Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Killing in the Name of ... Part XII

Abortionists investigated for possible baby murder.

In full ...

The dead body of a baby who probably was born alive and then killed is just "business as usual" for the nation's abortion industry, a spokesperson for the Florida Right to Life effort told WorldNetDaily.

"This is the result of legalized abortion in our nation. There are very few protections for the mother, and basically no protections for the unborn children," Linda Bell said.

She was talking about an investigation being done now by the Miami-Dade County medical examiner and police in Hialeah into the death of a baby whose body was found in a biohazard bag at an abortion clinic in the South Florida city.

The discovery came after someone, perhaps a clinic worker, according to police, called 911 anonymously to report that a baby had been born alive, and was killed.

A lawyer for the owner of "A Gynecologists Diagnostic Center" immediately issued a statement that no crime was committed, and an 18-year-old had had an abortion without complications.

"My clients run an abortion clinic. It's a legal business," Regina DeMoraes-Millan told television station WFOR-TV in Miami-Fort Lauderdale. "Right now police are just investigating a 9-1-1 call."

Police and the coroner, however, have a little higher level of concern, and ordered the clinic closed while their investigation determined whether any criminal charges would be filed.

"In 24 years in law enforcement, I have never seen a case like this,"" Hialeah Det. Tony Rodriguez told the station.

Authorities report their investigation includes the potential for homicide charges, as well as evidence tampering. The baby reportedly was 12 inches long and weighed up to three pounds, an age and weight at which premature infants can survive outside the womb.

Witnesses reported to police the 18-year-old woman, whose name wasn't released, went to the clinic at about 22 weeks of pregnancy for an abortion, then returned the next day complaining of pain. Clinic workers said the doctor wasn't available and she would have to wait.

The witnesses reported that she was taken into a recovery room, where she gave birth to the child she thought had been aborted the day before.

"Employees cut the umbilical cord, put the baby in a bag and walked away with it," Hialeah Lt. Ralph Garcia said.

After the anonymous 9-1-1 call, police responded but found no body. Then they returned a second time, following a second call, and found the body in the biohazard bag. Detectives say it's possible clinic workers moved the body during the first visit, to avoid detection, according to LifeNews.com.

Bell said her organization and others concerned about life repeatedly have tried to get basic health clinic rules applied to abortion businesses, without success to date.

"Unfortunately, that's the mentality of this country, that the abortion business is not subject (to rules)," she told WorldNetDaily. "This is the result of that."

She said the death was tragic, but she couldn't call it a murder until the autopsy results were released because that is a legal term.

An autopsy was done over the weekend, with results pending that could impact Hialeah Police Chief Rolando Bolaco's closure order for the clinic.

A report by the Miami Herald said state records show the clinic is one of a group owned and run by the same people. The records show the owner is Belkis Gonzalez of Miramar, who also was listed as the owner of the Miramar clinic that was closed in 2005 after several workers were accused of practicing medicine without a license.

The state Department of Health concluded that one worker, Roberto A. Osborne, failed to treat a woman after giving her an abortion in 2000 and he pleaded guilty in 2005 to performing medicine without a license, a third-degree felony.

The woman in that case ended up in an emergency room, where doctors performed a hysterectomy, the health department said.

Bell also noted that she was not surprised, because the Miramar clinic at one point promoted a cleaning woman to medical assistant so she could assist with abortions. Bell said the woman later pleaded guilty to nursing without a license.

One of the witnesses in the ongoing case is the baby's mother.

"We were able to locate the mother of this child. ... She, in fact, reiterated that she did come to this clinic to have an abortion, and she gave birth to the baby while waiting for the doctor to arrive," Lt. Garcia told WTVJ-TV.