Posted on 12/01/2001 6:22:38 PM PST by JMJ333
Nurse Jill Stanek made a shocking discovery when she moved from the cardiac unit to labor and delivery at Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill., a Chicago Suburb: The Christian hospital, affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, performed abortions.
Her dismay increased in 1999 when she learned the hospital did an abortion procedure that induces labor early and sometimes results in live births of late-term babies--infants that were left to die, sometimes surviving for as long as an hour.
Stanek has testified twice before congress about the labor-induction abortion used at Christ Hospital and other hospitals too. On Aug. 31, she was fired from her job. The hospital says Stanek's claims are untrue and unsubstantiated, and that patients receive compassionate care.
Our Sunday Visitor [OSV]talked to Stanek about the cruelty of the procedure and legislative efforts to protect infants who survive the procedure.
OSV: Tell us about the experience you had at Christ Hospital with a baby aborted through labor induction.
Jill Stanek: There was a baby with Down's Syndrome who had been aborted, and one of the nurses was carrying him to a soiled utility room. She said she didn't have time to hold him. I told her I wouldn't let the baby die alone. I held the baby for 45 minutes. I thought, this is insane. This can't be happening.
The baby was brought to the room to die. There was no medical intervention. I could see when his heart stopped beating. His skin was thin; I held the baby up to the light to check on the heart.
OSV: What was the policy on abortion at the hospital?
Stanek: Abortion could be used on babies for non-fatal diseases such as Down's Syndrome and Spina Bifida, as well as for the life and health of the mother.
OSV:That was changed after you caused a stir?
Stanek: Yes. You couldn't abort for nonfatal illness, but you can still abort in the event of rape or incest. They had been planning on adopting an abortion policy that would have included babies with cystic fibrosis, HIV, and mild retardation. They pulled back after my experiences at the hospital were reported by newspapers.
OSV:How does the labor-induction work, and why would a hospital choose to adopt such a procedure?
Stanek: You insert a medication into the birth canal that irritates the cervix. The baby is still small, maybe 1 pound to 2 pounds. The baby falls right out of the uterus.
We know babies can feel pain at 20 weeks. How would you like not to be able to breathe?
OSV:What did you do after you had held the dying baby?
Stanek: I decided I had to do something. I prayed. I read Proverbs 24:11-12; "You will rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die. Don't stand back and let them die. Don't disclaim responsibility." I decided to stay and fight it.
I wrote a letter to the hospital administrators. I believed they didn't know what was going on. They called themselves "Christians". They called a meeting with me and said I might be better off at a hospital that shared my convictions.
I was meeting with my pastor, and he told the hospital that if they didn't change the policy, we would alert anyone who would listen to what they were doing. So, in July 1999, we wrote a letter to 70 pro-life churches and organizations in the Chicago area and nationwide.
OSV:You also eventuall testified before congress. What did you say?
Stanek: I talked about my experience at holding the baby. I was told I could also tell what others had told me. A nurse had told me about a baby they thought that had spina bifida. That's what they thought because of the ultrasound. It turned out it was an incomplete twin in the placenta. They aborted a healthy baby.
I told about how aborted babies were left naked on a weigh scale and metal counter. I talked about how a baby had been wrapped in a towel, and the cleaning lady accidentally put it in the garbage. The baby fell out on the floor when they were looking through it.
OSV:When you look back at your experiences, how do you view it?
Stanek: I look back on it as obedience to God. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I'm 45 years old. I've done enough wrong things in my life to know that even though people might not know you've done something wrong, you feel so bad about yourself if you don't do the right thing. I did it for Christ.
I think the name of the hospital can't be overlooked. God has chosen this hospital. The name of his son has been dishonored.
I am repulsed at the suggestion that an Evangelical Lutheran Church affiliated with a hospital condones abortions.........but then, the ELCA has adopted quite a few 'liberal' doctrines in the past few years........one reason I changed to the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod....
Agreed. Nobody can defend their disgust at the pictures. They say "you shouldn't show that because it's ugly or disgusting"- well why is it disgusting? Why is it terrible to behold? They can't answer that question without ceding the point that it is a mulilated human.
I'm opposed to abortion in all circumstances, but hearing the baby had Down's Syndrome, and the abortion had already occurred (what could the nurse do?) at least the baby didn't have to go through life disabled. If there's a bright side.
No, poverty is not an irreversible condition. But I do think the poor should receive *no* welfare...both as an incentive to get them to change their reversible condition, and as a way of keeping them from breeding more poor people.
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