Young woman dies following botched abortion of unborn daughter with 'fetal abnormalities'

Last Sunday, a young woman walked into an abortion clinic in Maryland, USA. She was 33 weeks pregnant and had a multi-day abortion procedure performed at the clinic by Dr. LeRoy Carhart.

By Thursday of that week, she and her unborn child were both dead.

Jennifer McKenna Morbelli with her husband TJ Morbelli

Jennifer McKenna Morbelli was 29 years old. She was a Kindergarten teacher. She was married to her high school sweetheart, TJ, and was 33 weeks pregnant. She had already named her daughter Madison Leigh.  This was a planned pregnancy which became unwanted when Jennifer discovered that her unborn daughter had abnormalities. Two weeks after learning of her daughter's disabilities, Jennifer travelled from her home in New York to Dr. Carhart's clinic in Germantown, Maryland. Dr. Carhart performs late-term abortions at the Germantown Reproductive Health Services Clinic. He is one of a limited number of abortionists in the United States who perform these late-term abortions. Dr. Carhart is known as a "circuit abortionist", travelling between three different states to perform second and third trimester abortions. His license to perform abortions in Maryland was renewed the week of Jennifer's death, despite the clinic never having been inspected by the state's department of health and despite Carhart's track record (including taking phone calls during abortion procedures, falling asleep during abortion procedures, falsifying medical records, performing botched procedures causing several other emergency hospitalisations and the death of at least one other woman). Carhart is also under criminal investigation by the Nebraska Attorney General's Office regarding illegal activity at his abortion clinic in Bellevue, Nebraska.

Jennifer arrived at Carhart's Germantown abortion clinic on Sunday (3 February 2013). Sidewalk counsellors at the clinic say that she was accompanied by some family members who stayed with her at a hotel near the Germantown clinic, which is common for women having multi-day late-term abortions. It is believed that on Sunday - her first day attending the clinic - Dr. Carhart administered a lethal injection into her daughter's heart. Jennifer then left the clinic, to give time for the lethal injection to bring about "fetal demise"  (i.e. death of the baby).

On Monday, Jennifer returned to the clinic and was given drugs to induce labour to deliver her daughter (at this stage deceased). On Wednesday, Jennifer was in active labour and ready to deliver her daughter. At about 7:30am on Wednesday morning, she presented at the Germantown clinic once more. She stayed at the clinic until about 4:30pm - a 9 hour stay. Shortly after she left the clinic on Wednesday, Dr. Carhart also left to take a flight to another city to perform more abortions.

By the following morning (Thursday) Jennifer was becoming increasingly unwell, experiencing intense pain and shortness of breath. Her family were concerned, and tried contacting Dr. Carhart multiple times but were not able to get through to him and he did not return their calls. At 5am Jennifer was admitted to Shady Grove Hospital in nearby Rockville, Maryland after presenting at the Emergency Department there. Doctors at Shady Grove determined that Jennifer was suffering from internal bleeding in the abdominal area. The hospital staff made contact with Dr. Carhart during this time, but he did not come to the hospital. Jennifer was in a critical condition, with the staff doing everything they could in an attempt to save her.

At 10 am on 7 February 2013, Jennifer McKenna Morbelli was pronounced dead at Shady Grove Hospital.
 .
Because she was an otherwise healthy 29 year old woman, the hospital contacted the state medical examiner upon her death. The medical examiner spent almost 5 hours with her medical records.The Washington Post reports that the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Montgomery County Police Department have both launched official investigations into this case.

Our thoughts must go immediately to Jennifer's husband, who loses both his daughter and wife, as well as to Jennifer's wider family and circle of friends, as they attempt to come to terms with this enormous tragedy. You may leave a message of condolence to Jennifer's family on the tribute wall here.

This story also prompts us to consider the presentation of abortion as a solution when couples are faced with a pre-natal diagnosis of abnormalities. Many pro-choice groups, including Choice Ireland, Abortion Rights Campaign, and most notably Termination For Medical Reasons are advocating that abortion be legalised for the cases of babies diagnosed with abnormalities before birth. The case of Jennifer McKenna Morbelli highlights how inhumane abortion is to these mothers, as well as to their babies. Abortion comes with a range of possible complications, including death as, sadly, happened in the case of Jennifer.

Being told your baby will die at birth or shortly thereafter is devastating news for any couple. Many parents feel so distressed that they seek abortion as a way to end their pain. But abortion is an irrevocable decision. Abortion robs parents of the chance to get to meet their baby.

For several years, pro-life organisations have been calling for the foundation of a national perinatal hospice unit to care for mothers and babies who face these difficult diagnoses. The video below explains what care is provided by a perinatal hospice, and how important that care is.

Perinatal hospices care for the mother through pregnancy - providing holistic care including counselling. The same team that cares for the mother during her pregnancy will care for her at the delivery. Often there will be a photographer present to document precious memories with the baby. Some babies may only survive a few minutes or hours. Others will live for days or weeks and will be cared for at a children's hospice. Others will go home and live with their families for weeks or months before passing away.

The ethos that underpins the perinatal hospice is one that honours life, and honours the mother-child bond. A perinatal hospice would have honoured little Madison Leigh's life, however short. Her parents would have gotten to meet her and spend precious time holding, bathing and dressing her before saying goodbye. And her mother, Jennnifer McKenna Morbelli, would not have endured the grisly abortion procedure that took her life.