Albuquerque, New Mexico- In the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, abortion has become a major issue in the 2022 midterm elections. Over a dozen states have enacted abortion bans, while other states are expanding abortion, and voters across the country are being bombarded with political ads on the abortion issue. But on Saturday, September 10, local residents will gather to remind the community that abortion is not just a political issue. They will be marking the tenth annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children with a graveside memorial service at 10AM at Sandia Memory Gardens 9500 San Pedro NE. Albuquerque, NM 87113.
“Visiting the graves of aborted children really puts these political battles into perspective,” said Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico, organizer of the Day of Remembrance in Albuquerque. “In fact, you may be surprised to learn that some of those victims have been buried right here in Albuquerque.”
Fr. Stephen Imbarrato of Life Ministries U.S. obtained the aborted babies, Eve and Ryan, and with the help of Abortion Free New Mexico buried them at Sandia Memory Gardens. This location also has memorial headstones for local babies lost to abortion along with babies lost to miscarriage.
Shaver continued, “In the 49 years that Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, more than 60 million unborn children suffered the violence of abortion. All the angry protests, overwrought political ads, and self-serving corporate grandstanding fade into silence when you realize that actual victims of abortion are buried right beneath your feet. These tiny children were never born. Never learned to walk. Never had a first day of school. They were never even given names.”
Of the over 60 million victims of abortion since Roe v. Wade was handed down in 1973, only a tiny fraction have received a proper burial, at gravesites scattered throughout the country. But all of them will be mourned on September 10 during memorial services at those gravesites and dozens of other memorial markers set up in their honor. The Day of Remembrance is being organized by three national pro-life groups—Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Priests for Life and the Pro-Life Action League—to humanize the unborn victims of abortion by raising awareness of their burial places. The bodies of tens of thousands of aborted children have been retrieved from trash bins, landfills and other locations and buried at more than 50 gravesites across the country.
Join Abortion Free New Mexico in Albuquerque, at the only location in New Mexico where two aborted children are buried, for the National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children and ensure that our unborn brothers and sisters will not be forgotten.
Memorial Service for Victims of Abortion
Saturday Sept. 10 2022
Date & Time Saturday, September 10th, 10:00-11:00am
By participating in the National Day of Remembrance, visiting these solemn memorial places at other times of the year, and spreading the word about this prayer campaign, you are helping to humanize our aborted brothers and sisters and deepening your own commitment to ending the injustice of abortion. The National Day of Remembrance also offers hope and healing to women who have had abortions and others who have been hurt by abortion.
Albuquerque, New Mexico– Thank you for continuing to lift us up in prayer, for your encouragement and your support. With your help and God’s provision, our family is doing everything we can to change the direction of our state. Just when we think we couldn’t possibly add one more thing to our plate, the Lord opens the door for new opportunities.
This month, we have been blessed with the ability to work at the grassroots level to not only pray and be a light in the darkness but to be proactive in our community as salt to help elect good leadership and preserve our God given rights. Please join us in our efforts if you are local and if not please continue to pray that New Mexicans want a change in leadership that will represent our conservative values and will fight for them.
Between now and November we will give it our all for a better New Mexico, as we also raise our children to love the Lord and to love the mission field that we have been called to serve.
You are a blessing to the moms, babies and future generations we are working to protect. Thank you for making our efforts possible. God bless you!
BREAKING: UNM PAYS FAMILY $365,000 FOR NEGLIGENT REFERRAL IN ABORTION DEATH CASE
As reported by Operation Rescue-The University of New Mexico has settled a negligent referral case with the family of Keisha Atkins, who died on February 4, 2017, as the result of a septic abortion she obtained at Southwestern Women’s Options in Albuquerque, New Mexico. UNM agreed to pay $365,000 for referring Atkins to Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO) for an elective 24-week induction abortion that killed her. Operation Rescue first learned of Atkin’s abortion death after Abortion Free New Mexico received a tip that Atkins had died as the result of an abortion. Abortion Free New Mexico requested and received Atkin’s autopsy report then consulted with Operation Rescue over the confusing determination that she died from her pregnancy, not the abortion.
However, once the autopsy report was analyzed, it became obvious that the listed cause of death was untrue, and that UNM, which conducted Atkins’ autopsy, was attempting to cover up for SWO’s apparent negligence as well as their own liability in the tragedy. Over five years after Keisha Atkins’ avoidable death, attorneys with Abortion On Trial, who discovered more information about Atkins’ death and ensuing cover-up, were eventually able to reach a settlement agreement with UNM.
Successful Launch of No Sidewalk Without the Savior: Every Day Covered, Next Goal Every Hour!
On April 1, 2022 we launched our prayer initiative, “No Sidewalk Without the Savior” at the Isleta Church of Christ: Iglesia De Cristo which is he closest church, located 0.5 mile away, from the UNM Center for Reproductive Health- UNMCRH late-term abortion facility. Together we gathered for collective prayer & speakers, and prayer walked to the UNMCRH abortion facility.
