Police say man tried to flush baby after woman gave birth in toilet

According to reports, an Illinois man allegedly tried to flush a newborn baby girl after the baby's mother gave birth in a toilet. A year later, the remains of baby girl were found buried in a yard.

Key Takeaways:

• On Saturday, Nicole Pokrzywa and William Cosmen were charged with desecration of a corpse. More charges may follow.

• Cosmen is alleged to have attempted to flush a newborn baby down a toilet after Pokrzywa gave birth. The baby was too large, so they left her in the toilet and later buried her in a beer box in the yard.

• Illinois allows abortion through undefined "viability" for any reason and even after if a physician determines a woman's life "or health" (broadly defined) is at risk.

The Details:

On Friday, police in Wilmington, Illinois, received a tip about an infant possibly buried in the yard in the 1900 block of Roberts Street. After obtaining a search warrant, they found a baby buried in a backyard inside a beer box with a makeshift headstone placed on top.

Deputies arrested several suspects, including 36-year-old Nicole Pokrzywa and 38-year-old William Cosmen, who each "made incriminating statements about the concealment of the death of the infant," according to a news release. An autopsy was carried out on Saturday, and the couple has remained in custody "until formal charges are pursued once the autopsy is complete," said the sheriff's office.

Detectives learned that Pokrzywa was six to eight months pregnant at the time she gave birth to the baby girl, who is estimated to have weighed five to seven pounds. She and Cosmen told police that Pokrzywa gave birth in a toilet inside Cosmen's home in Manhattan, Illinois. Authorities say Cosmen attempted to flush the baby down the toilet using a plunger. After realizing the baby was too big to flush, they allegedly left her in the toilet overnight before moving her to Wilmington and burying her in a shallow grave.

Pokrzywa and Cosmen face charges of desecration of a corpse and may face additional charges when the autopsy is complete. It remains unclear if the baby girl was born alive or stillborn.

The Bottom Line:

In Illinois, abortion is legal until an estimated 24-26 weeks (undefined "viability" as determined by medical personnel) for any reason and after for the “health of the mother” which is defined extremely broadly, with language identical to that of Doe v. Bolton — for “physical… emotional… psychological… familial health,” age, and anything else determined to be relevant to the woman’s “health” and “wellbeing.”

The baby girl in this case was born between 22 and 27 weeks. Babies born as young as 21 weeks can survive when given proper medical care; however, in Illinois, this baby and all preborn children, regardless of their age or ability to survive outside the womb, can be legally killed by abortion.

Facebook commenters mostly gave the couple the benefit of the doubt, claiming she may not have known she was pregnant and panicked when she gave birth, or that she had miscarried the baby.

Regardless, it is morally reprehensible that some babies at this age can be killed through abortion, their bodies dumped in medical waste bins, and it is celebrated as a "woman's right," while doctors will attempt to save and protect other babies born at this age. No human being is disposable, and every human being deserves to be treated with the same level of compassion and respect, even after their death.