Author: Tech

Diane Sawyer and the Non-Story of Lawson Akpulonu

How much can an abortionist get away with while the mainstream media pointedly look the other way? Quite a lot, as I’m about to describe.

Today I’d like to look at the most glaring example of mainstream media treating wrongdoing by abortionists as “a non-story.”

In March of 1995, when we were working on Lime 5, Life Dynamics got a call from one of Diane Sawyer’s assistants. Ms. Sawyer, we were told, had heard rumors that some abortion facilities were selling abortions to women who were not, in fact, pregnant; they just thought they were.

We told Ms. Sawyer’s assistant that this was a slow news day kind of story – “Generalisimo Francisco Franco is still dead.” Whenever a local newspaper or TV station wants to do a sensationalist little story, they send female reporters to local abortion mills with male reporter’s urine specimens, and they document being told they’re pregnant and the attempts to sell them abortions.

We supplied the assistant with what he asked for — a list of abortionists who were still practicing even after having been caught selling abortions to women who were not pregnant. But we also included a list of abortionists who were a serious public health threat and were still practicing, suggesting that these fellows might make a more news worthy project than rehashing something local news organizations across the country had been doing for over twenty years.

While I was compiling documentation and verifying that certain quacks were still in practice, we got a call from a nurse in California. She told us, “I’d always thought that the stories of seedy abortion mills were just a bunch of bogus stories made up by right to lifers. But I just quit a job at one of those seedy mills, and I want to report this guy before something terrible happens.”

This nurse told us that she had answered a help wanted ad placed by Dr. Lawson Akpulonu, and had been hired on the spot on January 14, 1995. After four hours, she was so appalled that she quit. After wondering what to do and who to contact, she saw an advertisement for Life Dynamics’ abortion malpractice litigation program, and decided that we were the right people to call.

Akpulonu, she told us, had the filthiest clinic she’d ever seen. She saw life-threatening conditions including:

* rusty metal speculums
* rusty forceps
* instruments cleaned with dishwashing liquid
* lack of lifesaving equipment
* no apparatus for administering anesthesia
* cockroaches in the operating room
* no medical swabs in the operating room
* no alcohol in examining or operating rooms
* rancid blood smell in rooms
* no refrigerator to store pathology tissues
* no containers for biohazardous materials
* no needle disposal units in examining room or operating room
* used needles left on tables in the operating room
* improper handling of fetal materials

Scott helped her to prepare a complaint for the California medical board. In her complaint, she reiterated what she’d told Scott, and warned the medical board:

“Akpulonu performed five abortion procedures. … I saw old specimens, apparently from earlier abortions performed the day before, in urine sample glasses stored in the medicine cabinet. … When Akpulonu began the abortion procedures, he did not allow anyone else in the room with him. There was no nurse or assistant with him…. After the procedures, Akpulonu asked me to empty the products of conception from the gauze bag attached to the vacuum aspirator into containers. …he referred me to the medicine cabinet. The only containers in that cabinet that could have held the specimens were the plastic urine sample glasses. I followed instructions and then asked an intern if that was the standard procedure at the clinic. She said it was. The specimens sat on the counter for several hours. … Based upon what I saw in the short time that I was there, it does not appear that Akpulonu is sending any specimens to a pathology lab. …I truly believe that someone will become seriously injured if something is not done immediately.”

(Source: Consumer Complaint Form dated 3-21-95)

We also asked her if she would be willing to talk to Diane Sawyer about what she’d seen. She said absolutely, that she wanted this guy exposed for what he was before something terrible happened to any of his patients. We contacted Diane Sawyer’s assistant and faxed him a copy of the complaint the nurse was about to file — a real scoop on a breaking story, to get a copy of a complaint before the medical board even got it.

The next day, Diane Sawyer’s assistant called us back, told us that Miss Sawyer had reviewed all the material we’d sent her, and had decided that seedy abortion facilities were “a non-story.”

