“Don’t like abortion? Don’t have one.” If you don’t want an abortion, we’re assured, the legality of abortion will have no impact on you. Most women don’t realize the scary truth that you don’t have to want an abortion to get an abortion. Sometimes all you have to do is trust a pro-choice ob/gyn.
My own friend Laura very nearly became a victim of such an ob/gyn. She began spotting during her most recent pregnancy, and went to her doctor for an examination. He told her that she had begun to miscarry. Then he turned to his nurse and asked her to get a canula.
As a prolife activist, Laura associated “cannula” with “abortion,” so she asked the doctor what he was going to do. He explained that she had begun to miscarry, and that he was simply going to clean out her uterus to prevent infection. Laura refused, saying that if her fetus was going to die, she was going to allow nature to take its course. She would have nothing to do with the procedure he was proposing.
As it turned out, there was nothing at all wrong with Laura’s fetus, and she gave birth to a perfectly healthy little boy.
The incident shook her up, and she spoke of it to her friends. She learned that she was not the first pregnant patient whose spotting was diagnosed as a “miscarriage.” She was just the first we know of who refused the procedure.
None of the other women can ever know if they were indeed miscarrying, or if they’d been subjected to unwanted and unsolicited abortions of healthy, wanted pregnancies.
Laura’s experience underscores the importance of choosing only a prolife ob/gyn to treat your wanted pregnancy. Her experience was not unique. And her doctor was not the only ob/gyn to subject women to unwanted, unsolicited abortions.
Next, we’ll look at some of the cases that were uncovered during the research for Lime 5.
You don’t have to want an abortion to get one. All you have to do is trust your pregnancy care to an abortionist — or, as the prochoice like to say, “a doctor who performs the full range of obstetric and gynecological care.”
A patient I’ll call “Meghan” was an obstetric patient of Dr. Robert Walker in 1978. On March 9, according to a suit she later filed, Meghan was 23-24 weeks pregnant and experienced a gush of fluids. She consulted Walker, who hospitalized her and tested her for infection. On March 13, Meghan was still suffering leaking fluid, and visited Walker for an examination in his office. She told her that she had an infection “and that for her safety the pregnancy would have to be terminated.” Meghan entered the hospital as instructed, and submitted to what she thought was a procedure to induce early labor and deliver her baby prematurely. When the baby emerged, Meghan asked the nurse to do everything possible to save the baby’s life, and could not understand why nobody was caring for her child. The infant survived only six minutes due to extreme prematurity and lack of care. Meghan sued for lack of informed consent and failure to discuss alternatives. Walker testified that since Meghan had undergone a previous abortion, he assumed that she knew that “termination of pregnancy” meant an abortion and that she therefore consented to the death of her baby.
(Cite: 483 A.2d 718 (Me 1984)
Patient Patricia T. went to Dr. Ulrich Klopfer for routine obstetric care on January 29, 1981. According to the suit she later filed, Klopfer told Patricia that her 10-week fetus was dead. She consented to a suction procedure to remove what she believed was a dead fetus. Her uterus was punctured in two places during the procedure. Patricia hemorrhaged and went into shock. She was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Doctors there had to remove her uterus, fallopian tube, and ovary. Patricia was hospitalized for a week. Only after her ordeal did she learn that the fetus had not been dead until Klopfer’s interference killed it.
(Source: Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 83L 1941)
An article in the April 19, 1984 Washington Post reports that prochoice icon Milan Vuitch was ordered to pay a $125,000 settlement to a 19-year-old patient who had gone to his Laurel Clinic for treatment and got an unwanted abortion performed on her instead.
I’ve covered other cases her in previous Features, telling the stories of women who were told their unborn babies were dead or dying, and tricked into unwanted abortions.
This is scary stuff. But even more scary is the fact that you don’t even have to know that you’re pregnant to be treated to an unsolicited abortion.
Roe vs. Wade has certainly made it easy to get an abortion. As these women discovered, you don’t even have to know that you’re pregnant.
A patient I’ll call “Alexis” was 17 years old when she went to Dr. Christopher Dotson to be treated for abdominal problems in December of 1979 On January 7, Dotson had Alexis admitted to Centinela Hospital for treatment of “Dermoid Cyst vs. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease.” Dotson took Alexis into surgery for a D&C and exploratory laparotomy on January 9. According to the suit Alexis later filed, Dotson did not take a proper medical history and did not wait for the results of her pregnancy test before proceeding. During the procedure, Dotson discovered that Alexis was pregnant. He did not inform Alexis or consult with her, but simply noted “unwanted pregnancy” on her chart and aborted her fetus. The suit noted that “such a subjective description of plaintiff’s condition was not reflective of [Alexis’s] position but rather that of defendant Dotson. On Alexis’s behalf, her attorney noted, “At all times prior to the death of plaintiff’s unborn child, said unborn child was viable but for defendant’s professional negligence would have been born healthy and capable of providing the plaintiff with society, comfort, attention, and support.”
(Source: LA County Superior Court Case No. C404454)
A patient I’ll call “Willa” went to Dr. E. Babaoff at Sinai hospital in Michigan for a laparoscopy and tubal ligation to be performed under general anesthesia on August 29, 1979. According to the suit Willa later filed, Babaoff discovered that Willa might be pregnant while he was performing the procedure. Rather than halt the procedure, allow Willa to regain consciousness, and consult with her about her possible pregnancy, Babaoff simply performed a D&C and ordered a pathology report, which confirmed that Willa had been pregnant. Willa was not informed about this; she found out by accident in May of 1982 — nearly three years later — when she had requested copies of her medical records for other treatment.
(Source: Michigan Court of Appeals 149 Mich.App. 140)
A patient I’ll call “Sandra” was referred to a Dr. Jordan in Georgia to be treated for lower abdominal pain. Jordan ordered a laparoscopy, and performed a D&C in preparation. He discovered the remains of a fetus in the tissues he’d removed from Sandra’s uterus. Sandra had not known she was pregnant, and would not have consented to an abortion.
(Source: Georgia Court of Appeals Nos. 61414, 61415)
Patient Mary M. sought care from Dr. Stephen Weber on December 20, 1991. Weber performed a biopsy on Mary on January 6, 1992. The report that came back from the lab indicated that there was pregnancy tissue in the specimen. Weber had an assistant call Marcie on January 16, telling her to come in due to “a problem.” Weber ordered a pregnancy test without telling Marcie. The test showed elevated pregnancy hormone level, but Weber did not think the pregnancy was still viable. He did not order an ultrasound because, he said, “It was a $175 test I did not think was warranted. Weber had Marcie return to the office and told her that he had to remove “tissue that hadn’t passed.” Marcie, still unaware that she was pregnant, consented and underwent a vacuum aspiration procedure. Weber discarded the tissues obtained with the aspiration and sent Marcie home, telling her to return in four days. Marcie began to bleed heavily and went to an emergency room for care. The doctor in the emergency room commented to Marcie about the positive pregnancy test; it was then that Marcie discovered that the D&C she’d submitted to had actually been an unauthorized abortion. Marcie had previously undergone four operations to try to overcome infertility. Weber defended his decision not to inform Marcie of the pregnancy as “an act of compassion.” He reportedly told another doctor “There’s more liability with a damaged pregnancy than with an aborted one.”
(Source: Hartford Courant 5-24-92)
Yes, Roe certainly protects abortion — at the expense of women who don’t want abortions.
Written by Christina Dunigan
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