In Matthew 18:20 Jesus tells us that, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
No Sidewalk Without the Savior is an effort to make sure that two people are prayerfully present outside of the UNM Center for Reproductive Health abortion facility every hour that they are open. When the body of Christ is present and available, God is able to open hearts and minds to the reality of what is happening in our community and to also bring conviction to the women seeking abortions there. Abortion Free New Mexico is asking the pro-life community to come together and volunteer for just a one-hour weekly or monthly commitment at a location where the hope of Christ is so desperately needed.
During the first month of our prayer campaign, “No Sidewalk Without the Savior,” we are grateful to our volunteers and day coordinators who helped to make sure that the UNM late-term abortion facility had a prayerful presence every DAY they were open! Our next goal is to have prayer every HOUR that they are open. It’s going to take a small army to accomplish this but our God is able. Volunteers Needed.
Knowledge is Power Forum
This month, Abortion Free New Mexico was grateful for the opportunity to present information at the “Knowledge is Power Forum” hosted by Off The Cuff ABQ Talk Radio to state and local Albuquerque candidates. It was a great opportunity to bring these candidates up to date on the abortion crisis we now face in the absence of pro-life laws.
To Build a Culture of Life in New Mexico, you have to be where the people are! This month Abortion Free New Mexico represented our Pro-Life Values at the South Valley Pride Day 2022 with Options Beyond Adoption and Off The Cuff ABQ Talk Radio. This was a well attended parade and community event in celebration of Albuquerque’s South Valley.
Pro-Life Training Seminar
Abortion Free New Mexico’s Pro-Life Training Seminar hosted at Providence Presbyterian Church this month was a huge success! Special thanks to our wonderful guest speakers: Doug Abrams of Casa De Mariposa, Rita Rodriguez of Options Beyond Adoption and Clarence Washington Sr. Author of, “Hijacked! How Dr. King’s Dream Became a Nightmare”.
Visit AbortionFreeNM.com for our latest updates, investigative reports and learn how you can get involved locally.
There is a place for everybody in the Pro-Life Movement.
Bud is pleased to announce that he has been appointed as the Republican Party of Bernalillo County, Ward Chairman of District 29.
Bud Shaver issued the following statement,
“My wife Tara and I are known for our pro-life ministry efforts and for several years now have worked diligently to support candidates in various ways. Whether serving on campaigns, or going door-to-door we have supported and worked for Republican candidates. I am excited to serve our Ward through recruiting, holding meetings, hosting events and ultimately working to make sure that Republicans are elected in our district.”
Faith to Action Friday (May 6, 2022)
The University of New Mexico- UNM is at the heart of the abortion cartel in New Mexico, as a publicly funded institution UNM performs late-term abortions up to 6 month, consistently promotes a culture of death and is actively training the next generation of abortionists.
Join us for Prayer & Stand Up For Life at the University of New Mexico’s free standing abortion facility.
Friday May 6, 2022
Time: 10-11am
Location: UNM Center for Reproductive Health (2301 Yale Blvd. SE. in Albuquerque.) Use street parking on Renard.
Your monthly and one time donations enable us to do this life saving work full-time. Click here if you would like to donate securely online. We use Cornerstone Payment Systems as a Christian alternative to Paypal. Also, now offering an e-check option.
Thank you for your continued prayers, support and for standing with us in this battle for LIFE.
Albuquerque, NM– This is the latest installment documenting the abortion landscape in New Mexico and a continuation of Abortion Free New Mexico’s exposure of the radical abortion agenda at the University of New Mexico.
In Abortion Free New Mexico’s latest undercover project that has taken viewers inside the notorious Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO) late term abortion facility, the investigation has also uncovered that the University of New Mexico (UNM), a publicly funded institution, is willing to collude with late term abortionists to deliver dead babies at UNM Hospital once a deadly injection is administered by abortionists at SWO.
The price tag of a late term abortion at Southwestern Women’s Options is a staggering $17,000, but in a SHOCKING revelation, SWO employee Susana Estorga, states that for $5,000 they would be willing to offer the fetal injection ALONE and then send the woman away to deliver the baby 2-3 days later elsewhere.
The fetal injection administered by SWO abortionists kills the baby in the womb by slowly stopping their heart over 4-6 grueling hours.
If a woman opts to obtain the fetal injection at Southwestern Women’s Options, SWO has an expectation that other OB-GYN’s will oversee the completion of the labor and delivery of the stillborn child. However, most OB-GYN’s will not participate in abortions, especially at religious hospitals, like Presbyterian in Albuquerque, so SWO is apparently relying upon the University of New Mexico’s entrenched abortion agenda and utilizes an arrangement to ensure that “injection only” patients can labor and deliver their dead babies at UNM Hospital.
In an undercover phone call placed to the Women’s and Children’s Health Care Clinic at UNM Hospital, Tara Shaver with Abortion Free New Mexico also confirmed the fact that, Lily Bayat a UNM Fellow at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center would deliver the dead baby at UNM Hospital after Southwestern Women’s Options administered the lethal injection.
Lily Bayat holds positions at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences center in the Divisions of Family Planning and the Department of Obstetrics & Gynocology. In addition, Bayat receives an annual salary by the University New Mexico of $57,747 as a, “Visiting Instructor”.
