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Help for the Helpless 4/3/2001 What do you do when you learn your employer has been practicing inhumane, but not necessarily illegal, acts? You want to keep your job, but you feel torn about what you know is wrong. About two years ago, Nurse Jill Stanek, who works at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, in suburban Chicago, wrestled with this decision. And she chose to speak the truth. On March 22, Concerned Women for America hosted the congressional Life Forum with Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-Pennsylvania) on Capitol Hill. “Is abortion the right to a dead baby?” asked Rep. Pitts, a question Mrs. Stanek answered. She described heartwrenching situations she witnessed at Christ Hospital: perfectly formed premature newborns left in soiled utility closets, gasping for breath until they died; a preemie accidentally tossed in the trash and then dropped on the floor when a nurse pulled out a towel; another left unclothed on a cold, hard scale. These are just a few stories illustrating the lackadaisical attitude of Advocate Health Care, Christ Hospital's parent company, toward helpless live-aborted babies—deemed unworthy to live by doctors who presumed authority to judge. Christ Hospital and others in the Advocate Health Care system, as well as many around the nation, perform the little-known practice of live-birth abortions, which they claim are “medically necessary.” During this procedure, the doctor dilates the mother's cervix. The child then literally drops out of the womb. Sometimes she dies during the procedure, but many are aborted alive and simply left to die. Some may receive “comfort care”—a nurse will hold her in a blanket until she dies. However, many die by themselves. Mrs. Stanek has publicized Christ Hospital's practices on “Beverly LaHaye Today,” as well as in other radio shows, television broadcasts, and many national newspapers and magazines. She has worked closely with CWA-Illinois State Director Karen Hayes, who got the Illinois attorney general to investigate Christ Hospital. Unfortunately, the attorney general found no wrongdoing according to current law. “I came to find out that Christ Hospital quietly aborts some 10 to 25 babies a year, babies almost exclusively with physical or mental handicaps,” said Mrs. Stanek at the Life Forum. “To a person who believes that every life is sacred, the practice of eugenic abortions is completely unacceptable, especially when these abortions are being committed at a hospital named after my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. “Christ Hospital has aborted as late as 28 weeks,” Mrs. Stanek continued. “It is not uncommon for one of the live aborted babies to linger for an hour or two or even longer. At Christ Hospital one of these babies lived for almost an entire eight-hour shift. Last year alone, of the 13 babies that I am aware of who were aborted at Christ Hospital, at least four lived between one and a half to three hours, two boys and two girls.” When Mrs. Stanek first learned the awful truth, she knew she “had two choices. One choice was to leave the hospital and go work at a hospital that didn't participate in abortion. The other was to attempt to change Christ Hospital's abortion practice. Then, I read a Scripture that I thought spoke directly to me and my situation, and it is Proverbs 24:11-12: 'Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don't stand back and let them die ...' [The Living Bible].” Mrs. Stanek noted that Christ Hospital now has a “Comfort Room,” where parents may take pictures, perform baptisms, and obtain foot—and handprints of their aborted child. “This may all sound unbelievable,” said Mrs. Stanek, “but I just read that George Tiller offers these same keepsakes at his abortion clinic in Wichita [Kansas].” Action is needed soon. Before he left office, former President Clinton pushed a redefinition of “fetus” and “child” in Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations that would result in the legal use of newborns for research. The rule defined a newborn as a “fetus” until she can live “independently maintaining heartbeat and respiration.” When this determination is made, only then may the newborn be considered a “child.” This definition should strike fear in those mothers delivering premature babies. The Bush administration placed a 60-day moratorium on the rule soon after inauguration and extended it for 60 more days on March 19 (CNS News, 3/21/01). HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson must do the right thing by overturning this rule. What about legislation? In Illinois, state Sen. Patrick O'Malley (R-Illinois 18th) has introduced three bills (Senate bills 1093, 1094 and 1095) to give equal protection under law to all babies born alive (RFM News, 3/26/01). New Hampshire is debating comparable legislation. Last year, CWA helped push passage of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act in the U.S. House. On July 20, 2000, Mrs. Stanek testified on behalf of the bill before the House Constitution Subcommittee. The 106th session ran out of time before the Senate could consider the bill. CWA is now lobbying for new legislation in the 107th Congress. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) and Rep. Melissa Hart (R—Pennsylvania) have already agreed to introduce it in the House. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) will sponsor it in the Senate. Urge your representative and senators to cosponsor this vital legislation. Meanwhile, Jill Stanek presses on. She has endured threats, intimidation and harassment. Nevertheless, she continues to shine the light of truth at Christ Hospital, knowing the Lord is her Protector (Isaiah 42:6-7). |
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