The clinic's owner, Ms. Belkis Gonzalez, reportedly stepped in to help a patient when the doctor she had on staff didn't arrive in time. We read in the AP account no evidence that the patient was harmed in any way. In fact, the end result of the procedure was exactly what the patient wanted and the doctor would have secured. (We'll set aside the irrelevant fact that the tardy doctor's license apparently had been revoked.)
For her good efforts, Ms. Gonzalez has been inprisoned and charged with two felonies: practicing medicine without a license and tampering with evidence. These charges, even if accurate, seem like cruel bureaucratic knit-picking that will only have a chilling effect on the intervention of Good Samaritans in times of emergency. We need to encourage heroic measures and congratulate those who selflessly lend a hand in time of need; punishing them is inexcusable and unconscionable.
Oh, yes: one more detail. Just what medical act did Ms. Gonzalez perform? According to the patient, Ms. Sycloria Williams, Gonzalez "delivere[d] a live baby during a botched [abortion] procedure and then ... [threw] the infant away."
As our namesake might have said, 'What a criminal waste of a good lunch!'
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