Abortion supporters claim police shouldn’t investigate when a baby’s body is found

Abandonment and neglect have always been crimes, particularly if they lead to the death of a child. However, following the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion supporters are arguing that when the body of a baby is found, no investigation is necessary. In May, the remains of a baby were found in a dumpster in Ohio, and one vocal abortion advocate had a lot to say about it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The body of a baby was found in a dumpster at a Toledo, Ohio, apartment complex.

• Abortion activist Jessica Valenti complained that the death should not have been investigated.

• Valenti argued that using the term “baby” to describe what turned out to be a miscarried child was misleading for readers about the situation because the child was a “fetus” at the time of death.

THE DETAILS: 

Last week, longtime abortion activist Jessica Valenti complained in her newsletter, Abortion Every Day, about an Ohio investigation that took place after an infant’s body was found in a dumpster at a Toledo apartment complex. Initially, it was not known how the death occurred, only that a body was found in a dumpster.

The fact that the media even referred to the body as belonging to an “infant” enraged Valenti:

Apparently someone reported pregnancy remains found in a trash bin outside a Toledo apartment complex—and instead of recognizing it as a private medical loss, police opened an investigation. …

First come the lurid—and false—headlines. Local Ohio papers ran stories this week declaring that a “baby” or “infant” was “found dead,” and that “the circumstances surrounding the baby’s death were unknown.” To most readers, it would sound like a murdered newborn. Even after it became clear this was a miscarriage, reporters kept calling the fetus “an infant.”

First of all, police cannot ignore a dead body under the assumption that it was a “private” or natural loss of life. Second, to complain about this kind of verbiage is a means of dehumanizing the preborn child. “Fetus” is no different than blastocyst, embryo, newborn, infant, toddler, teenager, and so forth; they are descriptors for a human being’s age and level of development. But abortion enthusiasts insist on using terms like “fetus” because they cannot stand anyone referring to a preborn child as a human being.

In this specific instance, why would it matter if the term “baby” or “infant” was used, particularly in the initial investigation? A body was found, and until it was investigated, the details were unclear. “Baby” or “infant” gets the point across most easily, but for people like Valenti, those terms are unwelcome because they remind people that preborn children are human beings, not just clumps of tissue.

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After investigating and performing an autopsy, the deputy coroner, Jeffrey Hudson, released a report saying that “products of conception” were found, and that the baby was not viable. It is unclear if the baby died from a natural miscarriage or an at-home DIY abortion via the abortion pill. And while Valenti cheered on the usage of the phrase “products of conception,” she was still furious that any investigation took place at all. She wrote:

While the media coverage was horrific, the real question is why Ohio police are investigating a miscarriage at all!

Remember, there are no laws about how to dispose of a miscarriage—nor should there be. And even if authorities suspected this was an abortion, Ohio law bars the prosecution of patients. So there was no reason for police to be involved.

Still, they opened a case, treated this like a potential crime scene, and even sent the remains of this miscarriage for an autopsy.

READ: Baby boy died of suffocation in dumpster, but will his mother be punished?

In Valenti’s opinion, if someone finds a body, especially a baby’s body, they should just ignore it. In this case, it appears to have been a clear case of miscarriage, but unfortunately, it’s more common than people realize for a newborn baby to be abandoned and left to die, or actively killed after birth.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Any time a body is found, an investigation should take place, because killing someone — whether directly or through abandonment or neglect — is a crime, and should be prosecuted. Arguing that society and police should ignore dead bodies is a way to manipulate the public into believing that certain human lives have no value.