A few days later all hell broke loose.

The medical board in California went public with a complaint from a patient they identified as “A. A.” While under anesthesia for an abortion by Akpulonu at his Midland Medical Center on January 28, 1995:

“A.A. awoke to find respondent raping her; he had penetrated her vagina with his penis. Respondent gave patient A.A. a shot and she went back to sleep. When patient A.A. woke up a second time, she saw respondent next to her. She saw his erect penis out of his pants. She tried to push him away. … Respondent then gave her another shot and she went back to sleep. When patient A.A. awoke for a third time, she found her sweater had been removed and her bra partially pulled down exposing her right breast. Respondent was caressing patient A.A.’s body. …when patient A.A. tried to scream, respondent placed his hand over her mouth. Respondent told patient A.A. she had a beautiful body. He said she was a very nice girl and a very sexy girl while he continued rubbing her inside her blouse and bra. He kissed her right breast. He then placed his business card inside her bra and said she could call him anytime”

(Source: California Medical Board Accusation No. 17-95-46707)

We’d offered to give Diane Sawyer a scoop on the Akpolunu scandal. She dismissed it as “a non-story.” And it turned out that he was evidently raping his patients.

More reports of abuse started pouring in from other patients once A.A. had the courage go come forward.

A patient idenfitied as “T.O.” said that she had an abortion by Akpulonu on November 9, 1992. The anesthetic injection was supposed to induce sleep but only made her drowsy. Akpulonu ordered the nurse to leave the room and performed the abortion. “[Akpulonu] began to massage patient T.O.’s vagina with his hand. Patient began to cry. [Akpulonu] also began to rub her thighs and buttocks and he fondled her breasts through her blouse. … [T.O.] could feel him rub his groin up against her exposed vagina. He had his pants on at the time. Patient T.O. continued to cry. She asked respondent what he was doing and pushed his hand away.” Akpulonu then left the room and the nurse returned and gave T.O. follow-up instructions.

(Source: California Medical Board Accusation No. 17-95-46707)

A patient identified as “D.L.” reported that she’d had an abortion by Akpulonu on June 22, 1994, and a follow-up appointment and colposcopy exam on July 14 of that year:

“During the examination, the phone rang and the respondent told his assistant to answer the phone,” leaving Akpulonu alone with D.L. He met with her in his office after the exam, and told her that she had a severe infection. Akpulonu quoted a price of $1500 for treatments. D.L. cried when she heard the cost. “He said what she had was treatable and that was more important than the money. He also said, ‘Don’t worry, I like you, I’ll do anything for you.'” D.L. went for first the first scheduled laser treatment on July 22, and was unconscious and alone with Akpulonu during the 1.5 hour procedure. Her next visit was August 2. Akpulonu squeezed D.L.’s shoulder while alone with her, and drew blood using a latex glove instead of a tourniquet. Two fingers of the glove inflated as he tightened the glove around D.L’s arm, and Akpulonu tapped the inflated fingers playfully, “referring to them as penises by saying, ‘This one’s Chinese, and this one’s Vietnamese.'” As D.L. left the room after blood was drawn, Akpulonu grasped her firmly by the waist and pulled her back close to him. “She was confused. She turned her head and saw him smiling. She said ‘No’ and freed herself from his hold.”

(Source: California Medical Board Accusation No. 17-95-46707)

Patient J.L. came forward. She said that she’d had an appointment for a second trimester abortion with Akpulonu, and had been quoted price of $350. She arrived on August 23 for her appointment, and told Akpulonu that other facilities had turned her away because she had a heart condition. Akpulonu instructed her to falsify her health questionnaire and not to report the heart condition. He inserted laminaria in preparation for the abortion and sent J.L. home. J.L. returned as instructed over the next two days for monitoring of dilation. On August 25, the abortion was performed. Akpulonu then billed $3150 to J.L.’s mother’s American Express card.

