Late-term abortionist LeRoy Harrison Carhart |
The story begins when six months into her pregnancy, Aragaw's unborn child was diagnosed with Down syndrome. As a result, she sought an abortion. While the fact that a mother would seek to have her child killed purely because the baby was diagnosed with a disability is heartbreaking, the story gets worse.
LeRoy Carhart and his associate, Anh-Chi Dang Do, attempted to abort Aragaw's baby with a suction procedure. This is not normal for a child who has developed for six months. Suction abortions are normally reserved for the first trimester, and abortionists instead choose to use the dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedure if the baby has developed into the second trimester. D&E procedures involve dismembering a child and removing each individual limb from the mother's womb until the abortion is complete. This is because the child has grown too large to be removed via suction. Attempting a suction abortion during the second trimester is both ineffective and dangerous for the mother. Aragaw unfortunately learned this first-hand.
When the suction abortion failed, Aragaw starting bleeding profusely. The abortionists, unable to control the bleeding, called an ambulance. Aragaw was transported to Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Maryland. Doctors there found that her uterus had been sliced open, and her baby's body had been shoved into her abdominal cavity behind the uterus. The baby was missing both arms and part of their right leg. Aragaw received a full hysterectomy to save her life, and she also suffered a traumatic injury to her appendix.