Posted on 09/02/2004 12:40:11 PM PDT by Gelato
OPINION -- For three years in a row I submitted the same testimony to Illinois Senate committees that were deciding whether to let the full Senate vote on the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.
It was during those committee hearings that I first came face-to-face with state Senator Barack Obama, who functioned as either a member or the chairman, depending on the year and the committee.
Each time I testified, I described to Obama and other members the death of a particular little girl who was aborted alive at Christ Hospital.
The baby's death haunts me, because she might have lived with help. Her abandonment by medical professionals clearly demonstrated that wanted and unwanted babies are treated differently at delivery. About her, I testified:
A nursing coworker told me about an incident she was involved in last spring [2000] that she said “I just can’t stop thinking about.”The aborted little girl weighed one pound at delivery. The American Heart Association/American Academy of Pediatrics Neonatal Resuscitation Textbook states, “Noninitiation of resuscitation in the delivery room is appropriate for… newborns with confirmed gestation of less than 23 weeks or birthweight less than 400 grams.”She participated in the abortion of a healthy 23-1/7 week baby who was given no medical assessments or care after delivery but was allowed to languish for 2-1/2 hours until she died, even though she showed early signs of flourishing.
Just three weeks after this baby was aborted, another mother came to the hospital under similar circumstances, carrying an identically aged baby, and she was offered the same options.
But she said that she wanted her baby. And so present at her delivery… was a neonatologist, a pediatric resident, a pediatric nurse, and a respiratory therapist… And for the two days that I tracked her, that little girl lived.
This baby fit both qualifications for resuscitation. She was over 23 weeks gestation and weighed over 400 grams. Little girls are also hardier than little boys at birth. Her APGAR scores improved between one and five minutes, meaning she was a little fighter, even without help.
But she was left for dead even before she was born: Her fetal monitor was turned off several hours before delivery, so no one would have to watch her beating heart on the screen, or worse, hear it.
The attending RN poured her heart out to me later. The reason she could not stop thinking about the incident, she said, was because she was also pregnant, and her baby was the same age as the baby she helped abort.
I told the nurse I was going to report the incident to authorities, and I did. She became angry and rarely spoke to me after that. She went on to deliver a girl, too. I wonder if she ever reflects back as she watches her daughter grow.
I wrote to then-Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan and Cook County State’s Attorney Dick Devine and gave them enough information to investigate the incident. Neither did.
I reported it to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. The response I got was flabbergasting. A Michael Kruley wrote me, “The Office for Civil Rights enforces civil rights laws which prohibit discrimination in the delivery of health and welfare services because of race, color, national origin, disability and age…. We cannot investigate your allegations because these civil rights laws do not cover abortion procedures or the rights of newborns.”
To rephrase, civil rights laws cover age discrimination but apparently not “the rights of newborns.” I requested clarification in a follow-up letter to Kruley, with no response.
At the first Senate committee hearing I was surprised when Colleen Connell, the ACLU representative testifying against BAIPA, said the 23-weeker I’d described was already protected under current Illinois law.
After the hearing, I wrote Connell and asked her to help me then, because I was getting nowhere. I got no response. I sent her a follow-up letter, in case the first was lost in the mail. No response.
When Obama and his fellow Democrats voted against BAIPA in committee that first year, I didn’t think they understood the magnitude of the 23-weeker’s death.
So the next year along with my testimony I submitted a page from the neonatal textbook demonstrating the resuscitation of a baby about the same age as I described. I watched Obama look at those photos… before he voted no again.
I never named that baby. I always called her Little Girl, now a pet name, I suppose.
Little Girl is now in a better place, where she is watching Obama. Someday Little Girl will be vindicated, I know. It would be nice if it were November 2.
Even if not, that day will come.
© 2004 IllinoisLeader.com -- all rights reserved
Jill Stanek became a leader in the Illinois conservative movement when she fought to stop "live birth abortion" after witnessing one as an RN at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn. In August 2002, President Bush asked Jill to his signing of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. In January 2003, World Magazine named Jill one of the 30 most prominent pro-life leaders of the past 30 years. In November 2003, the White House invited Jill to President Bush's signing of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. Jill continues to press for Illinois to become a state where unborn and newly born babies are safe. Jill is also pro-life coordinator for Concerned Women for America of Illinois and a public speaker around the country.
Photo demonstration of the resuscitation of an extremely premature baby from the American Heart Association/American Academy of Pediatrics Neonatal Resuscitation Textook, submitted by Jill Stanek to members of the Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee, including state Senator Barack Obama, on March 5, 2002. [Click to see enlarged view.]
Ping
Obama voted against protecting already-born babies even after hearing these stories!
Too bad we are running a carpetbagger joke against him. We might actually have been able to beat him with a real candidate.
"Too bad we are running a carpetbagger joke against him. We might actually have been able to beat him with a real candidate."
Outrage over Obama's advocacy of infanticide should outweigh any personal reservations about his opponent--reservations that are more silly than not.
Obama is an advocate for infanticide!
Jill Stanek is a cutie, and a fighter, and one of the best things about the Land of Lincoln.
I would have a hard time voting for either in this race if I were a resident. I use to respect Keys, but he's lost his mind. And beyond that, so has the Illinois GOP. Frankly, this whole episode is an embarrasment to the GOP. There is no way Ryan should have been run off for wanting to have sex, WITH HIS WIFE. It's absured. Then replacing him with a joke is even worse. I feel as if I were to vote for him, I'd be encouraging shinanigains like it.
I guess push come to shove, I probably would, probably, but I'd have to hold my nose a whole lot more then I would even voting for Chaffee or some other super-RINO.
Bump for the babies.
THere are very few if any real conservative republicans left in the RNC especially in the east coast, left coast, and in the rust belt.
Instead of name-calling, maybe you could explain what your objections are to the Republican Senate nominee.
It's unbecoming for Republicans to fall for the media's biased reporting without question. The media already crowned Obama king, so everything they report is slanted to make their guy look good, and the other guy not. You're letting the media manipulate you into thinking something irrelevant is more important than the real issues, more important than the extremist positions of Barack Obama.
Obama believes newborn babies don’t have rights. If elected, he would be the most radical U.S. Senator in history, and he will run for president in 2008.
His positions are deplorable, yet the media is fixated on whether or not Keyes hurt someone's feelings with a comment about homosexuality.
WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE ABOUT OBAMA?? Killing babies is no big deal? We need to demand the media report Obama's positions. Instead, they're giving him a free pass and allowing him to hide out.
Alan Keyes is not a joke. He is a decent man who would uphold the Constitution. Plus, he would be so much fun to hear on the Senate floor. He would take a stand when our other spineless Repubs are bending over.
We know a couple that had a 23.5 weeker due to an infection the mother contracted.He is currently alive and healthy, and had a wonderful time playing with our two preemies (28 weekers) who were int he NICU at the same time.
Not alive?
Democratic party, you have watered your flower bed with the blood of children. I spit upon you for the things you have sold your souls for.
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