The medical board document alleged unsanitary conditions at Midland Medical Clinic, and alleged that Akpulonu had applied for a fictitious name license under false pretenses for his 3 clinics, naming as shareholders or applicants “physicians and surgeons who in fact have no business association with respondent or his corporation.”

A former employee allegedly told the Medical Board that Akpulonu did not sterilize instruments and used untrained assistants in surgery, and that he flushed fetal remains down the toilet, allegations similar to those made by the nurse who contacted Life Dynamics. This former employee also alleged being hired with no medical training or experience, and being required to assist in surgery. Unlike the nurse who quit after only four hours on the job, this employee quit after 3 weeks.

(Source: LA Times 1-31-93)

Akpulonu had also been arrested for perjury on government documents. He had been given probation for brandishing a loaded handgun on pro-lifers. Aonsumer advocate alleged that Akpulonu was involved in an AIDS testing fraud. Akpulonu had pleaded guilty to medical insurance fraud. On November 19, 1991, Akpulonu threatened a parking garage attendant with a loaded .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol, which he had been carrying concealed in his vehicle, when the attendant asked him to remove his improperly parked car from a restricted area. The original charges of exhibiting a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle, and carrying a loaded firearm in a public place were amended to add a charge of disturbing the peace; Akpulonu pleaded nolo contendere to the added charge February 20, 1992, and the remaining charges were dismissed.

(Sources: LA Times 1-31-93; Medical Board Accusation D-5286)

It turns out that had Diane Sawyer decided to look into this “non-story,” she’d have found a history of filth and quackery.

A July 17, 1991 inspection of Akpulonu’s facility had found:

* “Filthy rest room with no tiolet paper”
* “Reports of unsterile instruments being used in operating room”
* Fumes perservering after anesthesia
* No registered nurse at the facility
* Akpulonu performing abortions alone, with no assistant
* “No scrub room and inadequate supply of gowns and gloves”
* Blood on floor and curtains of the operating room
* The facility was operating with an expired license
* Blood specimins were discarded rather than sent to a lab for testing

When inspectors returned in August and September of 1991, they found:

* “Employees were trained to clean hoses used in medical procedures in running cold water by working the hoses manually to flush out all blood and tissue.”
* “Gloves were not worn.”
* “Employees were trained to dump tissue jars into the sink and run the contents through the garbage disposal.”
* “All instruments were rinsed in cold water in the sink and put in the autoclave, which was rusty and too small to permit closing of the lid when the instruments were in it”
* There were no pathology reports on abortion tissues.
* Disposable plastic syringes were being re-used.
* “The clinic smelled of rotting tissues, the surgery room was splattered with blood and some other rooms were filled with dust.”
* “Rat droppings were found in the surgery room and in the hall.”

Despite these filthy conditions, Akpulonu’s clinic remained open. A May 1993 inspection found:

* “Repsondent did not use gloves during medical procedures and advised his medical assistants that they did not need to use gloves unless they had a cut on their finger or hand.”
* “Repsondent brought his entire staff into the examination room to observe a patient who had a severe case of genital warts.”
* No pathology reports were done on abortion tissues.
* There was no refrigeration for blood and tissue samples or for medications.
* There was “no on-site equipment for handling emergencies.”
* Fetuses less than 18 to 24 weeks were flushed down the garbage disposal.
* Equipment was not properly sterilized between procedures.

Still Akpulonu’s facility managed to remain open. A July/August 1993 inspection found:

* Staff were now flushing fetuses of less than five months down the toilet.
* Staff were not trained in infection control.
* Equipment was still not being sterilized between procedures.
* “Employees assisting in medical procedures were not provided aprons, masks or hair covers.”
* Staff were re-using single use equipment “such as plastic equipment inserted in patients’ vaginas and tubing that transported products of conception.”

