Back in June, a study in Health Communicationsdetailed how the increased use of RU-486 (the abortion pill) was bringing women face-to-face with their aborted children. Unlike the swift and sanitized first-trimester procedures in clinics or hospitals, where women are not permitted to see the “contents of the uterus” once the child has been suctioned out of them, at-home abortions mean that that there is no one to whisk away the tiny, shattered corpse.
The other predictable side-effect of a growing availability of the abortion pill is that despite rules and regulations, when people can take these poison pills at home without supervision, they can attempt to abort much later-term babies. Earlier this year, police in the Midlands—central England—launched a murder investigation into the death of a newborn after the mother took abortion drugs that were mailed to her. The police are also investigating two other cases of babies being aborted at 28 weeks (four weeks after the U.K.’s abortion limit of 24 weeks.)
According to Live Action, cases like this have begun to surface in the United States, as well. This story, out of Ohio, is one example:
A man has pleaded guilty to child endangerment and abuse of a corpse — both felonies — in a case regarding the death of a baby boy who appears to have been born alive during an at-home abortion in the third trimester.
In February, Live Action News reported on the arrest of Kalina V.E. Gillum, 21, and her boyfriend Braden C. Mull, 25, who ordered abortion drugs online and used them to abort Gillum’s third-trimester baby. The couple ordered misoprostol from India, which is the second drug of the abortion pill regimen. In the typical abortion by pill, the first drug, mifepristone, kills the baby. The second drug, misoprostol, causes the uterus to contract, expelling the dead child.
When misoprostol is used alone, it is more likely to result in a live birth. This is what authorities believe happened in this case. Gillum’s baby was born in the bathroom of her apartment. According to a coroner who examined the child’s body, there was “nothing medically wrong” with the baby. Gillum and Mull’s crimes were exposed when Gillum went to Licking Memorial Hospital for treatment with the umbilical cord still visible. Doctors at the hospital quickly ascertained that she had given birth to a full-term child. Police searched her apartment and found the dead baby boy.
Reportedly, the child was killed simply because Gillum and Mull didn’t want him.
They were charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering a child, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse.
Mull has pleaded guilty to child endangerment and abuse of a corpse, and faces up to four years in prison with a fine of $12,500. The charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence have been dropped as part of an agreement in which Mull agreed to testify against his former girlfriend, Gillum. It seems likely that Gillum will face the manslaughter charge.
Before and after the birth… Mull was involved in multiple text communications with Gillum and was aware of what she was doing.
“After the child’s birth, Kalina Gillum indicated to Mull ‘omg it’s out. It’s huge.’ and less than two minutes later, texted that it’s moving. Several moments later she sends a photograph of the infant to Mull,” the prosecutor said. “At no time does the defendant or Gillum try to obtain emergency medical treatment for the child.”
Gillum apparently gave birth to the child alone while Mull was out. When Mull got back, he put the baby in a plastic bag and cleaned up the bathroom. The baby’s official cause of death has not been disclosed.
Abortion activists are already urging Joe Biden to make the abortion pill easily accessible and widely available. If he does, we’ll be hearing a lot more stories like this.
