(Oregon Right to Life) — Staff at a hospital in the Czech Republic accidentally aborted the wrong baby in a horrific case of mistaken identity late last month. The incident has sparked a police investigation, and the employees involved have been suspended.
On March 25, a woman who did not speak Czech and was about four months pregnant went to Bulovka University Hospital in Prague for a scheduled check-up. However, after admitting her for the appointment, medics on staff put her under anesthesia and carried out a surgical curettage operation, The Evening Standard reported. Dilation and curettage procedures involve scraping out a woman’s uterus with a curved instrument. They are commonly used in abortions.
The mother in question – a woman of Asian descent who was not a native of the Czech Republic – had reportedly been mistaken by staff for another woman with a similar description.
None of the employees involved in carrying out the lethal operation noticed the error until it was too late.
Due to serious injuries sustained during the procedure, the woman’s unborn baby died in utero.
Hospital and governmental authorities have apologized to the family, and the hospital has promised financial restitution.
The incident has sparked outrage along with sharp criticism of the legality of any abortion. Elective abortions are legal in the Czech Republic up to 12 weeks gestation, The Evening Standard noted. Abortions are also allowed at any point during pregnancy in the case of fetal disabilities deemed to be fatal.
“The normalization of death by abortion has opened the door to a blatant disregard for life and the casual handling of induced abortion,” pro-life organization Live Action said in response to the report. The group added that “[e]very abortion is tragic, wrong, and unnecessary,” calling it “a discriminatory and eugenic attitude towards human life that allows abortion advocates to believe that any child is the ‘right’ one to be killed by abortion.”
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Police are investigating the accidental abortion at Bulovka University Hospital as a case of bodily harm, per The Evening Standard. Bulovka Hospital spokesman Eva Stolejda Libigerova told CNN Prima the accident occurred following “a serious violation of internal regulations.”
In a press release, Czech Ministry of Health spokesman Ondřej Jakob said the accident had been “an inexcusable human error,” adding that “those responsible have been placed off duty.”
“The Ministry of Health expresses its deep regret to the patient and the entire family,” he said.
Meanwhile, the tragic incident in Prague isn’t the first or the only occasion in which hospital staff have carried out accidental abortions.
A South Korean doctor reportedly aborted an unborn baby at six weeks gestation after confusing the charts of two different patients, The Standard reported.
Moreover, Live Action noted that an Australian hospital had accidentally aborted a “healthy” twin boy at 32 weeks gestation in 2011. The mother had intended to abort the other twin, who had a congenital heart defect. Both babies were lost when, following the accidental abortion of the healthier twin, the mother opted to abort the surviving boy.
Oregon Right to Life believes in the sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death. Abortion ends the life of a genetically distinct, growing human being. We oppose abortion at any point of gestation. Read this and all our position statements here.
