Denise Doe (not her real name) was badly injured at Delta Women's Clinic in Baton Rouge.
The date: September 5, 1998.
Why was that significant? A group of pro-lifers, on the first anniversary of Mother Teresa's Death, prayed for the favor of help for the pray life movement. In a sense, what happened to Denise Doe, her baby and Denise Doe's mother, was an answer to that prayer.
The baby survived the abortion.
During the abortion, Denise Doe was repeatedly screaming because the abortionist (who had been kicked out of LSU's Medical School) kept puncturing her uterus.
At one point the abortionist told Denise Doe: "If you don't shut up, you're going to die".
Eventually the abortionist gave up on completing the abortion and told Denise Doe to go to a nearby Hospital.
The Abortionist neglected to provide necessary information to the hospital. The unborn baby's heart was found to be beating -- though no telling what shape the baby was in given this was a "failed abortion".
This was Saturday of Labor Day weekend that year. By Monday, Denise had swelled to twice her size. At a nearby Hospital, she lay close to death. It was necessary for Denise Doe to have an emergency Hysterectomy because of septic poisoning in the uterus. When the mother saw her daughter Denise Doe near death, she made many pleas to God.
Finally she made a plea that God heard and maybe Mother Teresa joined with her -- that the mother would speak out against abortion if her daughter lived.
As soon as the mother made this "prayer" to God, her daughter made a remarkable recovery.
When it appeared her daughter was out of danger, the mother decided to go back on her "deal with God". Immediately, her daughter Denise Doe almost died a second time. Upon realizing her mistake, the mother repented, and told God that she would speak out against abortion.
I personally heard the mother of Denise Doe speak after the January 22nd Memorial Mass at the Cathedral of St John in 1999. She sobbed as she told the story, and had to be comforted by the then Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana. The mother was not Catholic, she was a good Baptist.
The Louisiana Legislature passed a law requiring abortion clinics to inspected after then Gov Buddy Roemer had passed an executive order to do the same thing, but had his executive order contested (apparently women's organizations were not interested in abortion clinics being a safe place for women/girls).
I post this as this is part of the reason Bobby Jindal and the Louisiana Legislature is able to get tough with abortion clinics in Louisiana.
The story of Denise Doe is very important to this story.
I was at that abortion clinic that day. I was part of the group that made the prayer request to Mother Teresa.
The story of what happened to Denise Doe, her mother and her unborn baby, as well the help it brought the prolife movement as been documented as part of the cause of the Canonization of Mother Teresa.
Maybe the baby's life was temporarily spared by the intervention of Mother Teresa (Denise Doe required an emergency hysterectomy)... Maybe Denise Doe would have died if Mother Teresa did not intervene to save her life...
The organization Silent No More Awareness documents the case of Denise Doe as a woman/girl as being the most severely injured during an abortion (or abortion attempt) to live...
Sorry for the long post, but it is the 12th anniversary of these events. And the favor has been documented for the cause of Mother Teresa.
Some of the "fruits" for prolife was a major lawsuit that received national attention, a local TV station did a special on what happened to Denise Doe. Finally, there was the law to require inspections of abortion clinics in Louisiana -- which was fought tooth and nail by groups such as NOW.
Finally, there was the law to require inspections of abortion clinics in Louisiana -- which was fought tooth and nail by groups such as NOW.
The Health Inspection Law for Abortion Clinics was passed in 1999, but did not go into effect until 2000 because of opposition from Women's groups trying to prevent abortion clinics from being a safe place.