Tax-Evading Abortionist Back at Work in Mississippi

Jackson, MS -- Joseph Booker, who was once the only abortion practitioner in Mississippi, has completed his sentence for a federal tax fraud conviction and returned to work at a Jackson abortion facility. Dr. Joseph Burnett, executive director of the State Board of Medical Licensure, said Booker's license, suspended in January, was reinstated under conditions that included periodic evaluations and paying the board's investigative costs. Burnett said the decision came after Booker completed a required 50 hours of continuing medical education courses and served five months at a Forrest City, Ark., prison. Booker pleaded guilty in July 1999 for filing a false income tax return. In board documents, Booker's work address is listed as the New Woman Medical Center abortion facility in Jackson. It is one of only two places in the state where abortions are performed. Booker declined Thursday to discuss his license reinstatement or his employment status. Abortion facility officials also would not comment. Gail Chadwick of Pro-Choice of Mississippi said Booker should be allowed to resume practicing medicine because tax charge was unrelated to his performance as a doctor. However, Pat Cartrette, spokeswoman for Right to Life of Jackson, criticized the board's decision, saying Booker ''has yet to be held accountable for the aborted babies found in a storage unit that he had rented in Gulfport.'' Cartrette was referring to a buried cooler containing plastic bags and aborted children discovered by police in a wooded area in Ocean Springs on Dec. 20, 1999. A police investigation revealed the cooler and other items had been purchased from an auction at a Gulfport storage facility. The cooler had originally belonged to Booker. Booker had performed abortions at Gulf Coast Women's Clinic abortion facility in Gulfport. Ocean Springs Police Chief Kerry Belk said several law enforcement agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, had investigated and never determined that a crime was committed. ''The case has not been closed, but the case has been set aside pending any further development that might possibly arrive in the future,'' Belk said. ''It's a loose end we can't seem to tie up.''