Orlando, FL – Angele, a single mother
in her thirties with two children, thought that abortion was the answer
to her circumstances. At almost 23 weeks gestation, she entered the EPOC
Clinic in Orlando, Florida. Little did she realize that the next day she
would give birth to a live, perfectly healthy boy whom she named Rowan.
Cradling Rowan’s moving body, her screams for help were ignored by
abortion clinic workers while her son took his last breath.
The clinic is known for late-term abortions
and its well-known founder, Dr. James Pendergraft. A few years ago he served
time in a federal prison regarding an alleged scheme to extort the city
of Ocala, Florida by means of his other abortion clinic in that city.
On April 1, Angele was given Valium and
laminaria were inserted in her cervix to begin dilation. She was told to
return the following day. On April 2, Angele took prescribed medicine to
induce labor. Cramping and crying, she went to the clinic and knocked repeatedly
on the door. Eventually someone came and directed her to a room that had
dried blood on the wall. She was given a blanket that was still wet. She
began to bleed and go into labor. Despite her cries, no one assisted her.
After one hard push, the baby was born, fully intact and definitely alive.
Angele said, “His right leg moved. He curled up a bit, like he was
cold; I screamed but no one came.” She pleaded for the clinic workers
to call 911 but they did not.
Angele caressed and comforted her son by
rubbing his back, tummy and chest. “I stroked his precious little
head and kept telling him I loved him and we would be okay,” she said.
Still no one came to help. Eventually Angele, holding the baby still attached
to the umbilical cord, ran to get her cell phone. Help did not arrive in
time. Rowan took his last breath.“After a few minutes I realized for
certain that he was gone. I picked up my son. I held him to my chest. I
rocked him and prayed. I could not stop crying,” said Angele. “I
felt so bad. I felt so helpless. I had been so wrong to come here …
I wanted to fix and change everything once I saw Rowan’s precious
little face and body. All we needed was someone to get us to safety,”
Angele said.
Mathew D. Staver, President and General
Counsel of Liberty Counsel, which represents Angele, stated: “When
I visited baby Rowan at the funeral home and saw his precious little body,
fully formed with blond eyelashes and growing fingernails, I wondered, ‘How
can we continue to kill our children and hide behind the rubric of choice?’
Rowan’s short life will not be in vain if his story can give life
and hope to mothers who believe their only choice is abortion. Rowan joins
the ranks of thousands of children who die each day by abortion. Most have
no names and we never see their faces. We must restore a culture of life.
We must protect our precious, innocent children. We must extend a healing
hand to mothers like Angele. The rhetoric and the politics of abortion must
be replaced by a culture of life.”