FARGO - The Cass County state's attorney has declined to bring criminal charges against a doctor at the Red River Women's Clinic whose state medical license expired.
Birch Burdick, in a memo to Fargo police investigators, concluded that Dr. Lori Thorndike hadn't posed a safety risk to patients or flaunted the law during the time her North Dakota medical license had expired.
The women's clinic, in downtown Fargo, is North Dakota's only abortion clinic and has been the subject of scrutiny by anti-abortion activists.
Under North Dakota law, abortions must be performed by a licensed physician. Violations of the abortion statute are subject to possible misdemeanor or felony criminal penalties.
Thorndike's North Dakota license expired June 30, and was renewed last week after the lapse was made public. Her medical licenses in Colorado, her resident state, and South Dakota, remained active.
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The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
