Statement of Allison Baker, RN, BSN

Hearing on H.R. 4292, The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act

Subcommittee on the Constitution

July 20, 2000

In August of 1998 I began working in a high risk labor and delivery unit at
Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois. When I was hired,
I was informed of a procedure called "therapeutic abortion" which was
performed in the unit. This procedure was reserved for babies with
particular
conditions such as Down's Syndrome, Spina Bifida, Potter's Syndrome and
many others. It was explained to me that in these cases, the mother would
have an induced labor to expel the fetus in order to discontinue growth and
life. This was an elective procedure and the patient was to be informed of
all
the details it involved.

Between August of 1998 and August of 1999, I witnessed three particular
cases of therapeutic abortions at Christ Hospital first hand. The first
occurred on a day shift. I happened to walk into a "soiled utility room" and
saw, lying on the metal counter, a fetus, naked, exposed and breathing,
moving its arms and legs. The fetus was visibly alive, and was gasping for
breath. I left to find the nurse who was caring for the patient and this
fetus.
When I asked her about the fetus, she said that she was so busy with the
mother that she didn't have time to wrap and place the fetus in the warmer,
and she asked if I would do that for her. Later I found out that the fetus
was
22 weeks old, and had undergone a therapeutic abortion because it had
been diagnosed with Down's Syndrome. I did wrap the fetus and place him
in a warmer and for 2 ½ hours he maintained a heartbeat, and then finally
expired.

The second case involved a couple who had requested a therapeutic
abortion for their 20 week fetus with Spina Bifida. My shift started at
11:00
PM, and the patient delivered her fetus about 10 minutes before I took her
as a patient. During the time the fetus was alive, the patient kept asking
me
when the fetus would die. For an hour and 45 minutes the fetus maintained
a heartbeat. The parents were frustrated, and obviously not prepared for
this
long period of time. Since I was the nurse of both the mother and fetus, I
held the fetus in my arms until it finally expired.

The third case occurred when a nurse with whom I was working was taking
care of a mother waiting to deliver her 16 week Down's Syndrome fetus.
Again, I walked into the soiled utility room and the fetus was fully
exposed,
lying on the baby scale. I went to find the nurse who was caring for this
mother and fetus, and she asked if I could help her by measuring and
weighing the fetus for the charting and death certificate. When I went back
into the soiled utility room, the fetus was moving its arms and legs. I then
listened for a heartbeat, and found that the fetus still was alive. I
wrapped
the fetus and in 45 minutes the fetus finally expired.