Florida medical board lets abortionist keep license and pay $10,000 fine after breaking law

The Florida Board of Medicine has fined an Orlando OB/GYN $10,000 for violating the state’s abortion law.

Dr. Candace Sue Cooley committed 193 abortions at the Center of Orlando for Women facility during a two-week period following the enactment of Florida’s abortion waiting-period law, which requires that women receive information from doctors about abortions and wait 24 hours before undergoing the life-ending procedure. It was passed in 2015 but did not take effect until April 25, 2022, due to a lawsuit.

On May 11, 2022, an official from the Agency for Health Care Administration carried out an inspection at the Center of Orlando for Women facility, during which the official informed facility staff that the law had gone into effect on April 25. The agency also issued a notice of the effective date of the law to the facility on June 9, 2022. However, between April 26 and May 7, Cooley had committed abortions without adhering to the waiting period, which Administrative Law Judge James H. Peterson III ruled was “unintentional.”

The Department of Health called for Cooley’s license to be revoked, but the medical board, which has a responsibility to discipline doctors, determined that this was too severe of a punishment. Instead, the board agreed with penalties recommended by Judge Peterson, which called for Cooley to receive a $10,000 fine in total, instead of the expected $1,000 fine per offense, which would have amounted to $193,000.

READ: How Roe’s reversal triggered the Biden-Harris DOJ’s persecution of peaceful pro-lifers

In his recommendation, Peterson claimed that the Orlando clinic repeatedly sought information from the state Agency for Health Care Administration about when the waiting period law would take effect. Peterson believed the agency did not provide that information, causing Cooley to commit the abortions outside of the waiting period law from April 26 to May 7, 2022. However, Cooley was aware that the law had been upheld; instead of immediately instituting the waiting period, she simply chose to continue abortions until without adhering to the law until she was officially notified otherwise.

The Agency for Health Care Administration did not agree with Peterson’s recommendation, saying, “The ALJ’s (administrative law judge’s) recommended penalty is woefully inadequate to address the severity of the violation in this case and the potential for harm that it caused, or to deter respondent or other physicians from future violations.”

The board ultimately rejected that argument and determined that Peterson’s recommended penalties were adequate.

The final order noted, “Upon a complete review of the record in this case, the board determines that the penalty recommended by the administrative law judge is accepted.”

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