Rescue Atlanta office, confirmed that the sidewalk counselors who saw the ambulance leaving Surgi-Center were Operation Rescue volunteers.

“We’ve been saying all along that women die from ‘safe, legal abortion,’” he said. “It’s been happening all along.”