The Babies in the Dump
by Rep. Kathy Souza
On December 8, 1988, the Concord Monitor newspaper carried a story of fetal remains discovered in the Concord Landfill. NH Right to Life asked then Governor John Sununu (senior) to prosecute the perpetrators and to let us have the bodies for a decent burial. The Diocese of Manchester had offered space for them to be buried in the Mount Calvary Cemetery if we could obtain them.
After our request to John Sununu was turned over to the Attorney General, NH Right to Life Chairman Marie Taylor spent nearly a year visiting and writing to the AG’s office, going to the environmental department, speaking with the dump workers, etc.. She was told by landfill officials that they found 50 to 80 bodies, dismembered and in separate containers — with identifying information on each. She was assured by the AG that “the investigation is nearly complete,” and that “a decision is imminent.” Finally, on June 23, 1989, she received a final letter from Senior Assistant AG Dana Bisbee stating that “the enforcement action by this office is complete.”
The AG fined the Concord Obstetrics and Gynecology Association $5,000 for “infectious waste improperly disposed.” At least two laws and the health code were violated, calling for penalties up to $25,000 per day, but the AG felt a total of $5,000 was a “substantial penalty” for years of dumping babies by the Concord OB/GYN. Worse, Mr. Bisbee informed us that “the precise location of the fetal remains is not known, and, in any event, much more material has been placed over them.”
Whether the final chapter in this story has been written we do not know. We do know that the babies discovered on that day in December 1988 remain a symbol for all the babies killed and discarded since abortion became legal in America. By honoring the memory of these few, we hope to honor the memory of them all.
Are abortion clinics required to fill any form for disposing of each individual abortion? This is not the same as the removal of one body part in a surgery, which would then go to be burned as infectious materials at a crematory. An abortion is all the body parts of a baby or fetus from a woman’s womb. There should be a clear picture of the baby or fetus prior to the abortion as well as one after to be put with a death certificate.