Abortion or Murder?

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Fla. doctor investigated in badly botched abortion

Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.

Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated to dilate her cervix and otherwise get her ready for the procedure.

Only Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivered a live baby girl.

What Williams and the Health Department say happened next has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips.

"I don't care what your politics are, what your morals are, this should not be happening in our community," said Tom Pennekamp, a Miami attorney representing Williams in her lawsuit against Renelique (ren-uh-LEEK') and the clinic owners.

The state Board of Medicine is to hear Renelique's case in Tampa on Friday and determine whether to strip his license. The state attorney's homicide division is investigating, though no charges have been filed. Terry Chavez, a spokeswoman with the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office, said this week that prosecutors were nearing a decision.

Renelique's attorney, Joseph Harrison, called the allegations at best "misguided and incomplete" in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He didn't provide details.

The case has riled the anti-abortion community, which contends the clinic's actions constitute murder.

"The baby was just treated as a piece of garbage," said Tom Brejcha, president of The Thomas More Society, a law firm that is also representing Williams. "People all over the country are just aghast."

Even those who support abortion rights are concerned about the allegations.

"It really disturbed me," said Joanne Sterner, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Organization for Women, after reviewing the administrative complaint against Renelique. "I know that there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we can keep (women) from going to these types of clinics."

According to state records, Renelique received his medical training at the State University of Haiti. In 1991, he completed a four-year residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Interfaith Medical Center in New York.

New York records show that Renelique has made at least five medical malpractice payments in the past decade, the circumstances of which were not detailed in the filings.

Several attempts to reach Renelique were unsuccessful. Some of his office numbers were disconnected, no home number could be found and he did not return messages left with his attorney.

Williams struggled with the decision to have an abortion, Pennekamp said. She declined an interview request made through him.

She concluded she didn't have the resources or maturity to raise a child, he said, and went to the Miramar Women's Center on July 17, 2006. Sonograms indicated she was 23 weeks pregnant, according to the Department of Health. She met Renelique at a second clinic two days later.

Renelique gave Williams laminaria, a drug that dilates the cervix, and prescribed three other medications, according to the administrative complaint filed by the Health Department. She was told to go to yet another clinic, A Gyn Diagnostic Center in Hialeah, where the procedure would be performed the next day, on July 20, 2006.

Williams arrived in the morning and was given more medication.

The Department of Health account continues as follows: Just before noon she began to feel ill. The clinic contacted Renelique. Two hours later, he still hadn't shown up. Williams went into labor and delivered the baby.

"She came face to face with a human being," Pennekamp said. "And that changed everything."

The complaint says one of the clinic owners, Belkis Gonzalez came in and cut the umbilical cord with scissors, then placed the baby in a plastic bag, and the bag in a trash can.

Williams' lawsuit offers a cruder account: She says Gonzalez knocked the baby off the recliner chair where she had given birth, onto the floor. The baby's umbilical cord was not clamped, allowing her to bleed out. Gonzalez scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirth into a red plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

No working telephone number could be found for Gonzalez, and an attorney who has represented the clinic in the past did not return a message.

At 23 weeks, an otherwise healthy fetus would have a slim but legitimate chance of survival. Quadruplets born at 23 weeks last year at The Nebraska Medical Center survived.

An autopsy determined Williams' baby - she named her Shanice - had filled her lungs with air, meaning she had been born alive, according to the Department of Health. The cause of death was listed as extreme prematurity.

The Department of Health believes Renelique committed malpractice by failing to ensure that licensed personnel would be present when Williams was there, among other missteps.

The department wants the Board of Medicine, a separate agency, to permanently revoke Renelique's license, among other penalties. His license is currently restricted, permitting him to only perform abortions when another licensed physician is present and can review his medical records.

Should prosecutors file murder charges, they'd have to prove the baby was born alive, said Robert Batey, a professor of criminal law at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport. The defense might contend that the child would have died anyway, but most courts would not allow that argument, he said.

"Hastening the death of an individual who is terminally ill is still considered causing the death of that individual," Batey said. "And I think a court would rule similarly in this type of case."

[Msterbeau]

At 23 weeks it's tough to say if the baby would have lived anyways, assuming it was born living... but the behavior by the Gonzalez is incredibly callous. It's certainly worthy of sanction.

[TheGimp]

thats sad....it really is...she ddint have to (throw the baby out) could have aken it to the hospital and left him/her there up for adoption instead of killing it....i think murder personally iam pro choice and if you want to get an abortion thats fine its your life your body do as you will...

[Oh_My_Goth]

!!!!!Sick fucks!!!!!

That is all I can say w/o wanting to perform a little "abortion" Meself

[Oh_My_Goth]

Arrrg, I can't leave this at that... She actually fucking named the baby??

WTF?? & Then put it in a bag???

I'm gonna be ill.

[TheGimp]

Arrrg, I can't leave this at that... She actually fucking named the baby??

WTF?? & Then put it in a bag???

I'm gonna be ill.

i agree thats sick as fuck *gags* i cant belive your ganna name yer chld and then kill it bitch deserves to have her uterus fuckin ripped out

[taysteewonderbunny]

At 23 weeks it's tough to say if the baby would have lived anyways, assuming it was born living... but the behavior by the Gonzalez is incredibly callous. It's certainly worthy of sanction.

+ 1

Truly, if the baby showed signs of breathing on its own, even if struggling to do so, I think medical personnel had a duty to try to intervene on its behalf.

This stuff is always sticky. I find myself thinking though, if this happened in another country with far fewer resources, would I be as upset? I don't know. It's very sticky. But in this case, it seemed help was available but not sought. And I find that disturbing.

