“Prior to going to medical school I worked as a paramedic. We were dispatched one Saturday afternoon to a woman with a reported miscarriage. Upon arrival, we found the fire department EMTs already on the scene. They reported that the woman had induced an abortion with a coat hanger, and the fetal remains were in the corner, covered with a towel. The woman was in shock, with a rapid heartbeat and marked hypotension as well as active vaginal bleeding. We followed trauma protocol and transported her to the local Catholic hospital, where she was taken immediately to the operating room for repair of the massive caginal lacerations. The EMTs had wrapped the aborted fetus in blue pads and brought that to the hospital as well.

As we were completing our paperwork, the hospital’s priest came into the ER. He went to the dirty utility room where the wrapped fetus has been placed. The priest baptized the fetus, anointing the blood-soaked towels with holy water, and then withdrew, leaving the charge nurse to handle the remains. The nurse put on gloves and , with a grim expression and a large pathology specimen-bucket, went into the dirty utility room. She carefully unwrapped the blue pads from around the fetus, and paused. We watched her carefully inspect the specimen. She called a colleague in for consultation. Their examination was followed by an intense, low-voiced conversation. Finally, the nurse came to us and reported that what the woman had removed from her vagina with a coat hanger was, in fact, a swollen tampon.

To this day, the thought of a priest administering the ritual of baptism to a tampon never fails to bring a smile to my face. “

Edward Dickinson, MDMenands, New York

(Source: reddit.com)