Dr. William Henry Richardson, an abortionist practicing in Phoenix and Tucson, is “Dr. X”. Medical license #: 18829

“…be sure your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:23(b) [NIV]

(Note: this is a developing story and will be updated when necessary. Click here for Part 2 and here for Part 3)

Mayra Rodriquez worked for Planned Parenthood of Arizona—in Maricopa County—for seventeen years before she was wrongfully fired by the abortion giant. She sued in 2017 over this wrongful termination and, in 2019, won an approximate $3 million dollar judgement against them. Another article is here.

My main interest in this lawsuit stems from serious allegations made against one of the abortion doctors referred in the “Verified Complaint” as “Dr. X.” Another doctor described in the complaint, referred to as “Dr. Y,” was also alleged to have committed serious infractions. (The allegations against Dr. X are found beginning on page 4 of the Verified Complaint, paragraphs 24 through 33.)

Neither of these abortionists are identified by their legal names. In fact, none of the articles written by various news outlets that I read referred to either of these individuals by their names, casting a pall of secrecy over these two abortionists and granting them a buffer of protection from public scrutiny and possible censure by keeping their true identities from the public eye.

My interest in this case is personal; for the last five years, I have stood on the sidewalks outside of Tucson’s only abortion clinic, Tucson Women’s Center (TWC), with other pro-life Christians in our continual attempts to offer help to abortion minded women seeking to terminate their pregnancies. The abortionist who ran this particular clinic is William H. Richardson.

In July of 2018, Richardson closed TWC and merged with Planned Parenthood (PP), moving his operations to the PP facility located literally across the street in the same medical plaza, located at 2255 N. Wyatt Dr.

For the past several months, I was hearing about the story of Mayra Rodriquez and what was occurring with her problems with PP in Phoenix. Like so many other stories concerning PP and their abuses, Mayra’s story added to the constant drumbeat of shocking news coming out of PP and did not particularly stand out and arrest my attention…until a week or so ago.

Click here for Part 2 of this investigation.

I received an email from a fellow Christian who regularly ministers on the same sidewalks outside of Tucson’s PP as I do. During our subsequent discussions, this sidewalk counselor informed me that “Dr. X” was positively identified as Richardson.

How was this identification confirmed? Mayra Rodriquez reached out to Abby Johnson, another former PP clinic director who became a whistleblower. Johnson’s story generated coast to coast attention to the problems with the abortion giant and she became a national spokeswoman for the pro-life movement. The 2019 movie “Unplanned” chronicles Johnson’s story.

Breaking News (March 14, 2020): Mayra Rodriguez positively identifies Dr. William H. Richardson as “Dr. X”.

Rodriguez contacted Johnson due, in part, because of Johnson’s organization, “And Then There Were None,” which states on its website: “And Then There Were None (ATTWN) is a registered nonprofit organization that exists to help abortion clinic workers leave the abortion industry…”

A video collaboration between Rodriquez and ATTWN resulted in at least two videos (here and here) which told Rodriquez’s story of why she was fired from PP. It was in the second video where she identifies “Dr. X” as Richardson:

The above video is almost 40 minutes long (note: the audio portion when Myra speaks is poor—please listen with quality headphones for the best listening experience). To save time, I will include the relevant timestamps below for those who might not have the time to listen to the full video:

Beginning at timestamp 4:40 and continuing through 5:46, a portion from the paperwork generated because of the lawsuit lays the foundation for the claims against Richardson as being the doctor who was receiving the greatest amount of “incidents,” though he was not the abortionist responsible for performing the greatest amount of abortions.

Beginning at timestamp 30:42, Mayra lays further foundation for the allegation that Richardson, being number two in the amount of abortions performed, was nonetheless responsible for nearly 50% of all statewide complications.