Even this was not enough to close Akpulonu’s clinic down. A September, 1993 inspection found:

* A foul odor in exam rooms
* A dirty autoclave containing rusty, dirty, tissue-encrusted instruments
* An employee containing dirty equipment without wearing gloves because the employee had been instructed by Akpulonu “that if the employee sesired to work at respondent’s clinic, the employee would not wear gloves when dealing with bodily fluids.”
* When the employee indicated intent to report this to health authorities, Akpulonu told the employee he would see to it that the employee never got another job in the health care field.

Still Akpulonu remained in business. A February 1994 inspection found:

* Blood products improperly stored in improperly labeled, leaking containers
* No soap, antiseptic, or towels at hanswashing facilities
* Improper storage of hazardous waste
* Inadequate personal protective equipent for staff.
* Missing emergency equipment
* Poor housekeeping
* Improper record keeping
* “Training was inapprpopriately given by and employee with only one week of employment and did not include information on the handling of an exposure incident.”

The facility still remained open. A March 1994 inspection found:

* IV needles were not disposed of properly.
* There were improperly labeled blood products stored in open cupboards.
* There were still no towels at the handwashing site.
* The emergency exit was blocked.
* There wre no gowns, face shields, or goggles for staff.
* The emergency equipment was still missing
* The housekeeping was still poor.
* The record keeping was still inadequate.
* “Biohazardous waste was improperly stored in paper boxes.”
* “Maintenance room contained an unlabeled and blocked electrical panel as well as a floor covered with large wires creating a hazard.”

So at the time we contacted Diane Sawyer’s assistant and sent her the nurse’s complaint, Akpulonu already had a four-year history of dangerous behavior posing a threat to women’s health and lives. Ms. Sawyer would have quickly uncovered this situation, as did we, with a single fax to the California medical board. But she and her staff either did not bother to investigate, or had reviewed this four year string of disgusting inspections and had still dismissed it as “a non-story.”

After the allegations of patient A.A. became public, a warrent was issued for Akpulonu’s arrest on charges of rape. He fled. His whereabout are still unknown. He and his facility remain “a non-story.”

And by the way, Akpulonu’s qualification for being the owner, manager, and abortionist for a California clinic was that he was a podiatrist.

Credit: Christina Dunigan

 

Share on Facebook

“Patient A”

A 20-year-old patient, identified in New York medical board documents as “Patient A,” was treated by Brigham at his American Medical Pavilion and AB Services of New York November 10 and 11 of 1993. To avoid depersonalizing her, I’ll call her “Millie.”

Millie called Brigham’s office at American Medical Services in Spring Valley, NY, on November 7 or 8, 1993. She made an appointment for an abortion beginning on November 10.

Brigham performed an ultrasound on Millie at about 5 PM on November 10, and told her that she was 26 weeks pregnant.

Although Millie was in the late second or early 3rd trimester, Brigham and his staff provided her with a “fact sheet” for first trimester abortions.

During the examination on November 10, brigham “should have been able to observe that Patient A was 26 weeks pregnant, obese, smoked cigaretts and had unspecified allergies. A practitioner would also have been able to observe that this patient had a very long vagina, a very long cervical canal, and a very small external cervix.” These were all risk factors for abortion and anesthesia or sedation.

He inserted 12 laminaria to dilate her cervix. He also injected digoxin into the fetal heart to start the abortion. Brigham told her to come back the next day to finish the abortion.

Millie returned at about 9 AM. Brigham performed an evacuation procedure to remove the fetus. Millie was under twilight anesthesia for the abortion. She was transferred to the recovery room at about 11 AM.

“While in the recovery room, Patient A bled profusely, vomited and lost consciousness.” Prior to her loss of consciousness, Millie was noted to have been confused and disoriented, with a pulse of 100 at 12:20 PM. By 12:30 PM, Millie’s blood pressure was 90/50 and her pulse was 90. By 12:40, her blood pressure had fallen to 85/50.

During this period, Brigham administered a fast infusion of IV fluids. By 12:50, this brought Millie’s blood pressure up to 110/65, and her pulse down to 85. But at 1:00, Millie’s blood pressure was 100/50 and her pulse was back up to 93. Brigham resuctioned Millie’s uterus and failed to notice any injury.