(Second year Fellow- UNM Abortionist Lily Bayat, MD)
“Abortion Free New Mexico has exposed just how deep the collusion is between the University of New Mexico and Southwestern Women’s Options to ensure that late term abortions continue up to the day of birth. Hospitals are meant to be places where the sick go for healing, but the abortion industry is utilizing them for their own sordid death agenda.” Tara Shaver, Spokeswoman for Abortion Free New Mexico.
GLARING CONTRADICTIONS
The Albuquerque Journal published an article on December 20, 2015 titled, UNMHSC halts training at private abortion clinic in it the ABQ Journal reported that, “UNMHSC officials said last week that they will no longer send medical fellows or residents to Boyd’s clinic, which is located in Downtown Albuquerque.”
However, UNM’s website contradicts that report and still clearly states, as of publishing time of this article, October 31, 2017…
“Fellows are trained in abortion and contraception care, using evidence-based medical and surgical methods. Training occurs primarily at the UNM Center for Reproductive Health, the Albuquerque Planned Parenthood Surgical Center, and Southwestern Women’s Options (Dr. Curtis Boyd). Later second and third trimester abortions are performed at UNM Hospital and at SWO.”
In addition, Southwestern Women’s Options is currently listed as a UNM Clinical Training Site.
Despite these glaring contradictions that show a continued relationship between UNM and SWO, Abortion Free New Mexico has conclusively confirmed that a current Fellow at the University of New Mexico, Lily Bayak, is willing to work with Southwestern Women’s Options patients to complete a late term abortion at UNM Hospital once the fetal injection is administered to kill the pre-born baby.
Fr. Stephen Imbarrato: The Protest Priest with Priests for Life issued the following statement,
“The collaboration between Southwestern Women’s Options, UNM Center for Reproductive Health abortion facility, and UNM Hospital shows that UNMHSC headed by Dr Paul Roth is the heart of the New Mexico Abortion Industry.
As a taxpayer, I am appalled that tax money pays for this unnecessary bloodshed! What is worse is the knowledge that Dr. Paul Roth’s right hand man, Ryan Cangiolosi is the head of the New Mexico Republican Party! This is the “statewide conspiracy of complacency and complicity” that we have been speaking about for a decade now!”
ACTION ITEM: Abortion Free New Mexico is asking that you contact the University of New Mexico Regents and respectfully ask them to STOP ALLOWING ABORTIONISTS AT UNM HOSPITAL TO PROMOTE AND PERFORM LATE TERM ABORTIONS AT THE EXPENSE OF NEW MEXICO TAX DOLLARS. In addition, respectfully ask them to PERMENANTLY cut all ties with Planned Parenthood of New Mexico and Southwestern Women’s Options.
Albuquerque, NM- Abortion Free New Mexico has released a more in-depth interview with Felicia, who went undercover into Southwestern Women’s Options, the nation’s most notorious late term abortion facility, while 37 weeks pregnant. World Net Daily described the first video, released last week, documenting Southwestern Women’s Options willingness to perform an abortion as late as 37 weeks of pregnancy as “stunning.”
Felicia was the perfect operative to go inside to document just how far into the pregnancy Southwestern Women’s Options was willing to perform a late-term abortion since her son Jonah was diagnosed with Trisomy 18, while in utero as a result of two genetic tests. Two days after what would have been Felicia’s scheduled abortion appointment at 38 weeks of pregnancy she went into labor and he was born, perfectly healthy. In this video she shares more about the fetal diagnosis she received that resulted in pressure to have an abortion by her genetic counselor. She also shares words of encouragement aimed at women who may be facing a similar fetal anomaly diagnosis while pregnant and speaks to the sanctity of all human life.
“This project has uncovered the shocking reality that the medical community is knowingly relying on faulty and misleading genetic testing that leads women to local abortion facilities to kill their babies. According to known published studies, 60% of prenatal tests can come back with false positives on babies without any genetic defects,” stated Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico.
In this in-depth follow up interview, Felicia shares more about what it was like going into the late term facility. She discusses her emotions while inside, her interactions with clinic staff, and how the late term procedure is performed over 3-4 days. She also shares her reaction when told that the procedure will cost $17,000 and about how she was instructed to obtain New Mexico Medicaid to have the procedure paid for with state tax dollars.
Church Militant wrote up an extensive report about this latest project and an exclusive profile piece about our work over the past 7 years here in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Here is an excerpt:
Bud and Tara Shaver, pro-life advocates dedicated to ending abortion in America, were commissioned to Albuquerque by Operation Rescue in 2010. They have been working full-time to “bring our culture and community to a point … where New Mexico understands and embraces a culture of life.”
Church Militant spoke with Tara Shaver about their latest project, investigating Southwestern Women’s Options to see just how close to birth they were willing to abort. Shaver said, “We’d been praying for an informant or someone to come forward with information,” when Felicia (last name withheld) approached the group through a mutual friend…
Father Stephen Imbarrato, of Priests for Life issued the following statement,
“The teaching of the Catholic Church is clear. Every procured abortion is intrinsically evil. The undercover work of Abortion Free New Mexico exposes that abortion is not only legal in New Mexico, but is performed up till the day of birth funded with public tax dollars. As a Catholic priest, I am appalled at how many Catholic politicians and taxpayers in our state defy their Catholic faith and support this mass murder of the unborn. It is a conspiracy of silence that has brought us to this unacceptable and deplorable situation. The blood of these babies is crying out to heaven for justice yet the silence from every sector of our state is deafening.”
