Friday, June 30, 2006

Anniversaries: Two needless deaths

Seventeen-year-old Jennifer Suddeth underwent an abortion by Frank Robinson on June 30, 1982.

On the drive home, Jennifer bled heavily, alarming her live-in boyfriend*, John Fredzess. Fredzess called the clinic repeatedly over the four hours after their return home, but staff would not put the call through to Robinson. One nurse admonished Fredzess to "be realistic" about how severely Jennifer was bleeding. By that time, Jennifer had bled through two pairs of sweat pants, two blankets, and a towel. At last the hysterical man was able to contact Robinson, who insisted that the bleeding was normal and instructed Fredzess to stop calling.

When Jennifer went into convulsions, Fredzess called an ambulance. Parmedics arrived at the home to find Jennifer already dead. Police interviewed the weeping and hysterical Fredzess, then pressed charges against Robinson for involuntary manslaughter in Jennifer's death. Although Robinson beat the rap, the state of California nevertheless counted Jennifer's death as due to illegal abortion.

*With appologies to Zygote, who was troubled by the over-legitimizing of Jennifer's relationship.

***

Kendra McLeod, mother of two, underwent an abortion at a clinic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on June 12, 1998.

She bled heavily after the abortion. The day after her abortion, she sought help at an emergency room. She had fainted three times by the time she got into the ER.

Doctors at the hospital transfused Kendra with nine units of blood and performed surgery to try to save her life, to no avail. She died on June 30, at the age of 22.

Her family lost a lawsuit against the hospital. Documents do not note if the family sued the abortion provider.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Thursday, June 29, 2006

Anniversary: The death of Dawn Mendoza

Dawn Mendoza underwent an abortion at the hands of Edward Rubin at Women's Medical Pavilion in Dobbs Ferry, New York, on June 29, 1988.

Rubin did a D&C abortion on Dawn, a 28-year-old mother of two, who then started screaming and gasping for breath. Staff tried unsuccessfully to revive her, but she died without ever being transferred to a hospital.

The medical examiner determined that she had died from amniotic fluid embolism, as evidenced by particles of placenta and amniotic fluid in her lungs.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Blog roundup: A young parrot, let's tackle malaria, and more

Here we have another young 'un reciting what she's been told by people who ought to know better. She claims that aborted fetus pictures are photoshopped, and has latched onto Geri Santoro's death. Why do abortion advocates cling to her corpse with the tenacity of the damned? Yes, it was terrible what happened to her, but she was killed by her boyfriend because of her brutal ex-husband. Why does nobody place the blame on the two men who killed her? And, for that matter, why do the prochoicers care so much about this woman who died forty years ago and so little about women who are dying now?

UPDATE: I posted to this girl about the death of Carolina Gutierrez, the young woman who lost her feet to septic gangrene after a botched abortion in Miami. Despite the desperate attempts to save her life, this young mother died, leaving behind two small children Quote our paragon of compassion: "I totally feel indifferent about Carolina because quite honestly she didn't die in a particular gruesome way, which makes her a bad candidate for martyrdom." Feel the love! And some people think prochoicers don't care about women!

***

The Constant Sketpic says, "Before we eradicate abortion in Africa, lets kill another killer.". Well, Skeptic, I agree that we ought to go after malaria with guns blazing and banners flying. I'm just asking Buffett and Gates not to take away with one hand what they're giving with the other. It's mean -- not to mention racist -- to battle malaria with one check while supporting population control with another. It's saying, "We'll come here and wipe out the mosquitoes, but you darkies really need to stop breeding!"

***

Life Decisions International is preparing to release its 2006 boycott list, for those who want to stay on top of what corporations and organizations are pitting their money against women's wombs and the fetuses residing therein.

HT: Birth Story

***

Generations for Life has this must-read post about how "experts" undermine young women who want to abstain from sexual intercourse. It's all about the man, and giving him what he wants.

Must be one of those antichoice places...

I found an abortion facility with a fascinating web page. Allow me to quote them:
Please beware of some unethical clinics that falsely claim to do surgical abortions at 3 weeks, which is definitely not safe to attempt, since the pregnancy cannot be seen at 3 weeks.

Why, to even intimate that some abortion facilities might be unethical! Clearly this is antichoice propaganda!
We use only sterilized surgical instruments and sterile, one-use-only, disposable plastic uterine curettes, unlike some unsanitary "bargain" clinics that reuse these curettes and do not practice safety, cleanliness, and sterility.

More lies! That never happens! We know it never happens because only an antichoicer would claim that responsible, courageous providers of vital women's reproductive health services would do such a thing!

They also say a lot that ought not need to be said:
We strive to maintain cleanliness and proper infection control and sterility in our private OB/GYN office.

Why would they need to say that?
All patients are treated with individualized, personalized care.


Rachel McNair once found an ad in a newspaper. This abortion clinic advertised, "Don't be herded like a cow." What other business has to reassure the customers that they'll not be treated like animals?

Kids stretch your heart

Whoever said kids are supposed to make parents happy?
Gilbert eventually explains that with kids it's not about a transient notion of happiness, but transcendent abiding joy. In admitting that our children don't necessarily bring us a daily dose of happiness, he writes: "... Rather than deny that fact, we should celebrate it. Our ability to love beyond all measure those who try our patience and weary our bones is at once our most noble and most human quality."

I wonder if that's part of the prochoice/prolife divide: Do we only love those who center us more in ourselves? Or do we grow our hearts by loving those who pull us out of ourselves?

Reactionary, evil British woman wants to deny other women "choice"

British Woman Upset Erroneous Tests Prompted Her to Have Two Abortions
Geraldine Griffiths, now 58, learned recently that she'd been misdiagnosed as a carrier of a form of muscular distrophy. As a result of that misdiagnosis, she'd aborted both her sons in the 1970s. One abortion took place at two months and the other at 28 weeks.

The disease affects only boys.

The error was discovered when Geraldine's daughters were tested to see if they were carriers. They weren't, which led to Geraldine being re-tested.

"I needlessly aborted two children. I took life when it was unnecessary. I think about how they would have turned out and when their birthdays would have been," a tearful Gerardine told the reporter.

Having exercised her right to choose, Geradine now wants to deny other women the right to make their own choices:
"I feel so angry that DNA tests could be wrong and other women who have been misdiagnosed could have abortions unnecessarily," Griffiths told the newspaper. "There should be more rigorous tests before anyone considers having an abortion."

Fancy that! She reaps the benefits of choice, then when she's past childbearing age she tries to keep other women from exercising choice! How dare she try to guilt-trip other women! How dare she insinuate herself into the doctor/patient relationship! What gives her the right to decide what information doctors should give to other women when assisting them in making a difficult choice? The nerve of some people!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Botched abortion anniversary

Dorothy A. alleged that she suffered a near-fatal infection following an abortion performed June 27, 1981 at the Inglewood facility. Under various names and in various incarnations, the Inglewood entity was responsible for a lot of malpractice, including the deaths of Belinda Byrd, Kathy Murphy, Cora Lewis, Lynette Wallace, and Elizabeth Tsuji.

Not that seedy abortion mills are permitted to remain open or anything. The state always steps in and closes them at the first confirmation of danger. Yup. Yup. (nodding like a bobble-head doll)

Monday, June 26, 2006

Buffett and Gates

NBC Nightly News is going on and on about Warren Buffett's decision to fork over his fortune to the Gates Foundation. And my bewilderment is brought to the surface again: How can people with the compassion and wisdom to work on eradicating AIDS and malaria turn around and support Planned Parenthood? I saw a clip of Gates in Africa, and he seemed to be bubbling over with genuine goodwill for the little baby in his arms -- how can he then turn around and say, "Quick -- any more of these, head them off before they breach the birth canal." How can he simultaneously want to mitigate the suffering of sub-Saharan Africans, while donating cash to an organization bent on bringing about their extinction?

It's like somebody giving money to help build a Jewish homeland in Israel with one check, then funding new crematoria for Buchenwald.

He doesn't seem like an evil man -- how can he be so blind? Didn't he notice that the poor of the world love their children as much as the wealthy do?

Bill, Melissa, Warren -- don't taint your legacy by giving money to a hate group! Take that Planned Parenthood money and use it to give villages potable water and septic systems, to provide an infrastructure so that they can have fresh food year round. Or spend it on booze and reefer for frat boys! Better to burn it or piss it away than to give it to Planned Parenthood!

Today's typical aborter knows better

Women having abortions are not who you think
You might be surprised to learn that the young woman seeking an abortion in the United States today is not somebody's careless teenage daughter.

....

She is in her 20s, she has attended college, she earns a manageable living, and she is either living with the father or in a long-term relationship with him.

And she already has a child.

In other words, the typical aborter has absolutely no excuse. She's not aborting out of ignorance or feeling trapped. She knows it's a baby -- she's followed a previous pregnancy through all the prenatal books, she's seen the ultrasounds. She has the money. She has the stable relationship. She knows she's capable of caring for a child.

We need to shout this from the rooftops, and get rid of the idea that abortion is usually some sort of desperate measure taken by women in dire straits. The vast majority of Americans will have no more sympathy for the typical aborter than they would for adulterers and child molesters. These are women who know they're doing wrong, and are doing it anyway.

Question for post-abortion women: Are women this selfish capable of remorse? Or are we seeing a coarsening of sensibility to the point where we've raised a generation of psychopathic women -- and of psychopathic men who see nothing wrong with, "Let's kill this baby. I just don't want it."?

Anniversary: Pamela Colson's death

Pamela Colson, age 31, was 12 weeks pregnant when friends drive her to Women's Medical Services in Pensacola, Florida, for an abortion June 26, 1994.

