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http://www.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=26&art_id=28340

Abortion Clinic Workers Refuse to Save Live Child


4/27/05




ORLANDO, FL � Angele, a single mother in her thirties with two children, thought that abortion was the answer to her circumstances. At almost 23 weeks gestation, she entered the EPOC Clinic in Orlando, Florida. Little did she realize that the next day she would give birth to a live, perfectly healthy boy whom she named Rowan. Cradling Rowan's moving body, her screams for help were ignored by abortion clinic workers while her son took his last breath.

The clinic is known for late-term abortions and for its well-known founder, Dr. James Pendergraft. A few years ago, he served time in a federal prison regarding an alleged scheme to extort the city of Ocala, Florida by means of his other abortion clinic in that city.

On April 1, Angele was given Valium, and Laminaria were inserted in her cervix to begin dilation. She was told to return the following day. On April 2, Angele took prescribed medicine to induce labor. Cramping and crying, she went to the clinic and knocked repeatedly on the door. Eventually someone came and directed her to a room that had dried blood on the wall. She was given a blanket that was still wet. She began to bleed and go into labor. Despite her cries, no one assisted her. After one hard push, the baby was born, fully intact and definitely alive. Angele said, "His right leg moved. He curled up a bit, like he was cold; I screamed but no one came." She pleaded for the clinic workers to call 911, but they did not.

Angele caressed and comforted her son by rubbing his back, tummy and chest. "I stroked his precious little head and kept telling him I loved him, and we would be okay," she said. Still no one came to help. Eventually, Angele, holding the baby still attached to the umbilical cord, ran to get her cell phone. Help did not arrive in time. Rowan took his last breath. "After a few minutes, I realized for certain that he was gone. I picked up my son. I held him to my chest. I rocked him and prayed. I could not stop crying," said Angele. "I felt so bad. I felt so helpless. I had been so wrong to come here � I wanted to fix and change everything once I saw Rowan's precious little face and body. All we needed was someone to get us to safety," Angele said.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, which represents Angele, told LifeSiteNews.com, "Angele's baby Rowan's birth and death unmasked the tragic abortion and infanticide that occurs every day in America. Most victims are nameless and we never hear about them. We need to replace the abortion rhetoric with a culture of life."

Staver recalls, "When I visited baby Rowan at the funeral home and saw his precious little body, fully formed with blond eyelashes and growing fingernails, I wondered, 'How can we continue to kill our children and hide behind the rubric of choice?'" He added, "Rowan's short life will not be in vain if his story can give life and hope to mothers who believe their only choice is abortion. We must protect our precious, innocent children. We must extend a healing hand to mothers like Angele."

How terribly sad and tragic!

Eternal memory to all the victims of such tragedies!

Christos Voskres!

http://www.womenscenter.com/pendergraft.html

If this woman's story were verifiable, it truly would be tragic and horrific.

1 April she is certain that an abortion is right for her...

2 April she loves and prays for a 23-week old dying fetus...

... later, when Liberty Counsel picked up her case, the (stillborn) fetus has a name: Rowan.

This story does not hold together; sorry, folks.

http://www.540wfla.com/news2.html

http://story.orlandoecho.com/p.x/ct/9/cid/88746c23afcdd0e0/id/88b8eec1ad51ab68/

http://www.wftv.com/news/4431245/detail.html

and from another website:

"Raised in North Carolina, Pendergraft went to medical school partly at the urging of an aunt, whose illegal botched abortion made her infertile. A highly credentialed and well-regarded physician, Pendergraft probably performs more abortions in his five clinics than any other provider in the U.S. He is one of a handful of doctors in the country who perform high-risk and medically necessary abortions up to 28 weeks. Unlike many abortion doctors, Pendergraft is board-certified as an Ob-Gyn, and he completed a specialty fellowship in maternal/fetal medicine and high-risk obstetrics. Only about fifteen hundred or so physicians nationwide have this level of training. He is "unequivocally one of the best doctors I ever worked with, in a variety of ways: medical/surgical techniques, handling of uncommon conditions, and sensitivity to women's needs," says Patricia Baird-Windle, a longtime abortion clinic owner in Florida."

