
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 23, 1991                   TAG: 9103250220
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

A TALE OF TWO TEEN-AGERS' DEATHS

THE DEATH of Becky Bell, the 17-year-old girl from Indiana, has received a lot of attention from pro-abortionists as a tragic reason to stop attempts at parental consent/notification laws. Unfortunately, a lot of misinformation has been passed along under the guise of "facts" in this case.

Reporter James A. Miller interviewed Jesse Giles, the autopsy physician. Dr. Giles states that Becky Bell died from a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) complicated by streptococcus pneumonia.

Giles claims there is no evidence indicating an induced abortion was ever performed on Bell. Reviewing the Bell autopsy report, Dr. Bernard Nathanson concluded that "there is not one shred of evidence" to support the claim that Becky was a victim of an illegal abortion.

While this case has been highly publicized, the truly tragic death of Erica Richardson goes unreported. Erica was a 16-year-old from Prince Georges County, Md., killed by a "safe and legal" abortion on March 2, 1989. Why is her case not publicized? Is it because organizations such as Planned Parenthood may see their integrity come into question once the truth is known?

MARK MARTIN

LEXINGTON

by CNB