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Fall 1999
Illinois Nurses for Life News

FLASH!! Christ Hospital Story Reaches Floor of U.S. Senate

Christ Hospital (Oak Lawn, IL) Aborting 2nd Trimester Children

Live Baby dies in Hospital Utility Closet, says nurse.  "I have personally witnessed two babies who have been aborted alive (and this is actually not an unusual occurrence). Neither time did the mother of father want to hold and care for the baby until s/he passed from this life. Department policy in this case is to provide comfort care to the child until s/he dies. Once, I held the aborted baby in a warm blanket for the 45 minutes it took for him to die. The other time a co-working Support Associate did the same. Can you imagine the revulsion of this? The situation was ever worse when night when an RN nurse did not have the time to personally care for these infants. Since we have no place designated for these babies, this one had to be left alone in the Soiled Utility Room..."

This shocking account was revealed in an April 23, 1999, letter from Labor & Delivery nurse Jill Stanek in a letter written to the executives of the south suburban hospital where she was employed, Christ Hospital. When her plea led to no changes in hospital policy, the nurse appealed to her pastor, who wrote a letter on her behalf to nearly fifty people in the southern suburbs of Chicago asking for help in resolving the matter.

Since disclosure of this abortion "policy," public protest, prayer vigils and letter writing have put Christ Hospital and its parent company, Advocate Health Care System on the defensive. In addition, the Illinois Department of Public Health has begun an investigation to determine whether or not the hospital is practicing infanticide by allowing 22 week old babies who survive abortion, to die without any effort to save them.

In response to this situation, Advocate Health Care issued a press release stating abortions would continue but would be "limited" to cases of rape, incest, life or health of the mother and for lethal fetal anomalies.  By including "health of the mother," Advocate is opening the door to abortion-on-demand at Christ and Lutheran General Hospitals, both of which will accept abortion-bound mothers from other Advocate hospitals which have been instructed to channel abortions to the two facilities.

Under the leadership of Sen. Bob Smith, who mentioned the Christ Hospital situation during a debate on partial birth abortion, the U.S. Senate plans to hold hearings on the harvesting and selling of fetal parts. Fetal tissue wholesalers rely on intact fetal specimens (baby bodies) that can be obtained only from partial birth abortion or live birth abortions like the ones performed at Christ Hospital. Sen. Smith wants to let the sun shine in to expose this dark, devious abortion practice for the world to see. The controversy is not over!


News Flash!

In a news release dated October 13, 1999, Advocate Health Care announced it will continue allowing abortions at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn and Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, for reasons of rape, incest, some fetal anomalies and to save the life or "health" of the mother. The only thing that will change this abortion policy is for pro-lifers to refuse to patronize these hospitals that rely solely on the support of area residents.

Media Coverage 
St. George Pro-Life | Parkview Christian Church