Pamela bled heavily during the drive home. According to her friends, Pamela became unresponsive, so they stopped at a motel. Two passers-by did CPR while PamelaĆ¢s friends called for an ambulance. Pamela was taken to a hospital where she died after an emergency hysterectomy.

Her autopsy showed: bloodstained fluid in chest and peritoneal space, and "extensive hematoma formation in the pelvic area with the peritoneum denuded from the left gutter area caudually." The surgeon who performed an emergency hysterectomy, trying to save Pamela's life, had removed her uterus at the site of the laceration "so that the laceration was a portion of the incision made to remove the uterus." Her uterus showed extensive hemorrhage and blood clots. Her uterine artery was also injured. Several of Pamela's ribs were fractured, apparently during attempts to resuscitate her; this is common in even properly performed CPR.

The cause of death was given as"'irreversible shock from blood loss due to a perforated uterus occurring at the time of an elective abortion." William Keene was tentatively identified as having performed the abortion.

Pamela's fatal abortion was performed at the clinic where abortionist David Gunn was shot dead. While Gunn's death is much lamented by abortion advocates, Pamela's death is not. In fact, the clinic had two women arrested for using the tacky gum designed to hang posters safely on walls to hang a black crepe wreath on the clinic door on the anniversary of Pamela's death.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Sunday, June 25, 2006

Gut reaction: My own stereotpyes and prejudices

I was reading snippets from an abortion-advocacy editorial, and my gut response is "Thanks for assuming that having a uterus means I'm a selfish, ignorant slut."

As much as prochoice women seem to assume that opposing abortion means wanting to keep women in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant, my gut response is that a man who supports abortion wants women in the bedroom, naked, spread-eagled, and tied to the bed. And that the woman who wants abortion available wants to be that woman, that her entire sense of worth stems from having some man put his penis in her.

Do any other prolife women have that gut response?

Even of BOTH stereotypes were true, I'd rather be an incubator than an inflatable sex doll. I'd prefer to devote myself to nurturing new life than to devote myself to a string of orgasms. And I can't shake the image that prochoice women would rather be the doll.

And I wonder how much that stereotype is tapping into something. After all, prochoicers keep insisting that if you're prolife you must be anti-sex. Therefore, to them, the whole point of abortion must be that it facilitates sex.

And where does the idea of the eros/thantos dichotomy come into this?

I was quite a sexual libertine when I first became a prolifer. I became more conservative after seeing the damage that casual sex does to people -- to women in particular. One kind of damage I saw sexual "liberation" doing to women was putting them on the abortion table. So we started with "Abortion is an awful, dreadful thing," as a premise, and "Therefore having sex with a woman when you're not prepared to support her through a pregnancy is wrong" grew out of it. Cheap sex is bad because it leads to the abortion table, not vice versa (abortion bad because it arises from cheap sex). And I wonder if there's a degree of "All sex is good. Sex sometimes leads to abortion. Therefore abortion is good." in the prochoice worldview.

Just pondering. I'd especially like to hear from converts.

Blog roundup: "access" et al.

State Bioethics by Jim Fossett: Abortion in the Fifty States harps on "access." Speaking of "access" to abortion implies that something other than demand is effecting supply. It never occurs to abortion proponents that women don't uniformly want abortion. If there are enough abortion-minded women in an area, basic Economics 101 tells us that somebody will set up shop there. In an area where the women don't have the same interest in abortion, there won't be enough business to support a friendly neighborhood abortionist.

I'm beginning to wonder if these people don't want rural women to go out and have abortions just to ensure that every county has an abortionist.

****

Has anybody read The Politics of Abortion?
How did the culture shift that produced Roe v Wade occur? How did the Democratic Party move from being the party of the New Deal, Medicare, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children to the party of abortion-on-demand? Why are black women targeted as the primary consumers of abortion services? Why does Hollywood celebrate abortion and abortion providers in films and television? Why do pro-choice clergy assure followers that abortion is a "sacred choice"?

****

Mirror of Justice looks at Abortion and Disability Rights. (Ironic, isn't it, that the Democrats, who tout their compassion for the disabled, are so keen on search-and-destroy missions to weed them out in the womb, and on starving them to death should their disabilities arise post-natally?)
Scholars and activists who are generally pro-choice but criticize the current prenatal-testing and abortion practices assert that "[p]re-natal testing, and the more recent and less common embryo screening and selection, are justified by mistaken assumptions about the quality of life of people with disabilities, and are demeaning to existing people with disabilities"; parents who "select against a fetus because of predicted disability" far too often erroneously conclude that this child could not be one "'who will enrich us, gladden others, contribute to the world, and make us proud.'"


Yup -- push for the Americans With Disabilities Act, then work to kill the disabled so it won't actually do anything. Makes sense to me! Not.

Someone was seeking Dr Steven Chase Brigham

If anybody here lives in New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania, maybe you could volunteer to be the person who keeps an eye on the exploits of Dr Steven Chase Brigham. As far as I can tell, he wants to be the Fast Eddie Allred of the East coast. He runs a chain of seedy abortion mills. Astonishingly, he's not yet managed to kill anybody but fetuses in these mills. Not that he's exerting a lot of effort to preserve his patients' lives. He's so bad that Planned Parenthood actually helped the prolifers badger the medical board about him. Brigham surrendered his license in order to halt an ongoing investigation. Even though he's not permitted to practice medicine in Pennsylvania, he nevertheless operates a handful of clinics, using whatever quack abortionists he can get his hands on. The Medical Board of New York stopped just short of calling him a psychopath, noting that, "Respondent repeatedly exaggerated his medical training, experience and skill." He "has demonstrated that he lacks appropriate judgment and insight as to his own limitations. He routinely displayed a tendency to inflate and embellish the truth."

Without further ado, here's what I'm aware of that this guy's been caught doing wrong:

  • Brigham nearly killed patient "Millie" by performing a dangerous -- and illegal -- third-trimester abortion on her in his office.

  • Instead of sending her to an equipped hospital -- which would be required by law to provide her with care -- Brigham performed an abortion procedure on patient "Jessie" to remove her dead fetus.

  • Brigham kept yanking with forceps on patient "Anne's" internal organs, even when it was clear that he wasn't pulling out fetal parts. He nearly eviscerated her.
  • Anniversary: Missouri citizens loose choice

    On this date in 1976, Missouri Governor Christopher S. Bond rescinded the Extermination Order Governor Lilburn W. Bogg had signed on October 27, 1838. Missouri citizens were no longer given the freedom to choose how to deal with troublesome Mormons. Missouri citizens plagued by Mormons could no longer drive them off or kill them. What a blow to basic human rights! What a backward, retrograde reactionary was Governor Bond, to condescendingly decide that Missouri citizens were too stupid to make informed, responsible choices about how to cope with Mormons!

    So get out the black crepe. Today marks a bleak day in Missouri's history.

    Saturday, June 24, 2006

    Urgent adoption need

    The Chinese government has opened a six-day window for a family to choose a little boy with Down Syndrome. If the boy is chosen in those six days, the Chinese government will consider allowing international adoption of other kids with DS. If the boy doesn't have a family ready to commit in six days, they will withdraw permission to permit adoption and will not allow other DS kids to be adopted out internationally.

    Urgent adoption need - Chinese baby with Down syndrome

    This precious, adorable, beautiful child could open doors for other children.

    Anniversary: The death of "Annie"

    "Annie" Roe traveled from New Jersey to New York for a first-trimester abortion on June 24, 1971. Shortly after she was given anesthesia, Annie went into cardiac arrest, and attempts to revive her failed. She left behind three children.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Friday, June 23, 2006

    People were searching: Arnold Bickham, Eve Medical Clinic, Alberto Hodari, and Frederick Taussig

    Somebody wanted Arnold Bickham (pictured). Or rather, wanted information about him. Other than being wanted by the police -- which he should be, for murdering Sophie McCoy -- Bickham isn't a very hot commodity in my humble opinion. Bickham's cheapskate refusal to pay for pathology reports at his Water Tower Reproductive Center contributed to the death of Sherry Emry. More on Bickham is available here.

    ****

    Somebody was looking for Eve Medical Clinic. I don't know specifically about Eve Medical Clinic. The person might be looking for Eve Surgical Center, the abortion facility that gave Oriane Shevin the abortion drugs that killed her.

    ****

    Someone else was looking for Alberto Hodari (pictured). He's another of those folks like Bickham that I'd lump in as one of America's Least Wanted. Hodari performed the fatal abortions on Tamia Russell and Chivon Williams. More on Hodari is available here.

    ****

    Another search was for Frederick Taussig. Taussig is the source of the spurious claims of 5,000 to 10,000 maternal deaths a year from illegal abortions. Unlike those who followed him, Taussig had the honesty and decency to repudiate his own bogus numbers. But the damage had already been done.

    ****

    Searches for fetuses of a particular age are popular. I would remind readers to click on The Visible Embryo link in the sidebar.

    On this date: The death of Cora Burke, and more

    Cora A. Burke was a 20-year-old who had been widowed about five months. She had a four-year-old son and lived in her own home along with her child and her parents. She'd recently become engaged. She'd been in good health up until the events that began to unfold in June of 1899.

    In May of 1899, Cora told Mrs. Martha Johnson that she was about six weeks pregnant and wanted to find a good doctor to perform an abortion. Mrs. Johnson introduced Cora to Dr. R. J. Alcorn who had been practicing medicine in Kootenai County, Idaho, for a short time. Dr. Alcorn was living in the boarding house Mrs. Johnson operated with Mr. E.J. Abbey.

    Cora went to Dr. Alcorn's room about two days after they were introduced. Mr. Abbey listened from an adjoining room, and heard Cora say that the instrument Dr. Alcorn was using was hurting her.

