Illegal procedures

Abortion | Abortionist Bertha Bugarin goes to jail, but exploitation of Hispanic women goes on | Lynn Vincent

Al Seib/Los Angeles Times

SAN DIEGO—On the 2nd floor of the San Diego County Courthouse in the sterile tile hallway outside Department 18, a motley crew of spectators gathered on April 24 to witness the felony sentencing of a criminal abortionist. After many delays, Bertha Bugarin, already serving time in Los Angeles for 18 felony counts of performing abortions without a medical license, would finally face the music for similar crimes farther south.

For Luis Mendoza, it was a long time coming. After his 4-year-old adopted son Martín died in 2004 of a rare childhood cancer, Mendoza, a high-school math teacher, wanted to honor his memory with a celebration of life.

As it happened, people who had been praying during the boy's illness also planned to pray on Sept. 24, 2004, what would've been Martín's fifth birthday, in front of Clinica Medica Para La Mujer De Hoy, Bertha Bugarin's San Diego-area abortion clinic. A friend invited Mendoza, a Roman Catholic, to join them and tell women entering the clinic about the blessings of adoption and the precious nature of life.