Germantown, MD – Operation Rescue has obtained the official death certificate for Jennifer Morbelli, who died on February 7, 2013, from complications to a 33-week abortion done by late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart. The document provides clarification as to the cause of her death.
The document confirms that Morbelli died at 12:25 p.m. on February 7 at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. Section 23a indicated that the cause of death was Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation “due to or as a consequence of Amniotic Fluid Embolism following Medical Termination of Pregnancy.”
While “Fetal Anomalies” is also listed in the same section, the certificate clearly states that this entry refers to the “Disease or injury that initiated events resulting in death.”
“There have been some erroneous reports that the fetal anomaly suffered by Mrs. Morbelli’s baby led to or contributed to her death, but her death certificate sets the records straight. It clearly was the diagnosis of her baby’s health problems that served as the catalyst to events that led Mrs. Morbelli to seek the abortion that killed her,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue and Pro-Life Nation. “If Mrs. Morbelli had not sought an abortion from LeRoy Carhart, she would be alive today.”
The death certificate confirms the information first reported by Operation Rescue. It also indicated that Morbelli was pregnant and that she delivered a dead baby on February 6, the day before her death.
Jennifer Morbelli was a 29-year old kindergarten teacher that lived with her husband in White Plains, New York. She was pregnant with their first child, who they had already named Madison Leigh. While in her 31st week of pregnancy, Morbelli received news that her baby suffered from an apparent seizure syndrome, which led her to seek an abortion two weeks later.
The Maryland Board of Physicians has launched a preliminary investigation into Morbelli’s death based on a complaint filed by Operation Rescue, which has also made a formal request of the Montgomery County State Attorney for Carhart to be charged criminally for abandoning his patient, an act that led to a delay in her seeking emergency medical care. Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, the clotting condition that led to her hemorrhaging to death is known to be treatable if caught in time.
This is the same condition suffered by another Carhart patient, Christin Gilbert, who died from complications to a late-term abortion she received from him in 2005.
“Jennifer Morbelli’s death certificate only reinforces our strong belief that the negligent actions of LeRoy Carhart caused her tragic death. We call on the authorities in Maryland to hold him accountable and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law before he kills again,” said Newman.
View Morbelli’s Death Certificate
(Note: Operation Rescue has redacted private information from the document but maintains the unredacted certificate on file.)