    On the night of Tuesday, June 21, Dr. Alcorn asked Mr. T.J. Rundell to help him carry a table into his office, which was at the back of a drug store in the town of Harrison. Rundell's curiosity was piqued, and he asked Alcorn if he was going to "dissect a stiff." Alcorn told him no, he was going to perform an operation on somebody from across the river.

    Rundell decided to snoop, so he returned at 10:00 PM and saw Cora go through the drug store into Alcorn's office. Rundell then slipped around to the back of the building, where he could peer into Alcorn's office around an ill-hung window blind. The following is what Rundell says he observed.

    Alcorn stood beside the chair where Cora was sitting, supporting her head with one hand. He had a small vial containing a dark liquid, and was holding a cloth to Cora's face. Cora seemed to fall into a deep sleep, whereupon Alcorn picked her up and lay her on the table.

    Alcorn removed Cora's undergarments and positioned her for the surgery. He examined her internally, inserted a speculum, then inserted a probe about a foot long into her body, causing a flow of blood which he blotted up with a cloth. From time to time, Alcorn applied the cloth to Cora's face again. The entire procedure took about an hour and a half.

    Cora was awakened, and Alcorn helped her to set her clothing to rights and sent her on her way.

    At about 4 PM the next day, Alcorn was called to tend to Cora, who was in a lot of pain. He examined her and found her uterus to be inflamed and bleeding. He prescribed ergot, to be given one-half teaspoon each half-hour for three doses, then every hour afterward for 18 hours. Cora's mother asked Alcorn about her daughter's condition. Alcorn told her, "She caught a bad cold. She does not flow enough when she has her monthlies. I will give her something to make her flow."

    Over the ensuing days, Alcorn visited Cora five times, the last time about two hours before she died on Friday afternoon, June 23. Her feet and hands were cold, her fingers blue, her lips purple. Alcorn told Cora's mother that she was doing well and would be up soon. Alcorn immediately took a train to Washington state, returning about 10:00 on the following Sunday morning. The next day he again left the state, this time going to Montana, where he was arrested and returned to Kootenai county.

    While Cora was ill, she passed a lot of blood and clots. Mrs. Knight, who visited Cora during her illness, testified, "I helped dress her after she was dead. Her clothing and bedclothing were saturated with blood. A quilt was doubled up under her four thicknesses, and it was clear through the quilt. It was clots of blood. I observed an odor in connection with it. There was too great a quantity to have come from the ordinary menstruation. Much greater in quantity."

    At about 6:00 PM on the 21st, William Ketchum called Alcorn to visit Mrs. Ketchum, but Alcorn told him, "Well, I don't know. I am expecting a miscarriage here any minute. I can go over there, and come back, if it does not make any difference to them." So he went to Ketchum's home to attend to his wife.

    Kootenai County sherrif F. H. Bradbury testified, "He told me that he never had anything to do with this girl, Cora Burke; that he began in the daytime an operation on a man for stricture, and did not complete it; and that he took him in the back room of the drug store and completed the operation in the evening. He gave me this statement after I had warned him not to make any statement to me. This was on the train between here and Missoula."

    Alcorn testified on is own behalf, saying that Cora had attempted to do an abortion on herself with "a hair dart," which had punctured the wall of her uterus and broken off, leaving about 1 1/2 inches. Rundell said that he'd used a speculum and piston syringe to remove the foreign body from Cora's uterus.

    The physicians called as expert witnesses on the case all agreed that Cora died of septicemia or blood poisoning. They also agreed that ergot itself would be enough to cause an abortion.

    Alcorn's defense also raised the possibility that Cora hadn't actually been pregnant, but the court concluded that Cora had believed herself to be pregnant, had sought an abortion, and had undergone a procedure intended to cause an abortion, which was enough to demonstrate the intent of the defendant to kill a fetus, especially in the light of Alcorn's statement that he was expecting a patient to miscarry.

    Alcorn was charged with murder, convicted of manslaughter, in Cora's death.

    ****

    On this date, 20-year-old Edith Green vanished from her job as an attendant at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital. She was found later, dismembered and dumped by the physician who had performed a fatal abortion on her.

    ****

    Angela S. alleged that she submitted to an abortion by Irving Rust at Planned Parenthood of New York City on June 23, 1973. According to Angela's lawsuit, "following said abortion, plaintiff was told that the fetus had been aborted and/or the pathology specimens of the abortion did not reveal any product of conception." Angela was admitted to a hospital on December 2, where a c-section was performed "for removal of a dead female child." Angela "was rendered sick, sore and disabled; sustained injuries both internal and external, sustained severe shock to her nervous system...was confined to the hospital and bed for a long period of time."

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Thursday, June 22, 2006

    On this date: The deaths of Kelly Morse and Deborah Lozinski, and more

    Seventeen-year-old Deborah Ann Lozinski had languished for two months in a coma, hospitalized after an abortion at Medical Care Center in Woodbridge, New Jersey.

    On June 21, 1985, Deborah's parents filed suit against Dr. Scheininger, Dr. Sinha, and other staff for failing to properly screen and examine Deborah prior to her abortion. They also alleged that staff failed to properly monitor their daughter's vital signs during the abortion, failing to quickly detect and properly treat respiratory difficulty. As a result, Deborah suffered the brain damage that had caused her coma.

    Shortly after midnight on June 22, a hospital staffer checked on Deborah and found her dead; she evidently had died shortly before midnight.

    ****

    A suit by patient C.J. alleged that she was referred to Planned Parenthood of Mid-Michigan for an abortion. She attended a counseling appointment on June 22, 1987, and expressed concern that her pregnancy might be tubal or otherwise abnormal because the of "spotty watery bleeding she was experiencing and because this pregnancy was unlike her previous pregnancies." C.J. was assured that a doctor would examine her on June 23, just prior to the abortion, and decide if an ultrasound was necessary. C.J. arrived on June 23 for abortion, was given medicine, and was "instructed to put on a hospital gown and to get on a table and put her feet into stirrups." Seabrook "appeared and attempted to abort her pregnancy without examining Plaintiff." C.J. heard Seabrook comment that he was not "getting much material." C.J. slept in recovery for around 1 hour, was given discharge instructions from staff, and was given a prescription in case of heavy bleeding.

    Three or four days later, C.J. again experienced watery bleeding and backache, and she "felt tired, depressed and very pregnant." She attempted to contact the clinic on June 27, and left a message on their answering machine. Her call was returned by Nurse Shaw who told her "that her feelings of pregnancy could last for several weeks and assured her that they would go away." Shaw "also allegedly pulled Plaintiff's chart and read part of the chart to Plaintiff and stated that the preliminary laboratory reports appeared to be fine and that they would have a final laboratory report by the time she was to appear for a follow-up visit...July 7."

    C.J. continued feeling lethargic. On June 29, she had to be taken home from class a by friend due to severe pain, and called the clinic. She went to the clinic later that day, per instructions, and was given 3 pelvic exams by Nurse Froebel, who detected an adnexal abdominal mass, and recommended that C.J. see her private physician or go to a hospital. C.J. returned to the clinic that had referred her to Planned Parenthood, where a physician assistant examined her, noted the mass, and diagnosed possible pelvic inflammatory disease and prescribed antibiotics.

    C.J. stayed home the next day, "exhausted and without any energy." She attempted to attend class the following morning, but had to be taken to a faculty lounge to lie down due to pain. An ambulance was called, and emergency room personnel determined that she was hemorrhaging. C.J. required emergency surgery due to a ruptured fallopian tube. She was hospitalized one week, and recuperated at home 10-14 days.

    The laboratory report had detected "scanty chorionic villi," indicating that the abortion had not removed the fetus. C.J. alleged negligence in failing to perform other tests and procedures to determine cause of her symptoms.

    ****

    Thirty-two-year-old Kelly Morse of Vermont traveled with her husband to Hillcrest Women's Medical Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for an abortion on June 19, 1996. Dr. Delhi Elmore Thweatt, Jr., performed the abortion.

    Five days earlier, Kelly had come to Hillcrest and had been evaluated by Dr. Earl McLeod, who had diagnosed her as eight weeks pregnant.

    Because the waiting room of the clinic was so crowded, Kelly's husband waited for her outside.

    Even though Kelly had notified Hillcrest staff that she had asthma and was allergic to the "caine" medications, including Lidocaine, Thweatt administered 12 cc's of 1 percent Lidocaine to Kelly at about 11 a.m.

    Kelly immediately had trouble breathing. A licensed practical nurse got Kelly's inhaler from her purse and helped her to use it, but Kelly reported that it was not helping. She became very agitated because of her difficulty in drawing breath.

    Thweatt continued with the abortion, completing it in about four minutes, and spent some time providing ineffectual care to Kelly before having an ambulance summoned.

    The suit filed by Kelly's husband noted, "As Mrs. Morse's dyspnea (difficulty breathing) and cyanosis [turning blue due to lack of oxygen] continued to worsen, Defendant Thweatt improperly administered Epinephrine subcutaneously instead of intravenously...." This measure would do nothing to assist a patient in Kelly's condition.

    "No one started an IV. No respiration rate was recorded, no pulse was checked and no blood pressure was measured. No EKG was applied. No cardiac monitoring was conducted. No pulse oximeter was applied. No intubation or emergency tracheotomy was performed. No oxygen was administered. Kelly continued to agitate in fear, desperately gasping for air, and remained blue in color. Defendant Thweatt just stood there with a stethoscope in hand and listened to Kelly's breathing and wheezing progressively worsen."

    "As Plaintiff choked and gasped for air, none of the Defendants, took steps to immediately dispatch an ambulance. In fact, the ambulance was not summoned until 11:24 a.m., or 10 minutes after Plaintiff violently choked, gasped, wheezed, and discolored to a blue-black appearance from respiratory arrest and hypoxia."