Report by Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President of Operation Rescue
Albuquerque, NM – Tara Shaver opened the mysterious letter that arrived in the mail. She could hardly believe what she was reading.
It was an anonymous tip that informed her a woman named Keisha Atkins had died from a late-term abortion on February 4, 2017.
Shaver and her husband, Bud, who lead Abortion Free New Mexico, have spent years laboring in the pro-life trenches in Albuquerque exposing the largest late-term abortion facility in the United States, Southwestern Women’s Options, and its connections to the publicly-funded University of New Mexico.
Due to their experience and training, once serving as interns for Operation Rescue, they immediately jumped into action. They filed a public records request for Atkins’ autopsy and established a valuable line of communications with her family. They discovered that Atkins’ abortion had been done at Southwestern Women’s Options, which made perfect sense since it alone in New Mexico specializes in late-term abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
They consulted with Operation Rescue over the meaning of the autopsy report. Such reports are written in technical medical jargon that is sometimes difficult for anyone without a medical background to decode. However, this correspondent has been reading autopsies concerning abortion-related deaths for decades.
It did not take long to realize that as everything was not as it seemed.
At first glance, the cause and manner of death of this initially healthy 23-year old woman was made it appear that abortion was not even a factor in Atkins’s death. The cause of death was “Pulmonary thromboembolism due to pregnancy.” Her manner of death was natural.
In other words, the autopsy findings that a blood clot formed as a result of her healthy pregnancy and coincidentally at the moment of the abortion, it traveled to her lungs and killed her.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Once Operation Rescue and Abortion Free New Mexico announced Atkin’s death and released the public autopsy report, the Albuquerque Journal jumped all over it, declaring in their headlines, “Autopsy rules out abortion as cause of death.”
The newspaper cited the opinion of the UNM Office of the Medical Investigator that it was Atkins’ pregnancy that killed her, not the four-day late-term abortion process that Operation Rescue believes was mismanaged by eighty-year old abortionist, Curtis Boyd, and fumbled by UNM hospital where she died.
But as William Shakespeare once said, “Truth will out.”
No matter how much UNM may have tried to obfuscate what happened to Keisha Atkins, the truth seeps through in the pages of the autopsy report in descriptions of her physical condition and the complications she experienced in what must have been an excruciatingly panic-filled and painful death.
“Somehow, these people want us to believe that Atkins developed blood clots as a result of her pregnancy, and through no one’s fault, a blood clot just coincidentally moved to her lung and killed her in the middle of a late-term abortion, which, of course, played no part in her death,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “That’s ludicrous in light of the rest of the autopsy report findings.”
Here is what happened to Keisha Atkins, according to the autopsy report, information provided by her family, and documented information obtained through research by Operation Rescue.
Atkins reported to Southwestern Women’s Options, the nation’s largest late-term abortion facility, on January 31, 2017, to begin a four-day late-term abortion. She was at least six months pregnant, and may have been even farther along according to the tipster that contacted Tara Shaver.
Sometime during the ensuing days, something went wrong and Atkins developed a bacterial infection.
Possible sources for such infections during late-term abortions include:
Complications from the repeated insertion and removal of laminaria cervical dilators;
The fact that the baby in the womb is killed on Day 1 of the procedure and the woman must carry her dead fetus for days before completing the abortion;
Unsanitary conditions and/or practices by abortion facility staff.
On February 3, four days after her abortion process began, Adkins reported to Southwestern Women’s Options for the completion of her abortion. She was showing signs of a dangerous, systemic infection known as sepsis. She also displayed difficulty breathing as she was being prepared for labor. (Read more about how late-term abortions are done.)
Because of the seriousness of her condition, an ambulance was called at 12:04 p.m., but was later cancelled by the clinic, according to a 911 Computer Aided Dispatch transcript obtained by Operation Rescue. At some later point in the day, Atkins was transported by unknown means to UNM Hospital.
Once at the hospital, Atkins was tested for blood clots with negative results. The autopsy report made an effort to explain the rare false-negative test with one statistic that shows false negatives occur in as high as 10.7% of cases. (In other words, no one was at fault.)
Atkins continued to suffer shortness of breath and below base-line oxygen levels despite supplemental oxygen. She also experienced abdominal cramping pain, an elevated heart rate, and reduced ventricular function in her heart.
Additional tests of her placental tissue showed the presence of a bacterial infection. Post-mortem tests of her uterus also showed evidence of the infection.
Why is this significant to understanding the truth behind Atkins’ death?
DIC is a clotting disorder that begins with the rapid formation of small blood clots that block small blood vessels. As the clotting becomes more aggressive, it essentially strips the rest of the blood supply of the clotting factor. This typically results in hemorrhaging of the body cavity and various organs, including the brain.
