Issues

Former nurse recalls ‘comfort room’ where abortion survivors were taken to die

By Carole Novielli | September 12, 2019 , 03:20pm

During a Congressional hearing this week which exposed that babies who survive abortions have been left to die, former nurse Jill Stanek testified how, once it was exposed that babies were being aborted alive there and left to die, a hospital she worked for in Illinois installed a “comfort room” where babies that survived abortions would be placed. The hearing was hosted by Republican Whip Steve Scalise, Representative Ann Wagner, and the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus in yet another attempt to gain protections in law for innocent babies who accidentally survive abortions. According to the SBA List, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has now blocked a vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act 80 separate times.

In an e-mail sent to Live Action News from SBA List, Stanek recounted her testimony. “During my testimony I shared how, as a Registered Nurse at Christ Hospital in Illinois, I discovered they were committing abortions into the second and third trimesters. I then went on to share how, one night, I discovered a baby who had been aborted for the ‘crime’ of having Down syndrome. This precious child miraculously survived the abortion attempt on his life, but he was left to die, alone, in the soiled utility room.”

“It is beyond belief that a hospital named after Jesus could be committing such violent acts of injustice,” Stanek stated in the email.

READ: Abortionist: Babies born alive is ‘one of the worst nightmares’ for abortionists

Live Action News has previously documented that babies born alive are left to die:

Stanek began her testimony at the hearing, “When I heard Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who’s a pediatric neurologist, describe during an interview the process by which doctors determine to shelve unwanted abortion survivors, it hit painfully home to me. About third trimester abortions he said — and I’m quoting — ‘If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired.'”

Stanek continued, “Governor Northam was right. That is exactly what happens. I know because I cared for a dying baby on the other side of that decision.”

At the time, Stanek was a registered nurse at Christ Hospital in Illinois where they committed abortions into the second and third trimesters, “with a procedure called induced labor abortion [which] sometimes resulted in babies being aborted alive.”

According to Stanek, if the baby survived the abortion, he or she received no medical assessments or care but was only given what the hospital called “‘comfort care’ — made comfortable, as Governor Northam indicated.”

Comfort Room at Christ Hospital aborted babies left to die (Image: SBA List testimony of Jill Stanek)

Stanek continued in her testimony:

One night, a nursing co-worker was taking a little abortion survivor to the soiled utility room to die and when she told me what she was doing, I could not bear the thought of this suffering child dying alone. He’d been aborted because he had Down syndrome and he was 21 to 22 weeks old, about the size of my hand. And he didn’t move very much because was using all his energy attempting to breathe. And I remember, toward the end of his life, I couldn’t tell if he was still alive or not unless I held him up to the light to see if his heart beating through his chest wall because their skin is so thin at that age.

After he was pronounced dead, I folded his little arms across his chest, I tied them together with a little string, I wrapped him in a shroud, and I took him to the morgue where we took all our dead patients.

Stanek recounted how the hospital’s “Comfort Room” was created (in 2000) after she went public:

This was a small, nicely decorated room complete with a First Foto machine in case parents wanted professional pictures taken of their aborted babies, baptismal supplies in case they wanted their aborted babies baptized, and a foot printer and baby bracelets in case they wanted keepsakes of their aborted baby.

READ: Eyewitness: Babies born alive after abortion were drowned in saline

Comfort Room at Christ Hospital aborted babies left to die (Image credit: SBA List)

Watch Stanek’s testimony below. Formal testimony submitted by Stanek can be read here.

Previous Live Action News research into state level reports of abortion survivors indicates that even when babies are dying, “comfort care” is not always applied. Documents from Minnesota reveal:

In 2017, no medical measures to preserve life were taken, and all three babies died following abortion attempts. Comfort care was provided in just one of the three cases.
In 2016, no medical measures to preserve life were taken and none of these infants survived. Comfort care measures were given to just two of the five infants.
In 2015, there were five born-alive incidents, according to the report of induced abortions presented to the legislature.

The latest Minnesota report from 2018 states that “three (3) abortion procedures resulting in a born-alive infant were reported,” but “comfort care” was applied in just one instance.

In one instance, APGAR score was 1 at one and five minutes. There were anomalies incompatible with life. No measures taken to preserve life were reported and the infant did not survive.
In one instance, comfort care measures were provided as planned and the infant did not survive.
In one instance, the infant was previable. No measures taken to preserve life were reported and the infant did not survive.

Stanek asked the panel during her testimony, “That word ‘comfortable,’ which Governor Northam used is particularly grating to me. How far will doctors go to comfort themselves for letting abortion survivors die?”

“Like” Live Action News on Facebook for more pro-life news and commentary!