    Paramedics arrived within five minutes of the call, just as a staff member was running outside to summon Kelly's husband.

    Kelly's husband reported that he went in with the ambulance crew to find his wife, naked and blue-black from lack of oxygen, lying on a table that was halfway out of the examination room into the hallway.

    The paramedics put a breathing tube into Kelly, properly administered medications, and performed CPR as they transported Kelly to nearby Polyclinic Medical Center, where she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

    Her condition continued to deteriorate, and she was pronounced dead on June 22.

    Court documents in the case indicate that Hillcrest advertised Thweatt as being a Board-certified ob/gyn, yet "Defendant Thweatt failed the Ob/Gyn Board certification examination not once, not twice, but on three consecutive attempts...Defendant Thweatt failed his Board certification exam even after a fourth attempt, following his deposition of July 27, 1997."

    On April 20, 1999, Thweatt and Hillcrest settled out of court with Kelly's husband. Her two children, a boy and a girl, were left motherless.

    The Pennsylvania Medical Board and Maryland Medical Board show no disciplinary actions against Thweatt, who lives in Maryland.

    ****

    Faizha D. alleged that she underwent an abortion at Associated Concern on June 22, 1974. She suffered an incomplete abortion, and damage to her cervix and vagina. She incurred medical expenses and lost wages.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Wednesday, June 21, 2006

    On this date: Cora Burke makes a fatal choice

    Cora A. Burke was a 20-year-old who had been widowed about five months. She had a four-year-old son and lived in her own home along with her child and her parents. She'd recently become engaged. She'd been in good health up until the events that began to unfold on June 21, 1899. These events would start with an abortion and end with her death.



    For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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    Monday, June 19, 2006

    On This Date - Botched abortions, one that would prove fatal

    Shanti F. said that she had an abortion performed by Steven Pine at Inglewood June 19, 1984. She sued for unspecified "severe bodily injuries and shock and injury to her nervous system." Her suit said that Inglewood's misdiagnosis of her condition on follow-up led to a delay in seeking care until July 24.

    ****

    Thirty-two-year-old Kelly Morse of Vermont traveled with her husband to Hillcrest Women's Medical Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for an abortion on June 19, 1996. She would suffer immediate complications that would kill her within days.

    ****

    J.V., alleged that she underwent an abortion at Family Planning Associates Medical Group by Edward Allred and/or Kenneth Wright and/or and/or J. Terrell Crad and/or Soon Sohn July 19, 1983. She was "rendered sick, lame, disabled and suffered injuries which caused and continue to cause pain, suffering, intense anxiety, emotional distress, insecurity, and apprehension;" and also sued for loss of earnings.

    Saturday, June 17, 2006

    Blog and Web Roundup

    According to this AP article, Summit Medical Center, the Alabama abortion mill that nearly killed an 8-months pregnant woman by dispensing RU-486 instead of getting her care for her dangerously high blood pressure, has only "temporarily" surrendered its license. If Summit is like other filthy abortion mills that have closed to halt a state investigation, it'll stay closed long enough for attorneys to create a new corporation. Then it will be back to business as usual. Which, of course, the president of the Montgomery chapter of NOW will celebrate. The point isn't safety; it's numbers.

    ***

    HT: Birth Story -- Majority of women think 24-week abortions 'are cruel' looks at a new British survey on abortion.
    A large majority of women think abortions at the current 24-week time limit are "cruel", a poll found.

    Doyathink? Gee, ripping the arms and legs off babies that could be delivered live is not a nice thing to do, and a majority of women in the UK are smart enough to recognize this. The crying shame is that you need a freaking poll, and that it's only a majority, and not "all women not currently residing in hospitals for the criminally insane."
    Andrea Williams, public policy officer for the fellowship, said: "This poll confirms that women in this country are deeply unhappy with the existing abortion laws and want them tightened up. It also suggests many women fear that too often abortions are carried out because of social pressures and not because the women concerned want a termination. Above all women want to see fewer abortions in this country."

    Again, evidence that British women are normal human beings, not total psychopaths.
    The survey found that 81% of women would describe an abortion at the current 24-week limit as "cruel".

    But the other 19% evidently don't have a problem with ripping the limbs off live babies.
    It also found that 84% of people believe parents of girls under 16 have a right to know if their daughter has been referred for an abortion.

    I'd like to know who the hell thinks they have the right to be referring other people's daugthers for abortions in the first place. Lemme guess -- I'd bet they're affiliated with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, motto, "We know better than you how to raise your kids."

    ****

    The syrupy "Oh, Mommy! I just love floating here in your womb!" stuff is still in circulation. Who writes this drivel? Abortion is wrong because it's wrong to kill helpless little human beings, not because they are aware that you're planning to do it. Lay off the glurge, people!!

    ****

    Right Wing Nation is suggesting possible abortion-rights license plates. My personal favorites are: Choose Death; Kill That Brat Before It Votes Repug; Save Murderers, Abort Fetuses; If Abortion Were Illegal I Couldn't Screw Every Night; and, last but not least: SUCK IT RIGHT OUT!

    ****

    Hog On Ice has some interesting reflections on who gets aborted. Read it and be ready for the punch line.

    Indianapolis PP moves offices

    Abortion clinic moves to new location

    The Indianapolis Planned Parenthood abortuary will move next door to an adoption agency, which is kinda creepy. Is the move so that it's easier to get rid of the recalcitrant patients who refuse to agree with PP that abortion is of course the rational thing to do, or is PP hoping to lure in adoption agency clients and sell them abortions?

    Excuse my cynicism. But I've learned that the way to tell if a PP representative is telling lies is easy: Her lips are moving. They've got to have some ulterior motive for moving in next door to an adoption agency, even if it's only a PR move to make themselves look less rabidly pro-abortion.

    Surprise to prolifers: Tiller mill shuts down for the day

    Operation Rescue reports that George Tiller's notorious late term abortion mill in Wichita was unexpectedly closed on Friday. Locals are hoping that the reason was because staff were being called upon to testify to the Grand Jury investigating the death of abortion patient Christin Gilbert.

    1. Even one day for an abortion mill to be closed is a good thing. This bought another day for women to come to their senses and avoid abortions.

    2. God willing, the Grand Jury is not going to blow off Christin's death as a trivial matter, the way the Medical Board did. After all, the Grand Jury is comprised of ordinary citizens, not political appointees who owe their jobs to the fact that George Tiller poured heaps of money into the Governor's election campaign. You have to be a die-hard abortion advocate to consider George Tiller's abortion business more important than Christin Gilbert's life.

    On this date: Abortion sold to non-pregnant woman

    Joann B. alleged that she was diagnosed pregnant by Abraham Alberto Hodari (pictured) and/or other staff at Northland Women's Medical Center. There was no ultrasound or other verification done to ensure that the positive pregnancy test was accurate. Joann underwent an abortion by Hodari June 17, 1985. She suffered a perforated uterus and permanent injury for which surgical repair was required. After her abortion Joann learned that she had not actually been pregnant. (Oakland County Circuit Court Civil Action No. 86 320211)

    But she was able to choose abortion, so it's all okay, right?

    Friday, June 16, 2006

    Abortion proponents show their anti-choice colors

    All Coat-Hangers Aimed at New Brunswick
    This article covers a drive by abortion proponents to get government funding in New Brunswick, Canada. "Abortion activists have called on supporters to mail coat hangers to all N.B. MLA's, he said."

    Note that there's not been a shred of evidence that women have been harmed by the lack of free abortions. Abortion fanatics don't just want women to be able to arrange for their fetuses to be dismembered; they want the public -- including people who have that horrible birth defect, a conscience -- to be forced to foot the bill for the fetus-shredding.

    The only acceptable "choice" is abortion. Its proponents will only be satisfied when every single citizen is forced to in some way participate in fetus-slaughter. And it's not women's well-being that drives them. Remember, the closing of a dangerous Alabama abortion miss was lamented by these people as "very unfortunate" and "a blow for women."

    As is typical, Lefties show more pity for ruthless killers than for unborn children

    Debra J. Saunders has this article up now at Jewish World Review, looking at recent complaints that lethal injections might cause the murderer to suffer some pain during his execution.

    Let's leave aside for the moment the pain suffered by the victims. My friend's sister was bludgeoned to death in her bedroom by an angry ex-boyfriend who plea-bargained to avoid the death penalty. To ask the Lefties to be moved by the pain and terror Heather endured is a waste of time; their compassion is reserved for Stacy Jones, the man who beat her so severely that the medical examiner had to use dental records to confirm her identity. For some reason, the suffering of the perpetrator is the only suffering they seek to mitigate. The suffering of the victims? They must have done something to deserve it, I guess, because this suffering is dismissed as totally irrelevant.

    Saunders' point is that the people who think people like Stacy Jones are entitled to the kind of painless death their victims were denied are trying to use science to prove their point. Saunders looks at the bad science these folks trot out. It's possible, they lament, that these killers might endure momentary suffering as they are shuffled off this mortal coil via lethal injection. Because of the remote possibility that we may be causing them momentary pain, we should spare their lives.

    I have a proposal for the Lefties who tremble lest the likes of Stacy Jones suffer: Don't use lethal injection. Use abortion techniques.

    The most popular abortion technique is vacuum aspiration. Put the inmate into a padded cell -- a small one, so small that he can't straighten his limbs fully. Then reach in with a powerful suction tube, with suction strong enough to pull off body parts into the tube. Keep the suction going until the entire inmate has been evacuated.

