Baby Born Alive at Abortion Clinic -- then Killed...

[Dr. Shane]

Fla. doctor investigated in badly botched abortion

Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.

Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated to dilate her cervix and otherwise get her ready for the procedure.

Only Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivered a live baby girl.

What Williams and the Health Department say happened next has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips.

"I don't care what your politics are, what your morals are, this should not be happening in our community," said Tom Pennekamp, a Miami attorney representing Williams in her lawsuit against Renelique (ren-uh-LEEK') and the clinic owners.

[text from link]

[Liz]

Why is the girl getting to sue the doctor? I think this is atrocious, and I think that he should be dealt harshly with; but I don't understand why the girl is getting to do it. I mean she went there with full intentions of killing her baby, her baby was killed--it should be end of story for her. It should be the DA going after the shoddy practice.....shouldn't it?

[Amelia]

I agree with you Liz. I would also like to know why she waited so long to decide.

[phkrause]

I also agree, that doctor and whoever threw this baby out like that, need to be dealt with.

pk

[Nan]

The girl might not have discovered or admitted she was pregnant till late.

Is late abortion legal in Florida? In some places it is legal up to 24 weeks. If it is legal, there is

probably no action that could be taken against the doctor. (I am appalled by the situation, but that

does not necessarily mean it is illegal.)

[Gail]

Breaks my heart... :(

[there buster]

This is precisely the sort of thing Obama, three times, refused to outlaw in Illinois.

[Jeannieb43]

The reason Obama refused that law in Illinois was because there was already a law in existence preventing killing of live-birth fetuses; AND this new proposed law did not provide for contraception. So, in other words, the law Obama vetoed in Illinois had no purpose whatsoever.

Please be careful when you start bad-mouthing our new President. He's bringing this country together. Why even think about anything in the past? [Especially when those things are lies to begin with.] Do you want to be known as anti-American?

[Dr. Shane]

From what I understand, Obama voted against the Illinois law because it did not have an exception for the mother's life. At least that is what he said during the campaign.

[there buster]

The Illinois law had nothing to do with the mother's life. It simply stipulated that a baby who survived an abortion could be given medical care.

The law was introduced because a nurse found a living Down syndrome baby which had been aborted, left in a closet to die. The law did not allow her to keep the child alive. So she held it until it died.

Obama voted against the bill three times. That's neither good- nor bad- mouthing. That's the record.

[Amelia]

Doctor loses license in live birth abortion case

From Kim Segal

CNN

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A doctor's license was revoked Friday in the case of a teenager who planned to have an abortion but instead gave birth to a baby she says was killed when clinic staffers put it into a plastic bag and threw it in the trash.

The doctor, Pierre Jean-Jacques Renelique, was not present when the baby was born, but the Florida Medical Board upheld Department of Health allegations that he falsified medical records, inappropriately delegated tasks to unlicensed personnel and committed malpractice.

Joseph Harrison, the attorney representing Renelique at the license revocation hearing in Tampa, said Renelique has not decided whether to appeal.

The state attorney's office, meanwhile, said its criminal investigation into the incident is ongoing and no charges have been filed. A fetus born alive cannot be put to death even if its mother intended to have an abortion, police said when the incident occurred in 2006.

The baby's mother, Sycloria Williams, sued Renelique, the clinic and its staff in January, seeking damages.

She alleges in her suit that "she witnessed the murder of her daughter" and said she "sustained severe emotional distress, shock and psychic trauma which have resulted in discernible bodily injury."

"This is not about a pot of gold," said Tom Pennekamp, her attorney. "What this is about is right and wrong and making a statement, making sure it doesn't happen to other young women."

According to the suit, Williams, then 18, discovered while being treated for a fall that she was 23 weeks pregnant. She went to a clinic to get an abortion on the morning of July 20, 2006, after receiving medication and instructions the previous day.

Renelique was not at the clinic, however, and Williams was told to wait for him. She was given two pills and told they would make her ill. When she complained of feeling ill, clinic staff members gave her a robe and told her to lie down in a patient room, the suit says.

Renelique was still not present when Williams "felt a large pain" and delivered a baby girl, according to the suit.

"The staff began screaming and pandemonium ensued. Sycloria watched in horror and shock as her baby writhed with her chest rising and falling as she breathed."

A clinic co-owner entered the room and used a pair of shears to cut the baby's umbilical cord, the suit said. She "then scooped up the baby and placed the live baby, placenta and afterbirth in a red plastic biohazard bag, which she sealed, and then threw bag and the baby in a trash can."

Staff at the clinic did not call 911 or seek medical assistance for Williams or the baby, the suit said.

Renelique arrived at the clinic about an hour later and gave Williams a shot to put her to sleep. "She awoke after the procedure and was sent home still in complete shock," the suit said.

Police were notified of the incident by an anonymous caller who told them the baby was born alive and disposed of.

"The complainant [Williams] observed the baby moving and gasping for air for approximately five minutes," according to a police affidavit requesting a search warrant for the clinic.

Two search warrants found nothing, but officers executing a third warrant "found the decomposing body of a baby in a cardboard box in a closet," the suit said.

The baby was linked to Williams through DNA testing, the lawsuit said. An autopsy showed it had filled its lungs with air prior to death. Documents from the state Department of Health said its cause of death was determined to be "extreme prematurity."

Fewer than 1 percent of babies are born at less than 28 weeks, according to the March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization aimed at reducing premature births, birth defects and infant mortality.

Infants born at that stage may survive, but require treatment with oxygen, other medical help and mechanical assistance to help them breathe. They are too immature to suck or swallow and so must be fed intravenously.

Babies born before about 32 weeks of gestation face the highest risk of health problems, the March of Dimes said.

Williams' lawsuit seeks damages from Renelique, the clinic and its staff. It claims that clinic records were falsified to say only that Williams underwent an abortion. Williams filed the suit individually and "as personal representative of the estate of Shanice Denise Osbourne, deceased," the suit said.

The medical board's action Friday came at the request of the Florida Department of Health, which filed an order in February 2007 seeking emergency restrictions on Renelique's license. Department documents list many of the same allegations as Williams' lawsuit.

"Dr. Renelique's failure to practice medicine with that level of care, skill and treatment that is recognized as being acceptable, as well as his willingness to falsify medical records, poses a serious and immediate danger to the public," the health department said.

Renelique did not respond to the health department or dispute the facts it alleged, department spokeswoman Eulinda Jackson said Friday.

Williams has declined to speak publicly about the case, said Pennekamp, her attorney. She suffers from post-traumatic stress because of the experience, he said.

[there buster]

Quote:

She alleges in her suit that "she witnessed the murder of her daughter"

It's difficult to understand her reasoning. She went to the clinic for an abortion. What did she expect to happen to the child?

[Liz]

Yes, I am still mystified as to why she gets to sue.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

She alleges in her suit that "she witnessed the murder of her daughter" and said she "sustained severe emotional distress, shock and psychic trauma which have resulted in discernible bodily injury."

Obviously her severe emotional distress is not connected to the abortion. John Hopkins has proved that post-abortion syndrome is a myth. This woman must have other things going on in her life that is causing this psychic trauma. It certainly cannot be connected to her abortion. John Hopkins is a reputable, sound and scientific organizations. They cannot be wrong about such things.