‘Intact’ Killing Deemed Inactionable
Earlier this year a 29-year-old expectant mother entered the abortion facility operated by infamous abortionist LeRoy Carhart. She was seeking Carhart’s surgical expertise in ending the life of the 33-week-old baby she was carrying in her womb. The woman’s name was Jennifer Morbelli; her daughter’s name was Madison Leigh—a name chosen by Jennifer and her husband.
Subsequent to the abortion, Jennifer Morbelli died. The coroner in the case stated that she died of natural causes. But pro-life leaders are suspicious and believe that, as was the case with at least one former Carhart patient, Morbelli’s death was due to a shoddy abortion procedure.
Charges of misconduct were brought against Carhart. The Maryland Board of Physicians reviewed the case in its entirety and found Carhart’s handling of the case acceptable, stating in a letter to his facility: “Based on this review, the board has decided to close this matter without further action. Since the board has closed this matter, it does not consider any action pending against you.”
Shocking? Perhaps in a sane society one might suggest that this was beyond belief, but we live in a nation entranced by the ability to kill preborn children at will, for any reason at any stage of pregnancy. Thus the Carhart situation is really not all that surprising. Let’s review his history.
This is the man whose lawsuit, Gonzales v. Carhart, against the attorney general of the United States, was decided by the Supreme Court in April of 2007. The case involved the question of whether or not the late-term abortion method, intact dilation and extraction, should be legal in the United States.
Intact dilation and extraction, also known as partial birth abortion, is defined in this manner: “Intact dilation and extraction (IDX) is a surgical abortion wherein an intact fetus is removed from the uterus via the cervix. It is also known as intact dilation and evacuation, dilation and extraction (D&X, or DNX), intrauterine cranial decompression and, vernacularly in the United States, as partial birth abortion. The procedure may also be used to remove a deceased fetus that is developed enough to require dilation of the cervix for its extraction.”
In this procedure, Martin Haskell, M.D., instructs doctors regarding how to stab the preborn baby’s skull: “Reassessing proper placement of the closed scissors’ tip and safe elevation of the cervix, the surgeon then forces the scissors into the base of the skull or into the foramen magnum. Having safely entered the skull, he spreads the scissors to enlarge the opening.”
In other words, part of the procedure Carhart argued in favor of in his case depends on successfully stabbing the baby in the head.
The court of course, ruled against this procedure, but at the time suggested to abortionists that there were other ways to kill the same baby. The court said, “If intact D&E is truly necessary in some circumstances, it appears likely an injection that kills the fetus is an alternative under the act that allows the doctor to perform the procedure.” How could the court itself recommend injecting a baby’s heart with deadly digoxin? The court has no problem with killing the preborn; it just prefers a more humane manner of murdering the child!
This is why we should not be shocked when a board of his fellow physicians finds late-term abortion specialist LeRoy Carhart free of all charges in the death of an expectant mother. She was, sadly, collateral damage. Her death, according to Maryland physicians, was no big deal.
Intact killing of the preborn in our nation is not an actionable offense. In fact, the law protects it. And that is just the way it is.
Until intrinsic human rights for all from creation to death are recognized in law and in the culture, you can expect the killings to continue.
