By Tom Strode, Baptist Press
Massachusetts abortion doctor Rapin Osathanondh, charged with manslaughter in the death of a 22-year-old woman last year, has pleaded not guilty.
Laura Smith’s death in September became noteworthy not only because it occurred while she was in the presence of a doctor who had just performed an abortion on her but because she was a member of a pro-life, evangelical Christian family. Smith was pronounced dead Sept. 13 at Cape Cod Hospital after being taken there from Osathanondh’s Hyannis, Mass., clinic by ambulance, according to the Cape Cod Times.
A pro-life organization has attached the victim’s name to an informed consent law it is pressing the state legislature to adopt. The board of directors of Massachusetts Citizens for Life voted to name the proposal Laura’s Law, LifeNews.com reported Aug. 11. The bill would require information on abortion’s risks, its alternatives and the unborn child’s development be provided before a woman undergoes an abortion, according to the report.
Osathanondh, 65, entered his plea July 24, eight days after being indicted by a Barnstable County Grand Jury, according to The Boston Globe. “Suffice it to say, there was an inattention to the kinds of procedures of a life-saving nature that one would expect in a place where an operation with anesthesia is being performed,” said District Attorney Michael O’Keefe, The Globe reported.
Osathanondh resigned his medical license in February after he apparently learned the state’s Board of Registration in Medicine had voted to suspend him. The resignation is permanent.
Eileen Smith, Laura’s mother, did not know her engaged daughter was pregnant. Laura was pro-life and was reared in a Christian home with three other children by Eileen and her husband Tom. Laura had made a profession of faith in Christ and been baptized at the age of 12, her mother said.
Since Laura’s death, Eileen Smith has become outspoken in her support for the pro-life cause.
“As I travel around the country speaking about Laura’s story, I am encouraged that word is getting out and people are being helped and lives are being saved,” she said. “My goal is to also be a catalyst in the laws changing in [Massachusetts] and maybe even beyond.”
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