The testimony from Mayra, beginning at 30:42 and continuing through 33:43, contains among the most serious allegations leveled against Richardson. For example, at timestamp 32:01 through 32:18, the narrator comments that Mayra was speaking out against Richardson “…because the whole premise of you being fired as a whistleblower is the fact that you spoke up against Dr. Richardson…right?  Like you said, this is not ok, all of the complications, all of the complaints…” 

What is clear is that Dr. X is referring to William Richardson. Whenever the reader observes the words “Dr. X” in the Verified Complaint, they can substitute “Dr. William Richardson” and be accurate in that replacement.

I wish to point out that, at this point in my investigation on this evolving story, I am unaware that Richardson has been indicted or officially charged for any of the crimes alleged against him in the Verified Complaint. Until such allegations transform into a criminal investigation where he is found guilty after a jury trial, or if he would admit guilt as part of an inevitable plea agreement if charges are filed against him, he must be seen as “innocent until proven guilty.”

This information is troubling on multiple levels. First, why was Richardson not immediately fired from his position by PP when these allegations were made public? Why was he not fired long before these public revelations became known if indeed, as Rodriquez claims, such allegations had been well known to PP for years? (See paragraph 29.) Since PP constantly trumpets their concern for the health and wellbeing of their female patients, why would they allow this possibly rogue physician to continue to harm vulnerable women?

Second, Richardson primarily practices his grisly abortion trade in Tucson, AZ. Upon information and belief, he travels to Phoenix and Flagstaff performing abortions due to a shortage of abortionists available at these clinics. His main geographical area for performing abortions is at the PP in Tucson, located in a private medical plaza known as “Tucson Medical Center.” This sprawling medical complex is located due south of the hospital that shares the same name: Tucson Medical Center (TMC), a long established hospital in Tucson that carries an excellent reputation as being one of the best hospitals in Arizona.

Tucson Medical Center, an Arizona non-profit, owns the specific parcel of real property where the PP building is situated and out of which Richardson performs abortions. This PP building is surrounded by many other medical buildings staffed and run by medical professionals: urologists, dentists, optometrists, psychiatrists, wound doctors, etc.

Clearly, a hospital with an excellent reputation such as what TMC currently enjoys would not allow a physician like Richardson to practice amongst other doctors not burdened by such serious allegations. But Richardson’s presence in that community has always been an enigma to me. Why would a hospital like TMC allow an abortion doctor to practice there in the first place?

Are these serious allegations indeed fact? Is Richardson guilty of the acts and omissions Mayra Rodriguez claims in her lawsuit? Evidently, the jury hearing, examining, and weighing the evidence presented to them appears to believe that he is guilty as charged and awarded her an astonishing $3 million dollar judgment as part of their belief in his guilt, as well as the guilt of PP in wrongfully terminating her.

If Richardson is guilty of these allegations, one cannot dance around the conclusion: he is a criminal, rogue abortionist who should have his medical license immediately revoked and suffer the consequences of such crimes.

And if Planned Parenthood is guilty of knowing about these crimes for years as Rodriguez alleges they have, and if Richardson’s actions are proven to be criminal in nature, PP’s cover-up is criminal as well and they should also be held responsible for such an unconscionable coverup that allowed this abortionist to continue harming women.

In the Verified Complaint listed above, paragraph 48, page 8 speaks of Richardson’s “…conduct and the resulting substantial risk to the health, safety and welfare of PPA patients and future patients…” But these risks to patients were never addressed or properly investigated due to a close personal relationship Ms. Ibarra, Center Manager for PPA, maintained with Richardson: it “was impossible, as a practical matter, to objectively raise the concerns with Ms. Ibarra as to Dr. X and the substantial risk he presented to patient safety, health, and welfare because of their longstanding relationship” (paragraph 49, page 9, lines 9-11).

The serious allegations against Richardson are again mentioned on page 12, paragraph 73.

Additional video from Mayra Rodriguez detailing further malpractice of Richardson

Beginning at timestamp 5:09 and continuing through 9:21 in the above video, Mayra goes into detail concerning one of the PP doctors with whom she had “a few discrepancies.” (5:07) This unnamed doctor is William Richardson.

