Labor and delivery

Abortion | A gruesome Florida abortion saga reveals sordid—and possibly illegal—practices in late-term procedures | Lynn Vincent

"It's a women's clinic . . . My friend is having an abortion and the baby was born alive. . . . They're not allowing her to use the phone there. They're wanting the baby to die! . . . and she's not wanting that to happen."

That was a portion of the 911 call to the Orlando Fire Department on April 2, when a 34-year-old woman named Angele (who asked that only her first name be used) claims to have delivered a live baby during a botched abortion at the EPOC Clinic—and that the child died after clinic workers refused to render aid or call for help (see "Rowan's story," WORLD, May 7).

On April 27, Orange County, Fla., Chief Medical Examiner Jan Garavaglia prepared her report on the death of the boy, whom Angele named Rowan. Dr. Garavaglia—who is a bit of a celebrity with her own show on the Discovery Health Channel—found "no forensic evidence" that Rowan had been born alive. Dr. Garavaglia did conclude that Rowan was a baby, including in her report a physical description of the boy having red, slightly wrinkled skin, normal facial features, tiny fingernails, and hair on his head.