In addition to bacterial infections, other causes of DIC can include retention of a dead fetus and surgery – both of which were documented in Atkins’ autopsy report.
Supposedly operating under a false-negative test for blood clots, UNM Hospital staff conducted a surgical Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) dismemberment abortion to remove the dead baby.
During the D&E procedure, Atkins suffered a fatal heart attack due to a blood clot in her lungs. Resuscitation efforts were so aggressive that her ribs were broken, yet they proved unsuccessful.
She also received “multiple blood product transfusions,” – a standard treatment for DIC – but to no avail.
Atkins was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m. on February 4, 2017.
Atkins’ autopsy revealed “acute coagulopathy” as well as hemorrhaging in the brain (left adrenal gland), inside the abdominal cavity, and from the uterus. She also had a massive build-up of serous fluid around her lungs.
How do we know she hemorrhaged from the uterus when that is not specifically mentioned in the report? There was a curious notation in the initial description of Atkins’s body that stood out.
The UNM coroner’s determination that Atkins died from “Pulminary thromboembolism due to pregnancy” is suspect, at best.
These are a few of the symptoms described or strongly inferred in Atkins’ autopsy report thatthe coroner’s opinion does not account for
Uterine hemorrhaging;
Hemorrhaging in the brain;
Blood found in the abdominal cavity;
A large amount of serous fluid found around the lungs, (over 40 ounces);
Bruising of the extremities (another symptom of DIC).
The UNM cause of death also does not account for the multiple transfusions of blood products she was given at the UNM hospital.
These symptoms do not make sense in light of a random blood clot in the lungs. However, they do make sense in light of the clotting and hemorrhaging that exemplifies DIC.
It more likely that during Atkins’ four-day abortion process — during which she retained the body of her dead baby — a bacterial infection turned septic and initiated a fatal cascade of symptoms associated with Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation.
It is Operation Rescue’s opinion, based the facts found in the autopsy report, that the UNM cause of death determination is simply not the truth.
The abortion facilities involved in patient deaths first try to conceal the fact that a patient died. If that doesn’t work, the abortion businesses immediately attempt to deny any culpability for their patient’s death.
What is the easiest way to do that? Whitewash the truth by blaming the woman and/or her pregnancy.
The leftist mainstream media is usually a willing co-conspirator in the cover up, and the response to the Atkins death was no exception.
Once Operation Rescue and Abortion Free New Mexico announced Atkin’s death and released the autopsy report – a public record — the Albuquerque Journal jumped all over it, declaring in their headlines, “Autopsy rules out abortion as cause of death.”
The newspaper cited the opinion of the UNM Office of the Medical Investigator that it was Atkins’ pregnancy that killed her, not the four-day late-term abortion process that Operation Rescue believes was mismanaged her eighty-year old abortionist, Curtis Boyd, and fumbled by UNM hospital where she died.
UNM’s own autopsy report described in detail compelling evidence that it was complications from the abortion process that killed Keisha Atkins – not her pregnancy.
There can be no doubt that if Keisha Atkins had not endured the process of a four-day late-term abortion, she would be alive today.
So why the attempt to obfuscate the true cause of death?
UNM and Southwestern Women’s Options are partners in the trade in aborted baby remains. SWO is the sole supplier of aborted baby tissue and organs to UNM. Both are under criminal investigation by the Attorney General’s office based on a complaint filed by Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico and criminal referrals issued by the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives.
This gives them UNM and SWO motive to nefariously ascribe the death of Keisha Atkins to her pregnancy in order to prevent another abortion-related scandal in the middle of a criminal investigation into their alleged participation in the illegal baby body parts trade.
This may also be why there was no notation of the weight of the dismembered remains of Atkins’ baby in the autopsy report. While the baby’s remains were present during the autopsy, revealing the weight might also reveal the truth about how far along Atkins’ pregnancy really was.
On a side note, some have expressed misplaced concern that the autopsy report was made public, and that its release may have compromised Atkins’ privacy, or more absurdly, her legal rights as a dead person. In reality, there is no legal issue with making a public document available to the public.
In fact, its release is actually a public service. The people have a right to know what is going on at SWO and UNM, especially because they are both recipients of public funds. They have a right to know that not everything is as it appears in the left-wing Albuquerque Journal.
When abortion is involved, concealing the truth that seeps through in these public documents only serves to aid the abortionists and their associates, who are desperately trying to diffuse any controversy around Atkins death.
Tara Shaver’s anonymous tipster apparently had a sense that something was very wrong in the way Keisha Atkins’ death occurred and how it was handled after the fact. And that person’s instincts were right.
If this information can prevent others from suffering Atkins’ fate, it is morally imperative to make sure the public – as well as the authorities investigating UNM and SWO — knows about it.
Operation Rescue urges the New Mexico Medical Board and the Attorney General’s office to aggressively investigate Keisha Atkins’ death, and bring those responsible for it and its cover-up to justice.
Keisha Maria Atkins, 23, died on February 4, 2017 — four days into a late-term abortion process at Southwestern Women’s Options abortion facility in Albuquerque, NM.
