By Gudrun Schultz
HIALEAH, Florida, July 31, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An investigation is underway at a Florida abortion clinic after police found the body of a baby, following a tip that the child had been killed after birth.
NBC6 News reported Friday on the discovery by Hialeah police, who said they had received a call alleging that someone at the abortion clinic had killed a baby born alive on the premises July 20.
An initial search revealed nothing, police said, but another tip on Friday from an additional source led them back to the clinic where they discovered the body of the male child—approximately 22-weeks gestational development—in a biohazard container.
“We were able to locate the mother of this child, who is an 18-year-old female. We located her. She, in fact, reiterated that she did come to this clinic to have an abortion, and she gave birth to the baby while waiting for the doctor to arrive. The doctor was not here,” Lt. Ralph Garcia of the Hialeah Police Department told NBC6 News.
According to the anonymous caller who reported the incident, after the woman gave birth to her child in the waiting room, “Employees cut the umbilical cord, put the baby in a bag and walked away with it,” Garcia said.
Police Chief Rolando Bolanos ordered the clinic, A Gyn Diagnostic Center, to close until the investigation has been concluded. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet determined the exact cause of death for the child. Police are waiting for the autopsy results to reveal if a homicide was committed.
Attorney Regina DeMoraes-Millan, representing one of the clinic owners and a clinic employee, told the Miami Herald that her clients were cooperating fully with the investigation.
“My clients run an abortion clinic. It’s a legal business,” she said.
A Florida abortion clinic in Orlando was accused last year of refusing to assist an infant reportedly born alive, despite the mother’s pleas for help. Autopsy results to determine if the child was alive at birth were inconclusive.
Under the Born-Alive Infants Protection Law, a child is considered born alive if it breaths, if the heart is beating, the umbilical cord pulsating or if there is voluntary movement. A child born alive at any stage of development is entitled to full legal protection and all necessary medical intervention.
See National Right to Life files on the BAIPL:
https://www.nrlc.org/Federal/Born_Alive_Infants/index.html
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
After-Abortion Autopsy Can’t Rule Out Live Birth – Shows Abortion Clinic Claims False
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/may/05050302.html
Abortion Clinic Workers Refuse To Help Mother Screaming to Save Live Child
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/05042504.html