Around the beginning of August or September of 2017, Richardson performed a second trimester abortion on a woman who was thirteen weeks pregnant (5:41). One of the staff members in the operating room with both Richardson and the patient was tasked with the grisly procedure of counting the body parts of the dismembered fetus in order to insure all the detached pieces of the baby were completely removed from the mother’s womb.

At this stage in the unborn babies development, bones and cartilage are developing, requiring the abortionist to perform what is known as a “D&C” (Dilation and Curettage) abortion. This is a grisly procedure which includes the use of a sharp, looped shaped instrument—a curettage—used to shear and scrape the body parts from off the fetus and away from the uterine wall. Since the baby is dismembered, his or her’s small body parts (euphemistically referred to by Mayra as POC’s [Products of Conception]) must be counted and “itemized” to insure no pieces are left behind. Failure to do so would mean human remains are left in the patient, which, as they decompose, can result in the woman developing dangerous and potentially life-threatening infections.

This itemizing of the baby’s body parts alerted the staff worker that Richardson failed to complete the abortion; he left behind pieces of this dismembered fetus inside the patient (6:01 through 6:27), requiring him to return to the patient and complete the operation (6:33 through 6:42).

This incident can also be found on page 6 of the aforementioned “Verified Complaint,” paragraph 31.

Mayra was evidently outraged at this (7:12) and suggested that this incident be brought up to the “Federation” (the nationwide “Planned Parenthood Federation of America” as opposed to the local, state level “Planned Parenthood of Arizona.”) She was told to “not worry about it” (7:31) and the end result was that nothing was done (7:37).

Richardson’s and PP’s prior problems

On June 27th in 2002, an “Amended Complaint” was filed against Richardson and PP in the Superior Court of Maricopa County in Phoenix alleging negligence, assault, and battery of a then 14-year-old female minor (see paragraph 15, page 4), identified in the lawsuit as “Jane Doe.”

The allegations directed toward Richardson and PP are both serious and shocking. In brief, this case revolves around a 23-year-old man, Shawn M. Stevens (see paragraph 14), who was the son of foster parents “retained and hired” by the State of Arizona as “foster parents for the minor child, Jane Doe” (see paragraph 5).

While in the custody and control of these foster parents, their son, Shawn, molested and impregnated Jane Doe. He took her to PP on November 10, 1998 for an abortion (paragraph 14).

According to the allegations in the Complaint, PP knew Jane Doe was a minor on this date and failed to alert the authorities (paragraph’s 15-17) of this fact and also failed to inform the foster parents they performed an abortion on her. Richardson performed the abortion.

Paragraph 16 from the Amended Complaint reads:

“Because of Planned Parenthood’s failure to report the abortion of November 10, 1998, Jane Doe was subjected to continued child molestation and sexual exploitation up and until Jane Doe presented herself for a second abortion on May 6, 1999.  Only after the second abortion did Planned Parenthood notify authorities on May 11, 1999.  Shawn M. Stevens also brought Jane Doe to Planned Parenthood on May 6, 1999.”

Paragraph 17, on page 4, alleges “grossly negligent” behavior on the part of PP (line 20) for their  “…failure to notify the proper authorities of the abortion of Jane Doe…,” causing “Jane Doe to be subject to repeated child molestation and sexual exploitation as the hands of an adult for an additional period of approximately six (6) months.  Had Planned Parenthood properly reported the incident to authorities, the perpetrator of the child molestation and sexual exploitation would have been apprehended by authorities and Jane Doe would not have had to go through a second abortion procedure…”

The alleged crimes of Dr. Richardson concerning this minor child are found on page 11 of the Verified Complaint as Count IX, “Negligence—Dr. Richardson.” Like the allegations against PP, Richardson is accused of knowing the underage status of Jane Doe (paragraph 43) and failing to inform the foster parents that he was planning on performing, or had already performed, an abortion on this 14-year-old victim of sexual molestation and exploitation.

Paragraph 45, found on page 12, alleges additional shocking allegations of Richardson’s gross negligence: the victim suffered “physical pain, humiliation, emotional distress, permanent psychological damages, and potential physical damages.”