Report by Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President of Operation Rescue
Albuquerque, NM – A woman has died as the result of a late-term abortion process initiated at Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO), in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is the largest abortion facility in the U.S. that openly specializes in abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
Abortion Free New Mexico obtained the autopsy report for Keisha Marie Atkins, 23, who died on February 4, 2017, after being transported from SWO to UNM Hospital. Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico has also been in communication with members of Atkins’ family.
Operation Rescue is assisting Abortion Free New Mexico with an investigation of this tragedy.
This abortion-related death is particularly troubling in light of a criminal investigation that is currently underway by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office into Southwestern Women’s Options and UNM. UNM has aggressively worked to increase second and third trimester abortions at SWO, which, in turn, is UNM’s largest provider of aborted baby tissue and organs. A U.S. House investigation found this arrangement violates state and federal law, despite stonewalling and obfuscation on the part of UNM and SWO.
Atkins reported to SWO on January 31, 2017, for a four day late-term abortion procedure that was to be done by eighty-year old abortion facility owner Curtis Boyd. It is believed that Atkins was six months pregnant or more.
Four days later, on February 3, 2017, Atkins returned to SWO for the completion of the abortion where she displayed labored breathing and signs of sepsis, a systemic, life-threatening infection.
At 12:04 p.m. on February 3, an ambulance was called to transport Atkins to the hospital, but was later cancelled, raising questions of how and when Atkins actually received emergency medical help.
Once at the UNM Medical Center, Atkins’ condition deteriorated rapidly, prompting UNM staff to perform an emergency D&E abortion procedure to remove her baby through dismemberment.
During the procedure, Atkins suffered cardiac arrest. Efforts to revive her were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m. on February 4, 2017.
An autopsy was conducted at the UNM Health Sciences Center by the UNM Office of the Medical Investigator, which also serves as the Bernadillo County Coroner. The OMI determined that Atkins cause of death was “pulmonary thromboembolism due to pregnancy,” in other words, blood clots in the lungs.
However, a careful review of the autopsy findings indicates that this cause of death is a whitewash meant to blame Atkins’ pregnancy for her death instead of what appears to be a mismanaged late-term abortion procedure.
“UNM is a biased promoter of abortion that is attempting to shift blame onto Atkins’ pregnancy, instead of the abortion, where the blame rightfully belongs,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “Keisha Atkins and her family deserve the truth, not a cover-up. But with UNM and SWO, covering up their misdeeds has become standard operating procedure.”
There is evidence that Atkins suffered from sepsis, a bacterial infection caused by the four-day abortion process, which brought about symptoms consistent with Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC). Atkins suffered hemorrhaging in her brain, a buildup of fluid around her lungs, and other symptoms of DIC that the autopsy ignored.
Pro-life leaders believe there is a way to keep other women from suffering Atkins’ fate.
“We call on the New Mexico Attorney General to step up their criminal investigation, and we call on the State Medical Board to take a hard, honest look at Keisha Atkins’ death,” Newman said. “Curtis Boyd should be stopped from practicing, and the dangerous Southwestern Women’s Options should be shut down for good.”
“Coverups are as heinous as the crimes, and the crimes of the abortion cartel in New Mexico have been covered up for too many years. It is time for Hector Balderas to do his job or resign. It is time for the UNM Regents to do their jobs or resign. It is time for the New Mexico Medical Board to fully investigate Keisha’s death without bias,” said Fr. Stephen Imbarrato, The Protest Priest.
“We join the family of Keisha Atkins as they grieve her death from serious complications during a late term abortion at Southwestern Women’s Options. She was a 23-year old vibrant woman with her whole life ahead of her that was tragically cut short,” stated Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico. “For years we have worked to expose the barbaric nature of late term abortion in New Mexico and sought to bring accountability to the unregulated and unaccountable Abortion Cartel. Now more than ever, we need leadership in our city and state to take a bold stand and the necessary steps to prevent the needless deaths of women and their children through late term abortion.”
The abortion cartel in New Mexico has been operating by it’s own standards for far too long, and now the state’s publicly funded university, UNM is involved in an unspeakable scandal of using aborted baby remains, for experimental research, from one of the most notorious late term abortion facilities in the nation. This requires immediate action and without peaceful and prayerful pressure there may never be any progress in this matter of life and death that weighs heavily on the state.
Protest ABQ sponsored a press conference and peaceful protest at the state capital building in Santa Fe this month for our official launch of “Investigate and Prosecute” the New Mexico Abortion Cartel campaign. This campaign is aimed at urging New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas to investigate complaints and referrals submitted to him regarding the out of control abortion cartel in the state. New Mexico politicians have forgotten that they work for us and have been entrusted with the task of enacting and enforcing laws that bring justice to the oppressed. Our leaders will continue to turn a blind eye unless we show them that this is unacceptable in New Mexico.
The national #DefundPP protest in Albuquerque, was a huge success. The event was sponsored locally by Protest ABQ. Close to 300 turned out to protest Planned Parenthood!
