Laura
Women who have died : Laura
Laura Hope Smith, 22 years old, walked into Osathanondh's Women Health Clinic in Hyannis on September 13, 2007, as a healthy young woman engaged to be married before she died on Osathanondh's abortion table. A friend had taken Laura to the abortion clinic without the knowledge of her mother, Eileen, who told Operation Rescue that she never realized her daughter was 13 weeks pregnant and considering an abortion until both her daughter and the child were dead.Early reports had indicated that Smith's daughter had died of hemorrhage from the abortion, but Smith contends this information is erroneous. "There was no bleeding. She stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest," said Smith.
Shocked by death
Laura's death shocked Smith and her husband Tom, both professed Christians active with the Calvary Chapel of Sandwich around Cape Cod, who adopted Laura as an orphan from Honduras. Laura had been previously adopted and then abandoned by an abusive American couple, when the Smiths took her into their home and lovingly raised her. Laura was an active member of the church and graduated from Upper Cape Tech with a degree in cosmetology.
"My daughter was 22, healthy, and alive when she walked into that clinic," Smith said. "She didn't even have a cold. There is no reason for her to be dead."
Smith told Operation Rescue that she met privately for one hour with Osathanondh, who refused to meet her accompanied by her husband and only alone in a public place. Osathanondh admitted to Smith that her daughter died as a result of the abortion, but refused to accept any culpability.
Details of death
The details of Laura's death on the abortion table sickened and horrified Smith, who says she must keep them confidential until she takes legal action against Osathanondh for killing her daughter.
Over 600 people attended Laura's funeral and one young woman changed her mind about abortion after hearing the Smith's testimony of their daughter's tragic death.However, Smith is worried that both the press and the authorities may hush-up her daughter's death. A local newspaper had promised to publish a full-length interview with Smith on the day of her daughter's funeral, but has since reneged on the article.
A complaint has been filed against Osathanondh with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine regarding the abortion death. In 2001 Osathanondh made headlines for threatening in a fit of rage to murder five nurses for misplacing his paperwork.
