01/17/2006

Grand Jury Asked to Investigate Abortion Murder, Misconduct

WICHITA, Kansas, Jan. 17 /Christian Newswire/ -- While the thoughts of the nation are focused on the subject of abortion through the Samuel Alito Senate Confirmation hearings and anticipation of the upcoming 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, an effort has been launched that will force a Kansas county to convene a Grand Jury to investigate alleged criminal acts that led to the abortion death of a Down Syndrome teenager last year.

The victim, Christin A. Gilbert, died from complications to a third-trimester abortion received at George R. Tiller’s Women’s Health Care Services in Wichita, Kansas, the site of over 2,000 arrests during Operation Rescue’s “Summer of Mercy” protests in 1991.

Allegations that the Grand Jury will be asked to investigate include second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, mistreatment of a dependent adult, failure to report abuse or neglect of children, and illegal late-term abortion.

Gilbert suffered complications during her abortion that were not fully diagnosed. Gilbert’s condition continued to worsen, but instead of sending her to the hospital, abortion clinic staff sent her to a hotel room where she continued to deteriorate. Finally, an ambulance was summoned for Gilbert, but not until days later when she was “Code Blue.” Even then, with callous disregard for Gilbert’s life, a clinic employee requested that the ambulance run with “no lights and no sirens.”

In Tarrant County, Texas, where Gilbert lived, a Grand Jury convened last year to probe allegations of felony sexual assault that led to Gilbert’s pregnancy. That Grand Jury is still investigating.

A confidential family source, who is cooperating with the Kansas Grand Jury effort, has told Operation Rescue that Gilbert could not have legally consented to sexual activity because of the severity of her Down Syndrome condition, and that she never would have chosen abortion for her baby, leading to concerns that Gilbert was the victim of an illegal forced abortion.

According to Kansas law, a Grand Jury must convene within 60 days of the submission of a required number of signatures of registered voters. Those signatures are due to be submitted on March 1, 2006.

“The abortion lobby told the nation that the 1973 Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade would make abortion ‘safe and legal’ for women. It may have decriminalized abortion, but it did not make it safe – not for Christin Gilbert nor the thousands of other women who have died from slipshod abortions in the past 33 years,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

Operation Rescue documented Gilbert’s death and has worked through the state, the legislature, and now the courts to bring justice for Christin Gilbert and her pre-born child.

More information on the Grand Jury effort can be found at http://justicefor christin.com.