Several other protests were held throughout the month as we debuted new signs on the truth truck. We lit up the darkness in Albuquerque neighborhoods, overpasses and thousands saw the truth about what abortion does to children and who is perpetuating this injustice in NM.
(Angelo Artuso, Tara Shaver, and Fr. Stephen Imbarrato)
In addition to visiting New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas’s office during our “Investigate and Prosecute” the New Mexico Abortion Cartel Campaign Launch, Protest ABQ’s Senior Attorney, Angelo Artuso, (Pictured- above- with Tara and Fr. Imbarrato) testified in Santa Fe during a House Education Committee hearing.
HB 267 is a bill that we’re keeping an eye on. If passed without further amendments it would make public university research records unattainable by the public. This bill is a dangerous overreach of the legislature and needed to be exposed, so we asked our pro-life friends to contact the republican sponsor of the bill…
Apparently the GOP in New Mexico doesn’t like being held accountable, our “tactics” (of simply urging the public to call the bill’s sponsor to amend the wording) was deemed to be an attack against this representative. Where is the transparency in government that is so needed? Where is the humility of leaders to admit their mistakes and work to correct them in public service to those who elected them? Both are surely needed here. Please pray for our leaders.
Excerpt from NM Political Report regarding HB 267 Committee Hearing
“Angelo Artuso warns that a move by lawmakers to shield some university research from the public eye could lead to harrowing consequences. At a Wednesday morning House committee hearing, Artuso invoked some of history’s darkest state-sanctioned university research projects. For decades, researchers at Tuskegee University studied the effects of syphilis by pretending to offer infected Black men free health care. And several colleges and universities from the early 1950s until 1973 were involved in Project MKUltra, a CIA program that used drugs like LSD unknowingly on human subjects to experiment with mind control.
Programs like those, involving government-funded atrocities at institutions of higher learning, Artuso maintained, would remain hidden at New Mexico public higher education institutions under a bill sponsored by state Reps. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, and Carl Trujillo, D-Santa Fe. The bill, now stalled in the committee, seeks to make ‘proprietary information and research data’ held by public colleges and universities not public.‘This bill erects a pretty strong wall of secrecy on any records deemed research by universities,’ Artuso told lawmakers at Wednesday’s hearing.”
Thank you for your prayers and support on behalf of our ministry and our family. We love you all and keep you in our prayers.
Ways to be a blessing for life in the new year:
-Become a monthly financial partner securely online here.
-Give a one-time financial gift from your income tax return.
-Host us for a “Missionary Meet and Greet” in your home by inviting friends to learn about our family and our work here in New Mexico.
“Seek the well being of the city to which I have sent you. Pray for it to the Lord. For in seeking its well being you shall find your own.“ Jeremiah 29:7
NEW MEXICO!
We have some serious problems. The most liberal assisted suicide bill in the nation has been proposed here in NM and is moving through the NM Roundhouse. This bill would pretty much allow anyone help anyone else commit suicide for any reason and then cover up the fact that it was an assisted suicide. Catholic democrats are supporting this and even some republicans!
(Proud Catholic for Choice, Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino)
Of course Ortiz y Pino is a radical democrat Catholic pro-abort who is a proud member of ABQ Catholics for Choice! There is a bill in this years legislative session that few people have noticed and I know you will take action when you see it. It is SB282 sponsored by Senator Ortiz y Pino of Albuquerque. This bill forces ALL hospitals in New Mexico to perform abortions and has penalties for those who refuse.
By Tara Shaver
Albuquerque, NM- The national #DefundPP protest in Albuquerque, New Mexico was a huge success. The event was sponsored locally by Protest ABQ. Close to 300 turned out to protest Planned Parenthood!
Video footage captured on location filmed the protest for over 14 minutes which kept… going and going!
There was a diverse representation of the pro-life community who peacefully and prayerfully came together with a unified voice demanding that Planned Parenthood be defunded and closed down!
Including New Mexico, pro-life activists in 45 states and over 200 locations all across America protested Planned Parenthood, the nations largest abortion provider on February 11, 2017 and called upon Congress and the 45th president, Donald J. Trump to defund the abortion giant. While a majority of Americans are fed up with their hard earned tax dollars being used to prop up an abortion industry that is killing children, as of publishing time I have heard NO reports of pro-lifers rioting, looting, smashing windows, destroying property, setting fires, attacking anyone, or being arrested in ANY of the 200 locations nationwide…
That’s because the pro-life movement is a peaceful and prayerful protest movement!
Most locations reported pro-abortion counter protestors that showed up in support of Planned Parenthood who were vulgar and aggressive. In fact, in Washington D.C. Father Stephen Imbarrato: The Protest Priest reported that the pro-abortion mobs linked arms and attempted to block their pro-life procession at every intersection on their route from the U.S. Supreme Court to a mega Planned Parenthood in D.C. The belligerent pro-aborts pushed and shoved the peaceful pro-lifers but fortunately they had a police escort to keep their procession clear of obstruction!
Reverend Patrick Mahoney published a video capturing the rowdy agitators, “Pro choice demonstrators Blocking our pro-life march and prayer service.”