    The second most popular abortion technique is dismemberment. Again, the inmate would be put into a padded cell, but this one would be more snug. Instead of suction, use a large grasping instrument. Reach in, grab whatever body part is nearby, twist and pull. Repeat until the entire inmate is evacuated.

    The third most popular abortion technique is lethal injection. But the fetus isn't anesthetized first, like the death-row inmate. Instead, digoxin is injected into his heart, or formaldehyde into his brain. But if it's humane to do it to fetuses (and these are late-term fetuses, many of them old enough to survive outside the womb), it's humane enough to do it to murderers.

    RU-486 is rising in popularity. The main ingredient is methotrexate, a powerful anti-cancer drug. So, to apply the RU-486 technique to an inmate, you'd basically subject him to intense chemotherapy until he died. And everybody knows what a barrel of fun chemo is.

    Of course, nobody's going to do any of these things to death-row inmates. They're far too important for us to treat them as mercilessly as they treated their victims, or as we treat the unborn 4,000 times a day.

    If only fetuses could figure out how to commit homicide from in-utero! Then, and only then, would they be entitled to the same painless death a brutal murderer is entitled to.

    "A Huge Blow for Women"

    The Associated Press is covering the closing of an Alabama abortion mill that nearly killed an 8-months-pregnant woman by giving her RU-486 instead of having her seek immediate care for her dangerouly high blood pressure.

    In its coverage, the AP notes that the head of the Montgomery chapter of the National Organization for Women considered the closure of this dangerous place, "a huge blow for women."

    So, closing down a place that will kill you by attempting to abort a near-term infant instead of treating life-threatening health problems is "a huge blow for women."

    Insisting that women are entitled to medical care, not just having abortion pills handed out like trick-or-treat candy, is "a huge blow for women."

    Yes, Ms. Sabel, the NOW chick, concedes that "women must be protected" and that abortion clinics should "abide by the rules." But still, it's "a huge blow for women" when the state actually takes action to protect women. Sabel said that the clnic's decision to close its doors was "very unfortunate." Not that what the woman went through was "very unfortunate." Not that the death of a near-term infant was "very unfortunate." No -- the fact that a dangerous abortion mill shut its doors is "very unfortunate."

    Where are this woman's priorities? To have one less den of quackery endangering women is "very unfortunate," and "a huge blow for women" in her estimation.

    I guess as long as she, personally, isn't the woman who nearly lost her life, it's "a huge blow for women" to shut down the clinic. "Very unfortunate." As long as she, personally, isn't the one who thought she was having a six-week abortion and ended up delivering a macerated six-pound dead baby, it's "a huge blow for women" to shut down the clinic. "Very unfortunate."

    The closing of this abortion mill was a huge blow, very unfortunate, for the people making their money there. It was a huge blow, very unfortunate, for the abortionist. But anybody who actually cares if women live or die recognizes the closure of an abortion mill as a huge victory for women.

    Lots of people have been looking for Deborah Lyn Levich

    Deborah Lyn Levich is the doctor who was in charge of the Alabama abortion mill where the nurse illegally dispensed RU-486 to a woman who was actually 8 months pregnant, resulting in the stillbirth of a 6 pound, 4 ounce baby.

    See also:

    The clinic's actions could have killed the mother as well as the baby, due to the mother's alarmingly high blood pressure -- so high that in and of itself it constituted an emergency.

    The medical board will meet on July 18 to decide what, if any, action to take about Dr. Levich.

    Evidently the new spurt of interest comes in the wake of the news that the clinic is surrendering its license. The Associated Press notes, "Today's move avoids a June 20 hearing where the state would have presented its case against the center and sought to revoke Summit's license."

    On this date: the death of Margaret Clodfelter and Jane Doe of Newark, Margaret Smith

    This is the anniversary of the death of Margaret Paula Clodfelter, who was 19 years old when she had an abortion at Richmond Medical Center For Women on June 2, 1989. The abortion was performed by William Fitzhugh.

    After she was discharged from the clinic, Margaret had pain and bleeding. She called the facility to consult with them, but they did not tell her that she needed any further care.

    On June 4, she sought treatment at a hospital, where she was diagnosed with retained fetal tissue and a perforated uterus. She underwent a D&C. She developed infection, so doctors performed a hysterectomy. Their efforts were in vain. Margaret died on June 16, 1989. She left behind a husband and a one-year-old son.

    ****

    Today is also the anniversary of the death of a 20-year-old Newark college student, identified in prolife sources as "Jane Doe of Newark." She underwent an abortion by Dr. Steven Berkman at Metropolitan Medical Associates on June 16, 1993. Jane reportedly felt dizzy in recovery. Berkman examined her, noted that she had a perforated uterus, and had her taken to a hospital by ambulance. She died in surgery, leaving her four-year-old son motherless.

    "We are intensely investigating this matter," said an attorney for Jane's family. "We know something occurred that shouldn't have. We had a healthy 20-year-old go into that clinic and not come out. And I think a delay had something to do with it."

    Berkman said that there was no delay in transporting Jane to the hospital. He also said he did not believe she died from blood loss. The Bergen County Medical Examiner found that Jane had died from hemorrhage from a perforated uterus. He ruled the death accidental.

    Jane Roe is "Tracy" on Life Dynamics' "Blackmun Wall".

    ****

    Today is the anniversary of the death of twenty-five-year-old Margaret Louise Smith, who traveled from Michigan to New York for an abortion because she had been exposed to rubella. Her abortionist, Jesse Ketchum, had run a criminal abortion practice in Michigan, before carpetbagging to Buffalo when New York legalized abortion on demand.

    Ketchum performed a vaginal hysterotomy on Margaret at 10:30 the morning of June 16, 1971. Margaret was then left virtually unattended until her boyfriend retured at 2:00. He found Margaret unresponsive, and begged Ketchum and his staff to do something.

    Paramedics were summoned, but they were unable to revive Margaret. She was taken to a hospital across the street from Ketchum's office, where she was pronouced dead on arrival.

    Margaret's vagina had been sutured, but a laceration in her uterus and cervix had not been repaired. She had bled to death.

    Ketchum was charged with criminally negligent homicide in Margaret's death. Before his case went to trial, he performed a similar abortion on Carole Schaner of Ohio. Carol suffered similar injuries ad bled to death in her motel room after Ketchum discharged her.

    Ketchum was convicted on October 26, 1973, despite the fact that renouned abortionist Milan Vuitch (who had challenged the District of Columbia abortion law) testified on his behalf.

    Vuitch himself, like Ketchum, had kept his nose clean as a criminal abortionist, then gone on to kill two legal abortion patients. Wilma Harris and Georgianna English both died under Vuitch's care.

    ****

    Shari Russell* had an ultrasound by Dr. Gary DeBakey on June 16, 1992. DeBakey informed Mr. and Mrs. Russell "that their child was a little girl," and that she had anencephaly. The Russells wanted the infant delivered by C-section "to give the child a chance to live if she could," but reported that DeBakey pressured them to choose abortion. DeBakey told them that Shari's medical condition necessitated immediate abortion and "that any delay in the abortion could cost [Shari] her life and that would leave her 7-year-old daughter, [Meghan], without a mother." Under this pressure, the Russells relented, and DeBakey referred them to Robert P. Kaminsky for an abortion.

    Kaminsky failed to verify that Shari had any life-threatening condition. Only after the abortion of the baby, whom the family had named Rebecca, did the family learn that Shari had no medical indications for abortion, "that anencephalic children are not necessarily stillborn, and that the abortion was not necessary for the safety of [Shari.]" Mr. and Mrs. Russell sued Kaminski for fraudulent concealment, failure "to disclose the emotional and psychological risks and hazards to the family members," "mental anguish, emotional distress and torment, emotional trauma, loss of affection, loss of solace, loss of comfort, loss of assistance, loss of love, loss of companionship and society, and harm to their family relationships." Suit was also filed on behalf of Meghan for the loss of her baby sister.

    *Names changed to protect confidentiality of the family. Doctors' names have not been changed.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Thursday, June 15, 2006

    On this date

    Dorothy Schultz, 19 years of age, lived with her parents in Tomah, Wisconsin. In early June, Dorothy had gone to her mother with the news that she was pregnant and had missed two periods. On June 14, she was examined by Dr. Winter to verify that she was pregnant. On June 15 or 16, Dorothy's mother brought her to Dr. W. B. Parke in Camp Douglas to arrange an abortion. He examined her and agreed to do an abortion for $150. Dorothy's mother thought this was expensive but Parke assured her that he was This abortion would eventually prove fatal.

    ****

    On this date in 1973, Dr. Benjamin Munson performed an abortion on Linda Padfield. This abortion would soon take Linda's life.

    ****

    On June 14, 1984, 14-year-old Germaine Newman had a second-trimester abortion performed by Dr. E. Wyman Garrett in Newark, New Jersey. She was 22 weeks pregnant. After her abortion, Germaine began vomiting and suffered from abdominal pain and a high fever.

    The next morning, June 15, Germaine's mother found her lying dead on the bathroom floor.

    An autopsy found that Germaine's abdomen was full of pus and adhesions. The cause of death was abdominal infection and perforation of the uterus. When the New Jersey medical board investigated Dr. Garrett, they noted that he had illegally altered Germaine's medical records.

    ****

    Priscilla B. alleged that she was referred by Planned Parenthood for an abortion by John Dupont at Inglewood Hospital June 15, 1977. Priscilla sustained a life-threatening infection.

    ****

    In 1974, Dorothy Muzorewa submitted to the safe, legal abortion that would eventually end her life.

    ****

    Also in 1974, seventeen-year-old Wilma Harris submitted to the abortion that would soon end her life.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Wednesday, June 14, 2006

    On this date

    In 1984, fourteen-year-old Germaine Newman submitted to the abortion that would soon take her life.

