Thai authorities going after illegal abortion clinics

In Thailand, authorities are cracking down on illegal abortion clinics after hundreds of aborted children were found at a Buddhist temple.

Health officials said yesterday they had targetted about 3,900 clinics they suspected of performing abortions.

The move came as police obtained an account from a woman working at one of three clinics they raided yesterday. She said she had been paid to transport foetuses to an undertaker at Wat Phai Ngern Chotanaram in Bang Kholaem district.....

Pol Col Sombat said the crematorium at Wat Phai Ngern Chotanaram had not been working for the past two months, and that was why the foetuses had to be stored.

The remains did not give off a foul odour initially and petrol was poured around the morgue of the temple in a bid to cover the smell.

A pit was later dug to bury the foetuses but the stench was overpowering, prompting local people to complain to the abbot. The complaint led to the stunning discovery just before the burial.

The undertaker initially tried to distance himself from any wrongdoing by claiming he had been paid by a woman to keep some plastic bags and he did not know what was inside them.