In stark contrast to violent pro-abortion counter protestors, USA Today reported from the #DefundPP protest in Tempe Arizona,
Lisa Blevins, who organized the anti-Planned Parenthood protesters, said she has protested at the Planned Parenthood Tempe location every weekend for more than a year.
“We’re peaceful, prayful people. We are based on prayer. We respond to them (the other protesters) by praying for and blessing them,” she said. “We listen to them and we stay in peaceful prayer.”
Here are some pictures from #DefundPP in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Thanks to everyone who came out to stand in solidarity with one another for life!
This January we reflected on the fact that we began our pro-life ministry efforts a decade ago. (2007-2017) From Friendship Evangelists living in Flagstaff, AZ to Notorious Pro-Life Activists: Our battle in the trenches began a decade ago and we’ve never been the same. God moved in our hearts those many years ago and enabled us to make the commitment to seek justice for pre-born children, which we are still striving to do today.
By 2009 we were serving in Los Angeles, CA alongside a passionate team of young people with Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust. One of our first stops in our cross country tour was Obama’s inauguration. Our pro-life group was the very first presence allowed onto the inauguration route that day.
We weren’t violent or hateful though, in fact, we came in just the opposite spirit, we came peacefully and prayerfully to our nation’s capital. Obama’s inauguration ushered in the most radical pro-abortion administration in the history of America. So, for the majority of our ministry we have been at war and under oppression like never before in our nation.
However, this month Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America and what a difference 8 years makes. With a brand new administration comes a new opportunity for hope!
Even in his first week, President Trump has done so much good and w e hope that there is more to come. Our prayer is that our new president, will usher in a new season not just for our family, who is weary from battle, but also usher in a new season for our country.
Coalition For Life of Las Cruces announced this month that Whole Woman’s Health abortion facility has closed its doors! One less abortion facility in New Mexico is a huge victory for the pro-life community and the result of the hard work of many activists who labored to expose this place of death over the past two years.
In 2014 when this facility was making plans to open, we helped expose it’s beginning of shady practices such as operating without a business license and utilizing an out of state abortionist. Our good friends Manny and Grace also took a team down for prayer covering in the border area of New Mexico (Nehemiah 4:7-8).
This is the third abortion clinic to close in New Mexico over the past six years… When they do, lives are saved and communities are blessed.
Sanctity of Life Awareness and Unity Day Santa Fe, NM
January 18, 2017- We traveled up to Santa Fe this month to participate in the annual pro-life procession and rally.
March for Life Albuquerque
We were also blessed to participate in a grassroots protest held in Albuquerque to stand in solidarity with those marching for Life in Washington D.C. It was a beautiful display of how true unity is possible in New Mexico.
(Sunday January 22, 2017: San Clemente Parish Los Lunas, NM)
This month a parish located south of Albuquerque recreated a holocaust museum in their church using some of our educational and abortion victim image signs and their youth presented a 45 min presentation tilted, “The Silent Holocaust”. During Sanctity of Life month, most Christians expect to at least hear abortion mentioned in a sermon but this church raised the bar… by hosting Protest ABQ!
We were very encouraged by this pro-life church and by the zeal of the young people who are passionately pursuing a culture of life. Pray that more will rise up!
National Defund Planned Parenthood- Albuquerque, NM
For those in the Albuquerque area, please join us at a Protest Rally to Defund Planned Parenthood on Saturday, February 11th, 10-11am. PP Location: 701 San Mateo Blvd. NE. Sponsored by Protest ABQ
Love and Blessings, Bud and Tara
Thank you for your prayers and support on behalf of our ministry and our family. We love you all and keep you in our prayers.
Ways to be a blessing for life in the new year:
-Become a monthly financial partner securely online here.
-Give a one-time financial gift from your income tax return.
-Host us for a “Missionary Meet and Greet” in your home by inviting friends to learn about our family and our work here in New Mexico.
“Seek the well being of the city to which I have sent you. Pray for it to the Lord. For in seeking its well being you shall find your own.“ Jeremiah 29:7
The battle to defund the nation’s largest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood, has turned RED HOT.
Pro-life leaders in Washington are calling for Planned Parenthood to be defunded RIGHT NOW, as the 115th Congress takes office.
But to do it, they need pro-lifers like YOU to show strong grassroots support, all across the country, for stripping Planned Parenthood of their massive taxpayer subsidy.
That’s why Albuquerque is joining the National Protest Rally to Defund Planned Parenthood, taking place at PP centers all over the United States on February 11.
Join tens of thousands of pro-lifers nationwide in building a groundswell of support for the immediate defunding of Planned Parenthood.
Here are all the details:
EVENT: National Defund PP Protest Rally in Albuquerque
WHEN: Saturday, February 11, 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Planned Parenthood, 701 San Mateo Blvd. NE Facebook Event Page (Please Join and Share)
Come out February 11, and bring your friends — we need all hands on deck if we’re going to win this historic pro-life battle.
Defunding Planned Parenthood would be the greatest pro-life victory in a generation. Within months, they could be shutting down centers all over the country!
Do your part to win this victory by spreading the word about the big nationwide Defund PP rally and joining your fellow pro-lifers in Albuquerque on February 11!