    ****

    In 1980, twenty-one-year old Linda Lovelace of Tennessee underwent the abortion that would end her life.

    ****

    Eighteen-year-old newlywed Barbaralee Davis called a local women's group for an abortion referral. They sent her to a member of the newly founded National Abortion Federation, Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Illinois.

    After the abortion, performed June 14, 1977 by Hope Medical Director Hector Zavalos, Barbaralee attended a post-abortion counseling session, during which she was pale and reporting lower abdominal cramping. She was kept for observation an additional two hours, but the CDC noted that Barbaralee's vital signs were last noted 45 minutes after the abortion. Barbaralee then reportedly told staff that she felt better and asked to be sent home, so they discharged her even though she was still showing, according to the CDC's investigators, symtoms "suggestive of internal hemorrhage." Barbaralee was not given a discharge examination before being sent home. Her sister helped her, pale and bleeding, to the car. Barbaralee slept in the back seat the whole way home, approximately a two-hour trip. Her sister helped her to bed.

    When Barbaralee's sister checked on her several hours later, she was unresponsive. She was rushed to the Pickneyville hospital, where an emergency hysterectomy was attempted to save her life. Barbaralee died during the surgery, leaving one child motherless.

    The autopsy found the face and spinal column of Barbaralee's baby embedded in a hole in her uterus. There were two quarts of blood in her abdomen. Barbaralee had bled to death.

    The medical examiner noted: "A very large retroperitoneal hematoma is present with dissection of blood along right ureter. A 4 mc. tear is noted on the right anterior surface of the lower third of the uterus and a large amount of blood, estimated at 2000 ccs. is present in the pelvis. Two fetal parts, the face and thoracic spinal column, are embedded in a 700 cc. fresh hematoma inside the uterus."

    Illinois law placed a 12-week limit on outpatient abortions. Zavalos told CDC investigators that he thought Barbaralee had been only 11 weeks pregnant even though her last normal menstrual period had been five months earlier. The clinic records examined by CDC staff said that the gross examination of the fetal tissue removed during the abortion was consistent with an 11-week pregnancy. However, the medical examiner drew a different conclusion, based on the tissue that had been left embedded in Barbaralee's uterus:

    "In an attempt to estimate the length of gestation in the absence of the whole fetus, the two parts, namely the face, less the crown, and the thoracic vertebral column without the rump, are laid end to end. Together they measure 9 cm. A conservative estimate of the crown to rump length would be 10 to 11 cm. This will place the gestational age at 16 to 16 1/2 weeks."

    Hope Clinic for Women was not only permitted to remain in operation, it was allowed to remain a member in good standing of the National Abortion Federation.

    ****

    Rosario Bermeo, age 30, died following abortion by Dr. Joseph B. Shapse at Prospect Hospital in New York June 14, 1983.

    Shapse contended he had no responsibility for actions of the certified nurse anesthetist, and no responsibility to monitor and evaluate Rosario's condition during and immediately after the abortion. Therefore, he said, he was not to blame for her death from respiratory and cardiac arrest.

    ***

    Nebraska abortionist Leroy Carhart refused to follow proper infection control procedures dealing with a patient with active tuberculosis, and fell asleep while injecting a patient.

    ****

    Angela Hall, a 27-year-old mother of five, called to arrange an abortion at Thomas Tucker's office in Alabama. One of Tucker's employees, Joy Davis, screened Angela and felt that she had risk factors that made abortion in an office setting unsafe. Joy got on the phone with Tucker and indicated that she felt that Angela should be referred to a hospital. Tucker told Davis that "we need the money" and ordered her to prep Angela, who was in the second trimester of pregnancy.

    Angela underwent the abortion on June 11, 1991, and started having difficulty breathing. Her blood pressure fell, setting off an alarm on a piece of monitoring equipment. Tucker told Davis to turn the alarm off because other patients could hear it. Angela was sent to a recovery room where she bled so heavily that Davis became alarmed and called an ambulance. Tucker swore at Davis when he learned of this, and he had her cancel the ambulance because they'd already sent a patient to the hospital that day. Angela continued to hemorrhage, and Davis continued to plead with Tucker to take action. Finally Tucker cursed at Davis, telling her to call the ambulance, and he left the building, leaving the untrained woman to cope alone with the critically injured patient.

    Angela was taken to the hospital, where she suffered respiratory failure, clotting, and sepsis. She died just before midnight June 14. The autopsy found numerous tears and lesions in the pelvic area, and congestive necrosis in Angela's liver and spleen. The doctors concluded that amniotic fluid embolism had caused clotting problems resulting in necrosis, septic shock, and cardiac arrest. When Alabama authorities subpoenaed Angela's records, Tucker ordered Davis to destroy some and falsify others. Davis tore up the records, but then taped them back together and provided the authorities with photocopies.

    It is interesting to note that in the publicity surrounding the lawsuit filed by Angela's family, Ron Fitzsimmons of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, among other prochoice groups, balked at efforts to close Tucker down, on the grounds that he was Alabama's only abortionist, and that even he was better than no abortionist at all.

    ****

    Oriane Shevin, age 34, died of infection following off-label use of RU-486 for an abortion in California in 2005. Oriane got the drugs at the Eve Surgical Center, located at 10150 National Boulevard in West Los Angeles. She took the mifeprestone on June 9 and vaginally inserted the misoprostol on June 10. The coroner's office was not able to deterime if a physician saw or examined her at the abortion facility. Both Christopher Dotson, M.D. and Josepha Seletz, M.D. are associated with the facility.

    Oriane was an attorney with two young children, ages 3 and 4. She had sickened three days after taking the drugs. She was suffering from severe pain and havy bleeding, and was rushed by ambulance to Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, where she died on June 14 from severe metabolic acidosis and sepsis.

    Dotson has a spotted history. At the time of Oriane's abortion, Dotson had not yet completed eight years medical board probation for gross negligence and incompetence in causing the death of a patient identified as "RJI" on February 3, 1992. The board said that Dotson "was grossly negligent in the care and treatment of RJI." He failed to take an adequate exam, failed to classify her as a high risk pregnancy, failed to heed the risk of severe bleeding, failed to have appropriate equipment for monitoring, and failed to transfuse her in a timely way, having left the room while she was still bleeding. Dotson had also been investigated in 1993 after Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital of Los Angeles had reported him for being negligent in the treatment of six women.

    Dotson had also worked at San Vicente Hospital, a notorious abortion mill that was bought out by Family Planning Associates Medical Group. San Vicente was where Sara Lint, Natalie Meyers, Joyce Ortenzio, Laniece Dorsey, and Mary Pena underwent their fatal abortions.

    Despite his appalling record, Dotson, through his Eve Surgical Center, is a member of the National Abortion Federation.



    Margaret Davis died of sickle cell crisis after an abortion performed by Dotson on July 25, 1971.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Monday, June 12, 2006

    On This Date

    Kendra McLeod, mother of two, underwent an abortion at a clinic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on June 12, 1998. Complications of that abortion would eventually take her life.

    ****

    In June of 1902, Irene Wengel traveled to Tampa, Florida, where she was met by her cousin, J. Carl Christian. Christian had arranged for her to stay at the home of Dr. Frederick N. Weightnovel for an abortion. Christian visited Irene many times during her stay at Weightnovel's home. Two days after her arrival, Irene asked Christian to telegraph to Waycross for her trunk.

    Testimony about days and dates is evidently jumbled. The abortion was reportedly performed June 6, which was a Friday. But Irene's cousin reported that he visited her on a Wednesday, about a week before her death, and she'd told him that Weightnovel had performed the abortion the previous night, and that she'd be ready to go home the following Tuesday. The only date we can perhaps rely upon is the date of Irene's death: June 12.

    Dr. B. G. Abernathy was called in to attend to Irene after the abortion. Abernathy testified that Irene told him she'd come to Weightnovel about two weeks earlier, that she did well the first day or two after the abortion, but that she became very sick and rapidly declined.

    Abernathy diagnosed her Irene suffering from blood poisoning caused by retained placenta. Abernathy asked Weightnovel for a curette so that he could perform a D&C, and Weightnovel provided one. Abernathy also returned to his own house to get some other instruments. At some point Weightnovel asked Abernathy to send a telegram to Irene's parents.

    State's witness Frank Middaugh testified that on the night Irene died, he'd heard the cries of a girl calling, "Doctor, doctor," from Weightnovel's house. Middaugh also testified that he saw Weightnovel sitting in a lighted window, fanning himself.

    An undertaker testified that he'd been summoned to remove Irene's body, and was asked to do so quietly and discreetly to keep the news of Irene's death secret.

    Officer Carter, who arrested Weightnovel, testified that when he made the arrest, Weightnovel picked up a bundle of women's clothing, which he rolled up and tried to toss under a table. Carter saw that the clothing was stained and took the clothing into evidence.

    Weightnovel was convicted of manslaughter in Irene's death.

    ***

    Mia C. said that she had an abortion performed by P. Scott Ricke at Inglewood's Belous Medical Clinic June 12, 1980. She was 12 weeks pregnant. The abortion was incomplete, and she had to be hospitalized for further treatment.

    ***

    On June 12, 1990, an investigation verified that Ronachai Banchongmanie's abortion facility was operating illegally. "Relsco," on the first floor of the building, performed pregnancy tests. The receptionist would give each patient an unlabeled paper cup and send her down the hall to a restroom shared by other businesses in the building. Rather than using a lab, the receptionist would do a pregnancy test at her desk and would orally give the patient her results, in the waiting room with no privacy. The receptionist would then dump the urine into a lidless glass coffee jar on her desk. When the jar filled with urine, the receptionist would go down the hallway to the public restroom and dump the urine. She did not wash her hands between tests. Pregnancy tests were performed with kits that were out of date. No counselor saw the patients. If the test was positive, the patient was sent upstairs to "Women's Health Services.

