Probe Begins on 33-Week Botched Abortion That Killed Woman

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 11, 2013   |   7:43PM   |   Germantown, MD

Local officials have begun the investigation into the death of 29-year-old woman from a botched 33-week abortion last week. The has been identified as 29-year-old Jennifer McKenna Morbelli, of New Rochelle, New York.

Morbelli died Thursday as the result of fatal complications suffered during an abortion at 33 weeks at the hand of late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart. The abortion took place at the Germantown Reproductive Health Center in Germantown, Maryland. Her 33-week-old preborn daughter, Madison Leigh, died in the failed legal abortion as well.

Morbelli arrived at Germantown Reproductive Health Center on February 3 to start the abortion process. Local pro-life advocates protesting outside saw her every day until yesterday, and described her as appearing “pale and weak.”

By the morning of February 7, she began suffering chest pain and other discomforts, the group informed LifeNews. Her attempts to reach Carhart were unsuccessful. The woman was taken by her family from her hotel to a nearby hospital emergency room at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital at approximately 5:00 a.m. Efforts by hospital staff to contact Carhart or get informational assistance from the abortion clinic were unsuccessful and he did not return a handful of calls.

Morbelli, a full-time substitute teacher at the Church Street School in White Plains, New York, suffered massive internal bleeding into her abdominal cavity. She slipped into a Code Blue condition approximately six times before finally succumbing to her injuries at around 9:30 a.m.

Now, local officials are starting the investigation.

Investigators in Maryland said that, while the probe into Jennifer Morbelli’s death is ongoing, there is currently no indication of criminal activity.

“I can confirm that, yes, there is a death investigation being coordinated by the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Montgomery Police Department has been notified,” said Lucille Baur, a spokeswoman for the police department.

Bruce Goldfarb, a spokesman for the medical examiner, said the office was “investigating the cause and manner of death” of Morbelli, but would not provide further details.

“This is a routine death investigation,” he said. “Anytime somebody dies during a medical procedure it’s referred to this office. So it’s a routine matter. There is no timetable. Things happen when they happen.”

Calls to the Germantown clinic were not returned. Marisa Levine, a spokeswoman at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, declined comment, citing patient privacy laws.

Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue and Pro-life Nation, told LifeNews, “In 2005, Carhart was also involved in the death of Christin Gilbert, who died after a third trimester abortion in Wichita, Kansas. It is time for medical boards to put an end to these horrifically dangerous and barbaric third trimester abortions. If they do not, we can only expect Carhart and his associates to send more women to the morgue.”

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“It is so tragic that this family had to lose not only their nearly full-term child, but also their wife, daughter, and sister,” said Michael Martelli, Executive Director of the Maryland Coalition for Life. “What is most appalling is that the State of Maryland refused to hear the pleas of this community, and has allowed this man to continue to butcher women and children.”

On the very same day that this woman died, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene posted on their website that they issued a license to Carhart’s clinic to perform abortions — without a single inspection of the facility, Martelli said.

“He already killed Christin Gilbert in Kansas in 2005, and now another senseless tragedy has come as a result of Carhart’s so-called women’s healthcare and the apathy of the pro-abortion Maryland State Government,” said Martelli.

Last year, a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic killed a young woman in an abortion, Tonya Reaves.