[Oh_My_Goth]

i agree thats sick as fuck *gags* i cant belive your ganna name yer chld and then kill it bitch deserves to have her uterus fuckin ripped out

[taysteewonderbunny]

i agree thats sick as fuck *gags* i cant belive your ganna name yer chld and then kill it bitch deserves to have her uterus fuckin ripped out

yet in countries where obstetric care and fertility planning are near nil, naming the baby "lost angel" and letting it starve to death in a corner, even if full term, is de riguer. I find THAT more disturbing. As gruesome as the picture is, I'd prefer it be suffocated versus left to starve for days.

[Oh_My_Goth]

yet in countries where obstetric care and fertility planning are near nil, naming the baby "lost angel" and letting it starve to death in a corner, even if full term, is de riguer. I find THAT more disturbing. As gruesome as the picture is, I'd prefer it be suffocated versus left to starve for days.

Twisted either way, I say.

[heavenly war]

That lady deserves a Chuck Norris round-house kick to the face. Abortion is terrible anyways, it should be banned in my opinion. But, just throwing it in a bag without regret or remorse? wtf is this society coming to these days?

[TheGimp]

Twisted either way, I say.

i agree....and TWB i agree its gruesome either way but i think the mother/father should be pushished either way for suffocating there child or letting it starve to death..punishment is a must...

[TitsMcGee]

This disturbes me. That baby was born alive so murder charges should be filed. And furthermore is it even legal to get an abortion at 23 weeks?

[Rev.Reverence]

*twitch*

*twitch*

*pray for humanity*

[Rev.Reverence]

*AHEM*

Did anyone actually read it though...no account sais she named it then killed it...

The complaint says one of the clinic owners, Belkis Gonzalez came in and cut the umbilical cord with scissors, then placed the baby in a plastic bag, and the bag in a trash can.

Williams' lawsuit offers a cruder account: She says Gonzalez knocked the baby off the recliner chair where she had given birth, onto the floor. The baby's umbilical cord was not clamped, allowing her to bleed out. Gonzalez scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirth into a red plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

No working telephone number could be found for Gonzalez, and an attorney who has represented the clinic in the past did not return a message.

At 23 weeks, an otherwise healthy fetus would have a slim but legitimate chance of survival. Quadruplets born at 23 weeks last year at The Nebraska Medical Center survived.

An autopsy determined Williams' baby - she named her Shanice - had filled her lungs with air, meaning she had been born alive, according to the Department of Health. The cause of death was listed as extreme prematurity.

[TitsMcGee]

*AHEM*

Did anyone actually read it though...no account sais she named it then killed it...

I did see that. Guy still needs to be charged with murder.

[Rev.Reverence]

I did see that. Guy still needs to be charged with murder.

...HE......should have REALLY known better...NO REASON...NO "EMOTIONALITY" (I have seen many peoples get off on many crimes due to mental duress)......that guy...is goin' DOWN!

[Simon Bar Sinister]

The prosecutor will never get a murder conviction.

Manslaughter would be much easier, but by no means a certainty.

Negligent homicide would be a slam dunk, imo.

[Guest Megalicious]

Sick fucks, all them if you ask me, and I am not pro-life by anymeans.

What, finally at 23 weeks she realizes she isn't ready to have a baby, seriously WTF???

And I don't care if I was going to have an abortion or not, if I gave birth, and saw the baby breathing, even if I knew it was going to die, there is NO WAY in HELL I would let someone take it and stuff it in a bag. Poor little thing. What kind of sick fuck does something like this?

Its Alveolar Sacs where inflated, so they know that it was breathing at some point, so there is no way it was born stillborn. I hope they rot in jail for a long time for this.

[TitsMcGee]

The prosecutor will never get a murder conviction.

Manslaughter would be much easier, but by no means a certainty.

Negligent homicide would be a slam dunk, imo.

You do have a point it would be hard for muder, but I think they should try none the less.

Seriously does anyone know what the cut off for an abortion is? Like how many weeks. Because babies are viable out of the womb at 24 weeks I think. So you'd think that 23 would be pushing it a little bit.

[Rev.Reverence]

..that's first half of the second trimester..

Gestation is like 40 weeks to 10 months.

[candyman]

That shit pisses me off! I am so glad that there was a bomb threat at the abortion clinic when my mom tried to go there...otherwise I would be just another piece of trash. Yeah, the adoption place won't tell me who my parents are but they will tell me that I was inches from being aborted...assholes. In my opinion abortion is only needed in areas where there is risk to the mother...there are tons of families looking to adopt children.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

I think the term Depraved Indifference will be used at any trial that comes from this.

For those that don't know what that means...

To constitute depraved indifference, the defendant's conduct must be 'so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes a crime.

Depraved Indifference Law and Legal Definition

[TygerLili]

They all need to go to jail, in my opinion. What kind of an idiot decides to get an abortion at 23 weeks? I consider myself pro-choice, but that's almost 6 months into the pregnancy. The decision to abort or not needs to be made much sooner than that. When did she have time to name the baby? She went from wanting an abortion to supposedly being an innocent bystander while the clinic worker took the baby and disposed of it. I don't think so. Furthermore, what kind of a doctor agrees to perform said abortion, and allow the process to begin without trained medical personnel in the office? As for the woman who actually "threw out" the fetus...just, no words...

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Regardless of the legal issues its hard to fathom a baby being born and then killed after the fact without any legal charges against someone.The emotional punch here makes it difficult to look at objectively.

As it stands now, 24 weeks is a legal abortion as far as I know. Not that "Week age" is all that relevant anyway, its its an arbitrary number for the most part. From pregnancy to pregnancy how mature the fetus, despite that not being particularly important from the legal standpoint.

Whatever happens and however is decided its a saddening/shocking story.