Criminal inquiry needed into botched abortions

Do the letters BBAABA and the number 1,500 mean anything to you? Most likely not. But it’s my hope that they will stick in your mind. Unsettle you. Inspire you to think deeply, share your thoughts about them, take action if you can.  And pray.

The letters stand for Babies Born Alive After Botched Abortions.   At last count there were 1,500 of them. Botched. It’s a little known fact that surgical abortions don’t always work quite as intended. Especially when the unborn baby is older and therefore, usually larger.  In Canada, abortions can be and are performed, right up to and including the ninth month. The 11th hour of the ninth month.  Abortion is NOT is not a “right” as misinformed people (our government included) like to claim. It’s just that there is no law in place to make it illegal. Not at the moment.

Against all odds, it happens sometimes, after the abortionist has done his dirty work with weapons that include tools for dismembering the tiny body,  the baby (what’s left of it) emerges alive. Not alive and kicking but alive with a beating heart. Alive enough that with help from MaiL (Medical aid in Living)  and a huge dose of  TLC, that baby could survive. Live, grow, bring joy into somebody’s life. 

But what happens to the poor child? It gets plonked unceremoniously into a basin, which is  placed on a table — usually in another room, somewhere out of sight of the medical team (who are there for the purpose of saving lives). It’s put out of sight and out of earshot so that nobody need be disturbed by its suffering.

And left to die. In a state of shock at this sudden, terrifying interruption of its peaceful life in the womb where it was snug, warm and — until then — safe,  it is suddenly out in the world.  Alone.  Abandoned. Cold and shivering, in agony from wounds sustained during the attempt to kill it, struggling to breathe. Until its final agonized breath. 

The law recognizes that this little creature, having proceeded in a living state from its mother’s body, is legally a human being.  A Canadian, with human rights.  Rights that are being ignored.  Ten years ago,  the RCMP was informed of what was happening to Born Alive Babies, and asked to investigate. They declined to do so, citing as the reason a lack of “relevant information or substantive facts about a specific crime.”  A dozen or so years ago, when we first became aware of these things, the number of Born Alive Babies was said to be 491. Horrified,  my husband Desmond wrote to the then minister of justice to inquire what, if anything, was being done about the matter. The brief reply stated curtly that this was a provincial matter, not federal. So, it was implied, not Ottawa’s business.  Not its  responsibility.

Thanks to the tireless work of Patricia Maloney, who has spent years researching the facts, we now know that these tragic cases of babies being left to die appear to be on the increase. Many of the infants were at the gestational age of between 20 and 24 weeks.  At that age, given the appropriate medical help, the child stands a good chance of surviving. Some were well past the 24 weeks and their chance of survival was even greater. It would appear that the older, and therefore larger the unborn baby,  the harder it is to successfully abort it.

Precise details of exactly what happens to these babies, and just how they die, remains unknown.  Because of this, Campaign Life Coalition contends that the RCMP should be approached again and asked to investigate the matter.  This is, after all, a crime. Not something to be hushed up and glossed over and ignored, but a crime against humanity. A crime against Canadian citizens. Campaign Life has launched a petition urging the RCMP to take action, to investigate these suspicious deaths. 

Defenceless newborns need our help. They cannot speak for themselves. They can do nothing to escape those bent on ending their lives. They do not deserve to be abandoned and disposed of like garbage. 

Babies who’ve exited the womb alive, despite efforts to thwart them, deserve our respect, our admiration and the very best professional care.  And all the love we have in us to give.

(Angela Saldanhas is a Toronto based writer.)