blessing, wg

This past Saturday, 30 April, here in Eureka, my son and I were driving down the street and at Planned Parenthood was one lone man with (4) very large, you couldn't miss it if you tried type posters of aborted babies. My son asked me what it was, I'm a Dad who always welcomes the opportunity to teach my son, so I took a right turn and went back to Planned Parenthood and we got out of the car and looked at the sad, but very true posters of aborted babies. The lone man never said a word to us, just as I started to ask him a question, I saw he was using his rosary, so I told my son to get our rosaries out of the car, at first he didn't want to and I told him it wasn't for us and pointed at the posters and told him, "It is for those babies who never got to experience life!" My 13 year old looked at me and said, "Dad, I'll get the rosaries!" I think I made a good point that day thanks to one lone man who was portesting abortion! Comments anyone, I know this issue is a hot topic!

Actually, it does. I have heard - from people who used to work in abortion clinics - that they are told to turn the ultrasound monitor AWAY from the mother because if she saw the baby inside her she would decide against an abortion. Don't you think that if she were holding that baby in her arms she would be moved to repentance? And give him a name?

Sounds like you're pro-choice, wg.

Tammy

I haven't posted on this forum for a while, but this time . . .

I'm sure other people here have counselled people who have done this. Yes, they turn the monitors away so the mothers can't see it. There is much more to it than that.

It's really strange, I've been watching the I Claudius series. It wasn't what I expected and I wasn't expecting it to be so disturbing. I'm not sure that our society is much different from theirs. We love to laugh at the weird logic of the pagan Romans ("Cut off my hand after I open my veins and bury it away from me. Otherwise it will be suicide,") but then employ our own sophistry when we murder our own children ("a doctor failed to administer a drug called digoxin, which would have killed the unborn child before delivery").

The "doctor" probably did his job. As almost all women do after such a tragedy, the mother realized her mistake and tried to undo it. Instead of blaming herself or her friends and family for pushing her to do it, she blames the killer without thinking that he did what she hired him to do. I think that may just be too much for this lady.

So who will help her now? That's a bit of a pun.

Hi seraphim and son,

... We were in Humboldt Co. last Summer; you didn't go to Arcata High did you?!? My wife did! Do you know Buttermilk Lane? We had a lovely meal in the Mexican Restaurant in Eureka!!


... back on topic....

yes, I should think a 13 yr old can identify with the fact that an aborted fetus will never have experienced life. It takes a bit more life experience to identify with a woman who makes the decision to end a pregnancy. She isn't anonymous to God and she is still the recipient of God's blessing even though some may not say the rosary for her.

Sounds like this experience provided an excellent teachable moment for your son.


Hi cizinec,

"doctor" I don't think a doctor was actually present at the moment of the stillbirth, and legal counsel maintains that a doctor was not even at the clinic when it happened, if I remember correctly.
But you make a good point about the need for the woman to take responsibility for her choice. I agree wholeheartedly with this.

blessing to all, wg

I don't think an abortionist is acting as a doctor, do you?

From Merriam-Webster

Etymology: Middle English doctour teacher, doctor, from Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French, from Medieval Latin doctor, from Latin, teacher, from docEre to teach -- more at DOCILE
1 a : an eminent theologian declared a sound expounder of doctrine by the Roman Catholic Church -- called also doctor of the church b : a learned or authoritative teacher c : a person who has earned one of the highest academic degrees (as a PhD) conferred by a university d : a person awarded an honorary doctorate (as an LLD or Litt D) by a college or university

2 a : one skilled or specializing in healing arts; especially : a physician, surgeon, dentist, or veterinarian who is licensed to practice b : MEDICINE MAN

3 a : material added (as to food) to produce a desired effect b : a blade (as of metal) for spreading a coating or scraping a surface

4 : a person who restores or repairs things

Under which category does this fellow fit? definition 2? Perhaps definition 2(b).

You aren't addressing the fact that the "doctor" caused the stillbirth.

Out of curiosity, do you think a stillborn baby is a baby or just a discarded tissue?

I saw women say similar things on a program that was aired on EWTN some weeks ago. It consisted of interviews of women who had abortions and who later repented; it also showed an interview of a doctor who had performed abortions and who later repented.

