Florida Baby Killed in Unlicensed Abortion, Hidden on Roof, Gets Proper Burial
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 7, 2008
Miami, FL (LifeNews.com) — A Florida unborn child who was killed in an attempted abortion that triggered a large investigation of abortion businesses in southern Florida is getting a proper burial. The incident involving baby Shanice Denise Osbourne resulted in the closure of the GYN Diagnostic Center abortion facility in Hialeah.
According to witnesses, a young woman went to GYN for an abortion. Police say the 18 year-old returned the next day complaining of severe stomach pains.
Abortion facility staff told her the abortion practitioner was not available and that she would have to wait. After being taken to a waiting area, the woman allegedly gave birth to the baby that she thought had been aborted the day before.
Abortion center owner Belkis Gonzalez, a woman with no medical background, delivered the African-American baby girl. An autopsy indicated that the baby’s lungs contained gas bubbles and floated, proving that Shanice was alive and breathing at birth.
Officials say an anonymous caller, who they believe is an employee at the abortion business, alerted them to the birth and the infanticide of the child afterwards. However, when police arrived at the abortion facility, the baby’s body was missing.
They came back a second time and found the dead baby in a biohazard bag. Detectives say abortion facility staff likely moved the baby’s body the first time to avoid detection.
Now, officials with the pro-life group Operation Rescue say Shanice will receive a proper burial next week — over 26 months after the incident.
The funeral will be held on October 14 at 11 a.m. at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Ft. Lauderdale and the ceremony will be officiated by Rev. O’Neal Dozier.
"We rejoice that Baby Shanice will finally be laid to rest with the dignity and love she was denied in her short life, and we pray her killers will soon be brought to justice," OR president Troy Newman told LifeNews.com.
"We also pray that the African-American community will rise up and say, ‘Enough!’ to the exploitation and decimation of their community by predatory abortionists," he added.
Gonzalez is the subject of a current grand jury investigation, which will likely result in her being charged in Shanice’s death.
Hialeah police Deputy Chief Mark Overton told the Miami Herald after the incident that "’They hid the body from us for eight days," and there is suspicion that abortion facility staff hid the body of the baby on the roof.
Overton said homicide or manslaughter charges could be filed and Hialeah police are pushing for charges saying the staff should have called 911 or sent the teen to a hospital.
”This has to be a homicide, an unlawful killing. It could be manslaughter, but we believe it falls in that realm,” Overton said.
The city was preparing to take action on a license suspension for the GYN abortion center; but, before it could do so the owners of the abortion facility surrendered its license to operate to the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration.
Giving up the license means the abortion facility cannot practice medicine in the state John Travers, the city’s licensing administrator, said.
Gonzalez, of Miramar, Florida, owns another abortion center there and it has run afoul of state regulations on numerous occasions. It was closed last year after three employees were found to be unlicensed.
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