    The investigation also found out from staff that physicians did not remain on the premises until all patients were discharged. Instead, the doctor left, and instructed staff to page him if there were any complications. The staff also told investigators that patients were not given complete post-operative instructions before discharge. Physicians did not perform any post-operative evaluations of patients unless staff asked him to examine a particular patient. The discharge instructions and medications were given to patients by whatever staff happened to be available, regardless of their qualifications.

    The investigation also could not find out if Banchongmanie and his other physicians were washing their hands for examinations or surgery, because they refused to answer any questions about the issue. The pre-operative area was supervised by a registered nurse; the post-operative area had only a licensed practical nurse, and the operating room had only a technician. Staff substantiated that Pitocin was administered intravenously pre-operatively by an LPN without any physician present. Staff also substantiated that improperly trained and supervised staff -- including the front desk staff -- were participating in all aspects of patient care including surgery.

    Staff substantiated that they began preparing patients for their abortions at 7 a.m., but that no physician was scheduled to be in the building until 9 a.m. Staff substantiated that they had no job descriptions, no criteria for performance evaluations, and no formal chain of command for responsibilities within the facility.

    During the investigations, patients and their mothers were observed weeping in the hallway and reception area. They were not provided with counseling or even with a private area.

    The investigation report described the facility as "dark, dirty, and drafty," with loose or missing floor tiles in the hallways of both the first and fourth floors. Carpets were littered and filthy. Ceiling tiles were dirty, missing, or water stained. Rooms were cluttered with unused furniture and supplies. The restrooms were dirty, with missing toilet tissue holders or broken. The room for preparing sterile supplies was filthy, "cluttered with unused, discarded equipment and stock supplies." The walls were chipped, peeling, and dirty. Garbage was overflowing from trash cans onto the floor. Equipment was wrapped for sterilization in stained wrappings, and too much equipment was loaded into the autoclave when it was used. The patient dressing room had brown stains, consistent with blood or Betadine, on the chair. Blankets and recliners in the recovery room were not changed between patients, and staff were not sure if pillow cases were changed between patients. Clean and soiled linens were stored together.

    The investigation found that the facility had no policy for how areas were to be cleaned after surgery. Surgical equipment, including forceps and dilators, were expired. Surgical equipment was lying about on dirty, dusty trays. Medications were stored in a dirty, unlocked cabinet in the recovery room. Discharge medications were in packets on a desk. Staff substantiated that whoever happened to be working in recovery would prepare discharge medication packets from bulk jars of medicines. The staff also confirmed that they did not perform many required tests, such as coagulation tests. The equipment used to test for gonorrhea was not working properly. Improperly labeled and out-of-date tissue specimens were found in the refrigerator.

    The investigation found that there was no written policy on the examination of abortion tissues. The autoclaves were not checked or tested. Staff handled blood and body fluids without wearing gloves. One registered nurse's personnel file had no documentation that she was licensed in the state, or that she was trained in CPR. Another nurse, this one an LPN, also had no verification of CPR training, and had an out-of-date verification of license. Yet another LPN was found to not be currently licensed.

    Lots of food for thought in one rescued abortionists' story

    Sidewalk Counselor Helps Bring Abortionist Out Of The Killing Fields of So. California
    A sidewalk counselor befriended a reluctant abortionist, helping him to get out of the business.

    Points:

    1. God bless Luis Mendoza for his faithfulness and love.

    2. Doesn't it just figure that an abortion clinic would actively recruit a doctor on probation with the medical board for groping a woman while messed up on drugs?

    3. It sounds like Dr. Rivera is getting his life on track. Prayers for him, and for his wife.

    Pro-life parents turned in wannabe-bomber

    A man who was considering using a bomb to blow up a local Maryland abortion facility had his plans thwarted by ... his parents. ....

    Weiler's father... told the Washington Post that he felt he had no other options than to contact police and tell them of his son's plans. He and his wife Catherine are both pro-life but they don't support violence as a means to stop the violence of abortion.

    "[O]ur concern was just to make sure nobody got hurt," he said.

    They had to be persistent, too. When the police didn't take their warning seriously, they contacted the ATF.

    Read more here.

    Sunday, June 11, 2006

    Anniversary: The death of Angela Scott

    Angela Scott/Delores Smith - Abortion Deaths

    On this date in 1979, Angela Scott died of injuries sustained on June 2 of 1979, at a National Abortion Federation member clinic. Deloris Smith, 14, continued to linger in a coma. She eventually died as well, some time after her 15th birthday.



    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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    Saturday, June 10, 2006

    More stuff on Malachy Dehenre

    Somebody was doing a search for Leigh Ann Alford. She died after an abortion by Dr. Malachy DeHenre. As I checked what else showed up on the search, I found these links, which I added to Leigh Ann's page:

    Historic parallel: The Haun's Mill Massacre

      "You become a human being at birth. Did you ever hear of a fetus getting a birth certificate.? I don't make these rules..the government does...so pick on the government..not me."

    Thus endeth a post at the old Pro Life Forum.

    I think this fellow is sawing off the limb upon which he perches, declaring that the government, and the government alone, has the moral legitimacy to decree who is human and entitled to protection from slaughter. After all, prior to Roe, it wasn't legal to go about killing fetuses. By arguing that the government has the moral legitimacy to decree who is human, this fellow is conceding that prior to Roe, fetuses were indeed people and it was indeed wrong to kill them. But let's leave that aside and look at the underlying premise: that the government has the moral legitimacy to decide who is a person, entitled to the protection of the law, entitled to keep his or her life.

    Prolifers tend to throw up the Nazi regime's declarations that Jews were not fully human, but that's so inflammatory and emotionally charged that few people can set aside the emotions and consider the political philosophy behind the debate. I'd like to look at something closer to home, a lesser-known situation, that perhaps can tolerate a more dispassionate examination: The Haun's Mill Massacre of 1838.

    On October 27, 1838, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs of Missouri issued an Extermination Order, declaring that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace...." Most Missouri citizens backed the order (although some did question or denounce it). The Mormons were, in the simplest of terms, "unwanted."

    On October 30, with the Extermination Order as justification, a band of the Missouri Militia launched an attack on a small Mormon settlement at Haun's Mill, killing 17 Mormons, including a 10-year-old boy who was shot in the head as he cowered under the bellows of the blacksmith shop, and a 78-year-old man who was shot after he had surrendered his musket.

    For a more detailed account of the events, see the links in the sidebar on this page. For a rare and recently unearthed first-person account, see The Reminiscence of Willard Gilbert Smith.

    Several years ago, I spoke with a Latter-Day Saints historian, who told me that survivors of the Massacre sued the state of Missouri over the deaths of their loved ones, taking their case all the way to the Supreme Court. The Court, he said, backed the state on the grounds that the killings were perfectly legal.

    Meanwhile, the Extermination Order remained on the books in Missouri until recinded by executive order of Governor Christopher S. Bond on June 25, 1976. So until 1976, it was perfectly legal to kill a Mormon in Missouri. Did that make it right?

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    Thursday, June 08, 2006

    Help!

    All I did was take out the Javascript for the Cemetery of Choice calendar, and something went terribly, terribly wrong with my sidebar! All I did was remove a piece of code, I swear!

    At any rate, if anybody who knows how to read code can figure out what went wrong, please let me know. I didn't touch the structure of the thing, I swear!

    Somebody was looking for teen abortion stories

    "Amanda" Roe
    Amanda was 19 years old when she traveled from Indiana to New York for a legal abortion in 1970. She was 12 weeks pregnant.

    Annette Camorato
    In May of 1934, 19-year-old actress Annette, stage name Toni Morgan, died of abortion complications.

    Angela Scott/Dolores Smith
    In June of 1979, National Abortion Federation member Atlanta Women's Pavillion rose to new levels of incompetence when staff there managed to fatally injure two teenage abortion patients in less than an hour.

    "April" Roe
    April was 17 years old when she underwent a saline abortion in New York City on August 20, 1971.

    Arlin della Cruz
    Nineteen year old Arlin hung herself after her abortion.

    Arnetta Hardaway
    Arnetta was 18 years old when she had a mid-trimester abortion performed by Dr. George Tucker in Atlanta on December 23, 1985.

    Barbara Hoppert
    Barbara, age 16, was in the second trimester of her pregnancy. She was having the abortion on the recommendation of her physician, because of a congenital heart condition.

    Barbara Lofrumento
    Nineteen-year-old Barbara's abortionist cut up her body and flushed the parts down the toilet after she died of abortion complications in his New York office.

    Barbaralee Davis
    Eighteen-year-old newlywed Barbaralee called a local women's group for an abortion referral. They sent her to a member of the newly founded National Abortion Federation.

    Beverly Moore
    Beverly, age 15, died after abortion by Tuckey Hayes at Chattanooga Women's Clinic -- the "Lime 5" clinic. Hayes assured Beverly's parents that she would be "all right" just fifteen minutes before she died.

    Cheryl Vosseler
    Cheryl was 17 years old when she was admitted to Fresno General Hospital on July 31, 1969, to undergo a legal abortion.

    Christella Forte
    Christella, age 16, screamed, convulsed, and went into cardiac arrest 27 hours after instillation of saline for an abortion. She died without ever expelling the 23-week fetus.

    Christina Goesswein
    Nineteen-year-old Christina was almost 23 weeks pregnant when she went to the office of Dr. Braz Bortot to get an abortion. Dr. Bortot referred her to Dr. Moshe Hachamovitch in Bronx, New York.

