In early 2016, the remains of a baby aborted in the third trimester were found buried in the backyard of Richmond, Virginia, resident Michelle Frances Roberts. Since that time, an investigation into the child’s death has determined that the baby died from “penetrating injuries to the head and maternal use of methadone, alprazolam and amphetamines,” an administrator at the Chief Medical Examiner’s office in Richmond told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Roberts has been indicted on the charge of “producing an abortion ‘with intent to destroy her child,’ a Class 4 felony.”
According to an earlier article by the Times-Dispatch, Roberts’ boyfriend’s mother informed police that “Roberts admitted in July 2015 that she was five months pregnant at the time and… Roberts was due to deliver in September or October 2015.” Then, in mid-October of 2015, the boyfriend’s mother “noticed that Roberts no longer appeared to be pregnant but Roberts did not directly confirm it.”
This case is absolutely horrific. Surely, there are cries of outrage from some segments of the public as is typical in a tragic case like this, calling for this woman — who self-aborted a baby who could have survived on his or her own — to be thrown in prison, or worse, for killing her baby.
But while “intending to destroy a child” should certainly warrant serious charges, I must ask the obvious here: isn’t every single abortion intended to destroy a child? Or are we going to continue pretending that the idea of ‘terminating a pregnancy’ is something shrouded in mystery?
Abortion ends the life of a human being. Perhaps the public cries out for justice in cases like this because no matter how steeped in pro-abortion propaganda our society becomes, somewhere, buried deep inside our psyches, lurks this truth. And as pregnancy progresses, the public seems to become more and more uncomfortable with the idea of abortion, regardless of political leanings.
Some social media reactions to this particular story are below, and they seem to run the gamut of what you’d expect: one says, “Hey, what this woman did is no different than abortion.” One cries out for justice (and mercy for the child). One says, “Hey, this isn’t like an abortion because abortion clinics can’t do them in the third trimester, and this was a baby that felt pain!”
The third comment here requires a response. Abortion clinics most certainly CAN commit abortions in the third trimester, and they do. Meet Warren Hern. Meet Shelley Sella. Meet Curtis Boyd. Meet LeRoy Carhart. Meet Susan Robinson. All of these abortionists commit abortions in the third trimester. Some have even killed patients.
As to the statement that this baby “felt intense pain,” yes, that’s certainly likely, as most studies have shown that by 20 weeks gestation, if not sooner, babies can feel pain.
Abortion isn’t an insignificant surgical procedure. Women die from legal abortion. Women are hospitalized because of legal abortion. Abortion itself is absolutely brutal. Former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino explains a common second trimester procedure, below. Such a procedure could certainly cause far more than “penetrating injuries to the head” of the child being aborted. This procedure is done up to 24 weeks of pregnancy:
In the third trimester of pregnancy (25 weeks and up), an induction abortion is typically done. At this stage, the baby’s odds of surviving outside the womb are very good, and the child is so large that the risk of injury to the woman increases greatly. Dr. Levatino explains:
The bottom line is that while an abortion facility could have legally aborted Roberts’ baby in the third trimester (especially under the guise of maternal health/fetal indications, given her drug use), Roberts did late-term abortionists’ job for them — and she’s now rightfully being charged with a serious crime.
That should speak volumes.
