A doctor who performs abortions at the only standalone abortion clinic in St. Joseph County will face a full hearing later this year after an administrative complaint was filed against him.
Dr. Ulrich Klopfer is accused of 1,833 clerical violations on forms reporting abortions performed between July 2012 to November 2013, according to an administrative complaint filed by Indiana Attorney Greg Zoeller in September. Zoeller learned of the clerical violations after complaints were filed by Indiana Right to Life, a political group focused on preventing and reducing abortions.
Klopfer’s attorneys, Mary Watts and Joshua Burress of Bingham, Greenebaum and Doll, appeared in front of the Indiana Medical Licensing Board on Klopfer’s behalf on Thursday morning and said that Zoeller’s complaint was baseless, the South Bend Tribune reported. Klopfer did not attend the hearing.
Watts argued that in some cases Klopfer believed he was complying with state statutes and quickly changed his clinic’s procedure when he learned he wasn’t in compliance, the Tribune reported. Watts also argued that some of the complaints weren’t violations at all.
The Licensing Board denied Klopfer’s motion for summary judgement in a 4-0 vote, with one member abstaining because she missed the beginning of the hearing. Klopfer’s medical license will go up for review at a hearing later this year.
- RELATED: Read more about the complaint filed against Klopfer, June 22, 2015
Klopfer performs abortions at the Women’s Pavilion on Ironwood Drive in South Bend. He also has a clinic at Fort Wayne where he meets patients but does not perform abortions. He recently closed his Gary clinic.
- RELATED: Gary abortion clinic ran by South Bend doctor closes amid controversy, June 12, 2015
Read more details about the Klopfer’s hearing in the full story from the South Bend Tribune.