    Cleo Moore
    On March 28, 1942, 19-year-old Cleo died at New Rochelle Hospital in New York from peritonitis from an illegal abortion.

    DaNette Adelle Pergusson
    DaNette, a 19-year-old medical assistant, submitted to an abortion on February 11, 1992, at the hands of Robert Tarnis of Phoenix, Arizona.

    "Danielle" Roe
    Danielle, age 18, had traveled from Massachusetts to New York for a safe and legal abortion in May of 1972.

    Dawn Ravenell
    Thirteen-year-old Dawn's parents didn't know anything was amiss, until they got a phone call to come to the hospital right away, that Dawn was "fighting for her life."

    Deanna Bell
    Deanna was only 13 years old when she was given massive doses of Brevitol for an abortion by Steve Lichtenberg.

    Deborah Ann Lozinski
    Seventeen-year-old Deborah had languished for two months in a coma, hospitalized after an abortion at Medical Care Center in Woodbridge, New Jersey.

    Denise Montoya
    Denise was fifteen years old and 25 weeks pregnant when her parents brought her to Women's Pavillion in Houston for an abortion on May 13, 1988.

    Diane Boyd
    Diane Boyd, age 19, was raped in the institution where she lived due to developmental disability.

    "Ellen Roe"
    Andre Nehorayoff performed an abortion and discharged Ellen from his facility on November 29, 1983. She was 18 years old and in the second trimester of pregnancy.

    Erica Kae Richardson
    Sixteen-year-old Erica was brought to abortionist Gene Crawford by her aunt on March 1, 1989. Erica's aunt reported that Crawford left the girl unattended for four hours after her abortion, then at 11PM carried her to the car and instructed her aunt to take her home.

    Erna Fisher
    Eighteen-year-old Erna Fisher's mother held her hand as Dennis W. Miller performed an abortion on her on March 10, 1988. During the abortion, Erna suddenly sat up, went into convulsions, and began to vomit.

    F.S.
    A 16-year-old girl underwent a second-trimester salilne abortion on August 26, 1969. A journal article on her death identifies her as "F.S."

    Germaine Newman
    On June 14, 1984, 14-year-old Germaine had a second-trimester abortion performed by Dr. E. Wyman Garrett in Newark, New Jersey. The next morning Germaine's mother found her lying dead on the bathroom floor.

    Gertrude Wynants
    Very little is on record about the death of 17-year-old Gertrude. According to the New York Times, Gertrude died on July 19, 1925, of a criminal abortion.

    Glenna Jean Fox
    The March 1990 Bernadell Technical Bulletin says that 17-year-old Glenna Jean underwent a second trimester abortion underwent at the hands of Dr. Morris Wortman in January of 1989.

    Gracealynn "Tammy" Harris
    Tammy was 19 years old when she underwent an abortion at Delaware Women's Health Organization on September 16, 1997. Afterward, she was so weak they pushed her out of the facility in a wheelchair.

    Gwendolyn Drummer
    Fifteen-year-old Gwendolyn was a student at Harry Ellis High in Richmond, California, when she was admitted to Doctor's Hospital of Pinole for a legal abortion.

    Holly Paterson
    Holly, age 18, died September 17, 2003, from sepsis caused by a fetus incompletely expelled in a chemical abortion. Holly got the drugs for the fatal abortion at a Planned Parenthood.

    Jammie Garcia
    Fourteen-year-old Jammie died of horrifying complications of her safe and legal abortion.

    Janet Foster
    Eighteen-year-old Janet underwent an abortion at Valley Doctors' Hospital in North Hollywood, California on September 11, 1971. Janet's abortion had been a "therapeutic" abortion approved by the hospital committee, as was required at the time.

    Jennifer Suddeth
    Seventeen-year-old Jennifer underwent an abortion on June 30, 1982. Staff dismissed her common-law husband's repeated phone calls in which he expressed alarm at the amount of blood she was losing after leaving the facility.

    "Julie" Roe
    Julie was only 14 years old when she underwent a legal abortion in New York on March 26, 1972.

    K. B.
    After 19-year-old K.B.'s death, the health department investigated and found a mystery: K.B.'s chart listed her post-operative condition as "pink, responsive, alert," even though she had gone into full cardio-respiratory arrest by the time indicated on the assessment.

    Kathy Murphy
    Seventeen-year-old Kathy went to Inglewood Women's Hospital in Los Angeles County for an abortion on August 24, 1973.

    Katrina Poole
    Sixteen-year-old Katrina's abortion was performed the afternoon of December 5, 1988, in a doctor's office in Jacksonville, Florida.

    Laniece Dorsey
    Seventeen-year-old Laniece Dorsey underwent an abortion at a Family Planning Associates Medical Group facility in Orange County, California, on February 6, 1986.

    Latachie Veal
    Latachie was 17 years old, and 22 weeks pregnant, when Robert Dale Crist performed an abortion on her in 1991. Though Crist discussed her death at a National Abortion Federation event where two CDC staff were present, the CDC failed to note Latachie's death.

    Lillian McCullough
    Amidst the coverage of Edith Green's 1927 death is a news snippet noting that Dr. James P. A. Nolan was arrested for the criminal abortion death of 18-year-old Lillian.

    Loretta Enders
    The first man sentenced to die in Illinois's electric chair was not at typical death row inmate: he was a physician who performed the fatal abortion on 19-year-old Loretta.

    Loretta Morton
    Loretta was 16 years old when she underwent a legal abortion in December of 1983. She died of pulmonary embolism.

    Loretta Wilson
    On Christmas day of 1934, the nude body of a young woman was found in a thicket near a highway south of New York City. She was identified as 19-year-old Loretta.

    Margaret Clodfelter
    Margaret Paula Clodfelter was 19 years old when she had an abortion at Richmond Medical Center For Women on June 2, 1989.

    Maria Lira
    Nineteen-year-old Maria was a college student when she went to Riveria Hospital on October 14, 1974, to undergo an abortion.

    Marla Cardamone
    Marla was only 19 when she was pressued into her fatal abortion by a social worker at Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh.

    Maureen Espinoza
    Sixteen-year-old Maureen underwent her legal abortion at a Houston physician's office.

    Michelle Madden
    Eighteen year old Michelle sought an abortion in November of 1986. Michelle had been taking medication for epilepsy, and a doctor had told her that her baby would have birth defects.

    Michelle Thames
    Eighteen-year-old Michelle was just one woman of four to die from abortion at Leo Kenneally's notorious Her Medical Clinic.

    Mrs. Frank Lee
    Mrs. Lee, age 17, was one of a string of illegal abortion deaths in the Oklahoma City area in 1932.

    Natalie Meyers
    Sixteen-year-old Natalie was brought to San Vicente Hospital in Los Angeles by her mother on October 21, 1972.

    Patricia Chacon
    Sixteen-year-old Patty underwent a second-trimester abortion at the hands of either Edward Allred or Leslie Orleans at Allred's Avalon Hospital in Los Angeles on the morning of March 3, 1984.

    "Patricia" Roe
    Sixteen-year-old Patricia's physician performed an abortion in his office using a catheter, followed by D&C. The abortion was incomplete, and Patricia later died of sepsis.

    Rita McDowell
    An investigation into 16-year-old Rita's death revealed evidence that her abortionist deliberately performed incomplete abortions so that he could charge more for follow-up care.

    "Roxanne" Roe
    According to Life Dynamics, Roxanne was 17 years old when she traveled to New York from Michigan to have a first-trimester abortion in a doctor's office.

    Sandra Kaiser
    Fourteen-year-old Sandra's sister signed parental consent forms for the abortion that left Sandra so depressed she flung herself into traffic.

    "Sandra" Roe
    Sandra was 18 years old when she underwent a first-trimester abortion procedure in New York. Three days later, on April 18, 1971, Sandra killed herself. Before her death, she had expressed guilt about having "killed her baby."

    Sara Niebel
    Fifteen-year-old Sara went to Midtown Hospital in Atlanta for an abortion at 17 weeks. She was given a clean bill of health and sent home.

    Sharon Davis
    Life Dynamics says that Sharon was a 17-year-old high school student, 14 weeks pregnant, when she submitted to an abortion at a hospital in Tucumcari, New Mexico on September 20, 1982.

    Sharon Floyd
    On March 25, 1975, 18-year-old Sharon went to Associated Concern in Chicago for an abortion. Three days later, she died of pelvic infection and blood poisoning.

    Sharonda Rowe
    According to LDI, 17-year-old Sharonda had an abortion done in a doctor's office in Washington, DC on October 11, 1981.

    Sophie McCoy
    National Abortion Federation member Abu Hayat performed an abortion on 17-year-old Sophie on September 18, 1990.

    Sylvia Moore
    Eighteen-year-old Sylvia underwent an abortion at the hands of Arnold Bickham (pictured) on New Year's Eve of 1986. After the abortion, Sylvia was bleeding, weak, and unable to walk. Bickham called her "lazy," put her in a wheelchair, and physically ejected her from his clinic.

    Tami Suematsu
    Documents regarding Tami, age 19, alleged that she underwent an abortion by Vern Wagner at Riverside Family Planning Center August 19, 1988.

    Tamia Russell
    Life Site News reports that 15-year-old Tamia died January 8, 2004, after a second trimester abortion at Woman Care Clinic in Lanthrup Village, near Detroit.

    Teresa Causey
    Seventeen-year-old Teresa's last words were, "Oh mama, mama, it hurts so much!"

    Wilma Harris
    On June 15, 1974, seventeen-year-old Wilma went to Milan Vuitch's Laurel Clinic for an abortion. Five days later, she was dead.

    Yvonne Mesteth
    Eighteen-year-old Yvonne was the second of two patients to die of infection after abortions by South Dakota abortionist Benjamin Munson.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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