Whenever I find myself in the vicinity of Brampton, Ontario, the car veers almost automatically in the direction of the home of Ray and Rita Holmes, where I am always sure of a good meal.
Dr. Ray invariably has something interesting to tell me or show me, usually within the pro-life context.
The other day he met me with the words, “I have a video I made especially for you. It is a Phil Donohue Show on two botched abortions in New York.” The number of times I have watched the Phil Donohue show in the past five years could be counted on the fingers of one hand – excluding the thumb! He is not one of my favorites, but Ray assured me that this one was worth watching and it certainly was.
Phil appeared with a beautiful baby in his arms.
He explained to the mainly youthful audience that this baby, a girl, is the child of twenty-year-old Rosa Rodriguez, a very attractive young lady, shown sitting beside another girl who was the translator. Rosa speaks only Spanish.
The story, as it unfolded, was this.
Rosa found herself pregnant and, as she already had a two-year-old baby and no husband, she decided to have an abortion. She didn’t want to tell her mother. She saw a Spanish advertisement for a “clinic” and went there where she was met by Dr. Hayat, a licensed practitioner.
She was told that the abortion would cost her $1500. She only had $1000, so she left her passport and ring as surety. For some reason, Rosa was under the impression that she was only two and a half months pregnant.
In fact, she was eight months “gone.”
Felt baby moving
During the procedure, Rosa felt the baby moving inside her and told the doctor that she did not wish to go through with it. He said it was too late to stop, and she was held down by his assistants. The doctor told her that the abortion was incomplete and that she was to return the following day. He also gave her specific instructions that she was not to go to the hospital but to phone one of his assistants if she felt pain.
She was then sent home as she was, with blood on her smock.
She began to feel pain and phoned the assistant but was told that was normal and not to worry. When the pain continued, she took a cab to Jamaica Hospital.
Five hours later, at three-and-a-half pounds, her baby was born with one arm missing, the victim of a botched abortion.
The doctor has been charged with performing an abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy – illegal in New York except to save the life of the mother. He denies doing the abortion, but his license has been suspended.
Botched abortion number 2
The camera then focused on another attractive girl, named Kristen, sitting with her parents and her baby. Her story is that, when she found she was pregnant, she told her parents and said she would have an abortion. Her parents tried to dissuade her. But she was over eighteen and defied them. She was seven weeks pregnant when she consulted Planned Parenthood. She presented herself at a “clinic” which they recommended. In reply to some very direct questions from Phil, we were treated to a gruesome description of the “suction procedure.” About half-way through, the doctor announced that he had to go to lunch and left her. When he returned and “completed” the procedure, he told her to come back for a check up a few days later.
When she returned she met a female doctor. This lady, probably suspecting something, applied a “doptone” to her abdomen and Kristen distinctly heard the beating of a human heart. She immediately changed her mind and said she would not go through with the abortion! The doctor did not insist and Kristen returned home.
The camera then zoned in on Kristen’s fourteen-month-old baby. A really beautiful child who danced and laughed while the audience applauded. I am not suggesting that beautiful babies have any more right to life than those who are less beautiful. But I think it does help when people see a bouncing baby, laughing and playing at her mother’s knee, and realize that “it could have been otherwise.” This baby is so attractive that Donohue, who is the consummate showman, took her in his arms and said in an audible whisper, “You are upstaging the host and that isn’t fair.” The baby’s name is Lauren and she completely captured her first audience. Every time the camera focused on her there were “ohs” and “ahs” from the mostly youthful audience. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” especially when the picture is of a lively baby. I believe it could impress even those who are pro-choice with the horror of abortion.
When Lauren had done her thing, an apparently very well qualified doctor named Alan Miller was asked to stand and field some questions, mainly about “missed abortions.” He said that such occurrences are not rare. But he did consider the survival of Rosa’s baby a miracle. She could have bled to death because of the severed arm – but she didn’t!
The show wasn’t over yet. The next person to be interviewed was a middle-aged lady named Marian. She was invited to tell her story and she did so in a very articulate manner. Apparently her mother, now deceased, did not want Marian and tried to abort her unsuccessfully more than once.
Eventually Marian saw the light of day in a bedpan. Unfortunately her mother continued to treat her as an “unwanted” child. She saw her sisters and brothers being hugged, but she was rejected. She tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide. She now has her life together and is working in the pro-life cause. Her message to the audience was loud and clear, “If you don’t want your baby, don’t kill it by abortion. But don’t take it home either. Find some loving parents – and their name is legion – and have your baby adopted.”
Questions
Of course, there were many questions which I cannot recall. Some were about contraception. If Rosa didn’t want a baby and wanted to have sex, why didn’t she use contraception? Rosa replied that she had expected that her boy friend would stand by her and support both herself and her baby. But when he heard she was pregnant he disappeared and she has no idea as to his whereabouts! “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” Kristen’s mother replied that she is totally opposed to it. She is Birthright counselor. She was then asked what she thought of condoms being made available in high schools. She said that she considers it a disgrace. She added that advertising condoms as “safe sex” is a lie and gave the failure rate. The two young women were then asked how they felt about abortion. Rosa is in favor of abortions and Kristen is firmly against.
Some friends of mine who had also seen the show were not as impressed as I was. They thought Donohue subtly swung the show towards abortion. Perhaps he did. But I think that the overall picture of two beautiful babies, both of whom had been condemned to death, one sleeping soundly in her mother’s arms and the other entertaining and audience with her laughter and gamboling at the feet of a young and obviously loving mother, was sufficient to make the show a plus for pro-life. God does write straight with crooked lines!