What was most shocking, amidst a host of shocking and appalling things, was the situation inside the abortion clinics that the women went to for their abortions. They said that all the women were given valium to calm them while they waited for their abortions. In those moments, some of them repented: they knew that they were about to have their own children slaughtered, and they changed their minds, but their protests were disregarded by the staff as pre-operative hysteria, and the abortions were performed *anyway.* Later, after their abortions, all the women were lying down in the recovery room. Some them, too, repented. Some of them moaned and howled: "I've killed my baby. Oh God, Oh God, I've killed my baby..." Again, this was recounted by women who had abortions and who witnessed these things at the clinics where they had their abortions.

It was harrowing to hear, and it has made me pray more and more intensely to end the abomination of abortion and for mercy on those who have had abortions, who have participated in abortions, or who are tempted to get abortions, or who support abortions.

Here are some links to Christian websites about abortion. I'm offering them for anyone who needs to read them or for reference for others.

Here is a link that has photos of aborted babies. I post it for those of you who know people who say, �What�s the big deal about abortion?� The answer is �dead babies.� This website shows that. Warning: these photos are extremely graphic.
http://www.abortiontv.com/

Here is a link to statistics about abortion. In the U.S. alone, it is estimated that 1.3 million abortions take place annually. The numbers come from the Guttmackher institute, which is the statistical organization for Planned Parenthood. http://womensissues.about.com/cs/abortionstats/a/aaabortionstats.htm

Here is the link to the Catholic pro-life group, Priests for Life.
http://www.priestsforlife.org/

Here is the link to the Orthodox pro-life group, Orthodox Christians for Life.
http://www.oclife.org/oclife.html

Here is a link to a very good, very accurate icon about abortion. http://groups.msn.com/SlaughteroftheInnocents/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=7

Here is an explanation of that icon, at the website for the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia: http://home.it.net.au/~jgrapsas/pages/abortion3.html


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Finally, here are some links relating to the miracles at Naju, South Korea.
http://www.najumary.or.kr/salveregina/index.htm ;
http://www.marys-touch.com/

This is controversial, since the local archbishop ruled negatively against it. http://www.catholicoasis.com/naju.htm

However, the miracles are well-attested by bishops and others, and they hardly seem to contradict Catholic teaching. http://www.marys-touch.com/messages.htm

Indeed, one miracle was the Consecrated Host of the Eucharist taking the appearance of Flesh. It was witnessed in 1995 by Bishop Roman Danylak, titular bishop of Nyssa and the former Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy of Toronto for Ukrainian Catholics in Toronto, Canada.

The first link about this miracle is from a website about Naju. http://www.najumary.or.kr/salveregina/The%20Eucharistic%20Miracles_1_Danylak%201.htm

The second link about this miracle is from Bishop Danylak�s own personal website.
http://www.heartofjesus.ca/Naju/Najuch.html#bishop

The reason I mention all of this is that the Mother of God is saying that abortion is one of the greatest sources of suffering for her heart and for her Son, Jesus.
http://www.marys-touch.com/messages/abortion.htm

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God have mercy on us all. God have mercy on the end of abortion. God have mercy on all who are involved in abortion. Mary, Mother of Jesus, Mother of the Unborn, pray for us.

--John
13 May 2005
Feast of Our Lady of Fatima

Hello again, Wild Goose.

I for one can identify at least to some extent with the unfortunate young women who seek abortions--I was a pro-life counselor for several years in the Washington D.C. area, and I came into contact with many, many suffering women, both those who were contemplating abortion and those who had tragically gone through with it.

On the basis of that experience, I would say that even if the unborn child were not a human life, I would do everything in my power to try to prevent these girls from having abortions, if only because of the incredibly destructive effects that abortion always seems to have on them physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Even an agnostic rationalist, if he were to approach this question impartially, would see that abortions are terribly destructive for the women who obtain them. The most compassionate thing, by far, that we can do for women in difficult circumstances is to take the abortion option off the table.

Of course, the unborn child is a human being as well, and so the whole murder-is-wrong thing comes into play. It is not compassionate, either to the muderer or to the murderee, to assist in or approve of that terrible act.

Not, of course, that you would ever do so. I simply wanted to respond to what you said above about identifying with the women.

LatinTrad