In Elkon, Maryland, two abortion doctors were filling ice chests with viable human beings. Local authorities are aghast after discovering freezers full of fetuses, some full term, in a clinic in Elkon County. The doctors accused of disposing of viable infants are Dr. Steven Brigham and his associate Dr. Nicola Riley. The duo was arrested subsequent to difficulties that arose after they "performed part of an abortion in New Jersey [and] then transferred the patient to Maryland" to complete the procedure.
After exercising her reproductive
rights, an 18-year-old woman suffered complications and was taken to the hospital. Maryland officials were alerted that something illegal might be going on in Elkon, "searched the abortion clinic looking for [the women's] medical records, but they found something else in the freezer" - discoveries eerily similar to the Gosnell Women's Medical Society "house of horrors."Apparently, Brigham and Riley would "start" the abortion process in New Jersey, where the state laws are more restrictive. Then, in order to circumvent New Jersey's late-term abortion limitations, women would be shuttled to a secret Elkon County clinic where the 'late-term' portion of the abortion procedure is legal.
Admittedly, it does take a strong constitution and a high level of commitment to flout the law and believe so much in a woman's right to choose that you'd be willing to conceal the crime by filling a freezer with dead fetuses. And while some may view killing full-term babies as ghastly, it's really just abortion with a Dr. 'Death' Kevorkian twist.
In pro-choice circles, regardless of how grisly it may seem to others, women reserve the right to seek out doctors like Brigham and Riley who, like Gosnell and Tiller, are willing to go the distance to ensure the freedom and dignity of women wishing to exercise autonomy over their own bodies.
Unfortunately, now neither Brigham nor Riley enjoys the freedom or dignity they sought to provide others. Subsequent to the discovery and autopsy of three dozen frozen fetuses, Dr. Brigham has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder, five counts of second-degree murder, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. His cohort, Dr. Riley, faces one count each of first- and second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Why? Because although Maryland supports a woman's right to have a late-term abortion, there's a catch. Maryland is one of 38 states with a fetal homicide law, and unlike many other states, does not "define when it is too late to perform an abortion." However, under a 2005 Maryland law, "it is illegal to abort a fetus deemed viable, or showing signs of healthy development," which would seem to be a good definition of "when it is too late to perform an abortion."
Hailing from the Garden and Beehive states, the irony was lost on Brigham and Riley as they stuffed fetuses into the freezer. Were they unaware of Maryland's "viable, or showing signs of healthy development" clause?
Either way, somewhere along the line someone put two and two together and figured out that nine-month-old fetuses, also known as babies, are generally able to survive outside the womb. So, if 36 dead children end up in a freezer, 13 of whom were said to be full term, there's a good chance one or two of them could have complicated matters by daring to be born alive.
Babies "breathing unaided" after an abortion is a crucial detail, which may explain why the two crusaders for choice are presently in police custody awaiting extradition to Maryland from Camden County, NJ and Salt Lake County in Utah.
As of 2009, in the United States there were "13,000 late-term abortions annually done after 21 weeks of pregnancy," which is equivalent to wiping out one 13,000-seat arena of full-fledged, viable infants per year. And therein lies the dilemma for doctors. Why should five or ten minutes make a difference when it comes to choice? Why such a fine line? Shouldn't what was legal 10 minutes before also be legal if an uncooperative baby should dare to survive an abortion?
Even President Barack Obama, who opposed the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, contends that to give medical treatment to children born alive in botched abortions "simply...burden[s] the original decision of the woman and the decision to induce labor and perform an abortion" -- a moral quandary that has left dedicated late-term abortion doctors like Brigham and Riley in a bit of a pickle.
However, those who support the right to choose shouldn't worry, because as always, in their stead another champion of choice will emerge from the ash heap of hell - men and women whose idea of choice includes stuffing freezers with the fully-formed bodies of helpless infants.
Jeannie DeAngelis
Jeannie DeAngelis writes almost exclusively for American Thinker and has been published on the conservative website Pajamas Media, as well as hosting a blog. See Jeannie's Blog
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