New Jersey officials declined to comment for this article, as did the law firm representing Brigham.
Prosecutors, public health experts, and others say these cases illustrate a host of problems, including a feeble complaint system, spotty clinic inspections, poor communication among oversight agencies - and the reluctance of doctors to punish their own.
"In general, the discipline of doctors in this country is a disaster," said physician Sidney Wolfe, director of health research for Public Citizen, a consumer-advocacy group.
In Public Citizen's annual look at rates of serious disciplinary actions by state medical boards, New Jersey and Pennsylvania rank among the least aggressive, having acted against fewer than three in every 1,000 physicians between 2007 and 2009.
Beyond patient safety, abortion regulation is tangled in moral, political, and commercial issues.
Consider that Brigham's latest travails - license suspension in New Jersey and a criminal probe in Maryland - have not halted his abortion enterprise, called American Women's Services. The toll-free phone lines are taking calls for its clinics in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia - and a recent addition, Pensacola, Fla.
"Businesses aren't regulated that well, but they should be, especially businesses that affect the public health and well-being," said Leonard Glantz, a health law professor at Boston University.
More dangerous
Abortion goes from being brief and low-risk for the mother during the first three months, when the fetus is tiny, to being increasingly dangerous as the fetus grows.
