The story of Sarah Brown
Much to everyone’s dismay, the baby had not died in the intervening hours, but was still alive. The 15 year old was sent to the local hospital where the baby was eventually born. The delivery room staff, familiar with handling Tiller’s mistakes, wrapped up the baby, set her in a bassinet and left her without attendance. The 15 year old girl and her parents went home.
Though hospital staff predicted that the baby would not survive more than 8 weeks,Bill and Mary Kay and their seven children took Sarah home, adopted her and loved her till the day she died of kidney failure, at age five. If she had received attention during that 24 hour period, some of the effects of the brain damage might have been lessened. Only when the Brown’s filed for adoption was the child issued a birth certificate.
The potassium Chloride destroyed the left portion of Sarah’s brain leaving her blind, unable to walk and totally dependent upon the love and care of others. She required 15 different types of medication, two and three times a day, to synthetically replace what had been destroyed. Bill and Mary Kay took turns, even through the night, repositioning Sarah in her bed so that she never got bed sores. She required an apnea monitor and a heart and lung machine recording her oxygen levels. Because of the damage to her brain her physical growth was impaired. At age five she weighed 25 lbs and was the size of a two year old.
The Browns insurance company refused to include Sarah in the family’s coverge. She was provided with health care coverage by Bill Brown’s company, but at age 4, removed from coverage when her medical expenses became to costly. Mary Kay claims that it was, once again, the pro life community and local, private agencies who provided the most financial and compassionate support.
According to Mary Kay, Sarah was never viewed as a burden by any member of her family. What with seven other children and help from members of the local and pro life community, there was always someone around to hold, talk to or touch Sarah. During the adoption procedures it was necessary to subpoena the birth mother’s medical records. There was nothing in the record to indicate that any of the medical problems faced by Sarah were genetic or inherited in any way. She would have been a normal, blue eyed, reddish blonde haired little girl.
Mary Kay’s brother summed up everbody’s feelings at the funeral when he declared that George Tiller had succeeded in killing Sarah, it just took him five years to do it.
Sarah was buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Wichita. Her grave site is within ten feet of another grave where twins are buried. These two little girls died as a result of the effects of previous abortions on their mother.
The state of Kansas has nothing to say about the activities of George Tiller. According to a judge, Tiller did nothing wrong. Sarah Ministries, begun by Mary Kay and Bill, during Sarah’s life time, grew out of a conviction that they had to try to prevent this happening to any other child. Mary Kay has opened her home to pregnant women, providing them with love, parenting classes, medical attention, jobs, housing, whatever the woman needs. Sarah Ministry has provided services to about 25 women age 12 years to 35 years. Many of the women helped had been scheduled at Tiller’s clinic.
Mary Kay is a regular sidewalk counselor outside Tiller’s clinic. The day that the Arizona girl arrived at the clinic 175 were there, standing in the rain, praying and witnessing to the value of life. Unfortunately that baby was not spared.


First I want to say that Mary Kay and her husband/family are truly wonderful people that would unselfishly take in Sarah. It was a very noble thing to do and I have nothing but respect and admiration for their act of love.
Second, it is my understanding that late term abortions are illegal except for extreme circumstances where their is a threat to the mother’s life or if the fetus would not survive outside the womb due to a serious defect.
Accordng to this story, none of these seem to have applied. I did hear that Dr. Tiller was charged with doing late term abortions at one time but was acquitted presumably because the only ones he supposedly did were for the above stated reasons. So I do not seem to understand why then he didn’t get charged with this particular one unless there is more to the story than what is mentioned.
Third, I don’t feel that all the blame should be placed on Dr. Tiller. He didn’t hold a gun to that girl’s head and force an abortion on her. She came with her parents. Neither the girl nor the parents seemed to be at all interested in having this baby. When she gave birth to the baby,” The 15 year old girl and her parents went home.” So, why don’t we place blame on the people who initiated the late-term abortion?
My last comment is that if there indeed was nothing wrong with this baby and the mother and her parents waited this long to have it aborted, then why weren’t they charged? I think they are just as guilty.
Chris L:
I am not really sure where the blame is placed in the original article, if any at all. It seems that you have interpreted it as a piece to blame those who physically perform the procedure. I don’t read it that way. The article even states that Kansas has nothing against him [Tiller] and a judge found him not guilty. This however does not mean that abortions are right.
I’ve always taken the story to show the hideousness and impersonal nature of abortions. Whether or not Sarah Brown was wanted or unwanted has no bearing on the issue that she was still a human being (and a person) that was deemed unworthy to live. I think this is a tragedy and I think that is what this story is about… people seeing the humanity of a maimed and unwated person and taking them as they were – an individual who needed to be loved just like everyone else out there.
You are right. The guilty is not just the doctor. I am not sure the aim of the article is to attack doctors who perform abortions as you purport. Anyone involved either directly or indirectly or actively or silently is guilty.
Do you have any sources? I have read 3 different versions of this story now and am beginning to believe it is a total fabrication.
Curious: I do and always have had a source on this. Please reread.
I cared for this little girl as part of her health care team, and she lived next door to my oldest friend….this is an absolutly true story.
I was Sarah’s Mom, her story is true. I held her, I loved her, I cared for her and I watched her die on September 28th. my heart broke that day. Even after all these years, it still remains broken. It is your “choice” not to believe, that doesn’t change the facts. It’s easy to sit back and “pretend” that abortion is a “medical proceedure, but in fact it is the killing of children. I myself had an abortion by George Tiller many years ago. He was a boy and I held him while he died. God healed me, He showed me that out of pain and sorrow Joy can rise up. God’s love is bigger, stronger and way more powerful than any humans. If you have been wounded by abortion, your hour is at hand. Cry out to God, He will listen and He will forgive……I know this to BE TRUE! I will see you again my sweet Jason and Sarah at the resurection.