By 1:30, Millie’s blood pressure had fallen to 70/50, with a pulse of 90. By 2:05, her blood pressure was 90/50, her pulse was 95, and her oxygen saturation was 92%. Her hematocrit had fallen to 29% from a preoperative level of 35%. Brigham administered oxygen via face mask.

Brigham continued to try to figure out what was wrong with Millie. By 2:30, she was “cool, pale, tired and dry… and had urinated on him.” These are signs that a patient is in serious trouble.

Millie’s blood pressure remained low, and her pulse began to climb to 104, 112, 115, and finally 120 at 2:50.

At 2:55, Millie tried to sit up. She experienced dizziness and a gush of blood.

Brigham continued to try to treat Millie in his office until around 3 PM. Her hematocrit was 18%. Brigham finally transferred her to the hospital by ambulance.

Millie was in hypovolemic shock on arrival. Her hematocrit was 9%. She had a cervical laceration extending up into her lower uterus, and her uterine artery had been lacerated. Millie was given 4 units of packed cells, two units of fresh frozen plasma, and 10 units of platelets. She required an emergency hysterectomy.

The medical board specifically faulted Brigham in that he:

* “failed to counsel Patient A appropriately prior to the D&E procedure, or to note such counseling.
* “failed to have appropriate transfer arrangements in place…”
* “failed to recognize the gravity of the laceration in a timely manner.”
* “continued to attempt to repair the laceration in the office after Patient A’s condition required her transfer to a hospital.”
* “failed to recognize that Patient A was in shock.”

The board also noted that Brigham didn’t keep records on Millie during the procedure or immediately thereafter. They were written the day after the abortion, when Millie was hospitalized.

Source: New York Medical Board Allegations (scroll to page 5) and Findings (scroll to bottom of page 18)

Credit; Christina Dunigan

Share on Facebook

The Story of Patient “J.K.”

In July of 1992, a patient identified only as “J.K.” went to Steven Chase Brigham’s New Jersey abortion facility. She requested treatment for the demise of her 22-23 week fetus. To avoid depersonalizing her, I’ll call her Jessie.

According to medical board documents, Brigham failed to perform even routine testing in this high-risk patient. Instead, he inserted laminaria, and sent Jessie to her home over an hour away, instructing her to return next day.

He inserted new laminaria the next day, rupturing Jessie’s membranes. He sent Jessie home again, with instruction to take oral antibiotics and go to his New York facility next day to complete procedure. The medical board faulted Brigham with failure to admit Jessie to a hospital due to the risk of infection or life-threatening disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. Not surprisingly, Jessie developed a fever and was admitted to a hospital via the emergency room.

Board documents also say Brigham claimed that if Jessie had been adequately dilated, he would have accompanied her to his NY office to complete the abortion. The board noted of Brigham, supposedly an expert in such cases, “He claimed to have performed the abortion as a ‘charity case’ and was ‘surprised’ … that a patient presenting with an intrauterine fetal demise at 23 weeks would have received appropriate care at any area hospital without regard to her ability to pay.” Nevertheless, Brigham “acknowledged that he charged J.K. a ‘small fee,’ ‘$200, $300, $400.'”

Brigham testified that he did not feel Jessie suffered “a significant complication” in that she was hospitalized only two days and did not require a transfusion.

Source: New Jersey medical board Interim Decision and Order

Credit: Christina Dunigan

Share on Facebook

Abortion Patient “A.W

A woman identified in New Jersey medical board documents as “A.W.” (identified in New York documents as “Patient B”) was referred by Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania for an abortion by Brigham at his Flushing Women’s Center May 7-9, 1992. To avoid depersonalizing her, I’ll call her Anne.

The pregnancy was estimated at 24.5 weeks, past the legal limit for elective abortions in Pennsylvania. A D&E was initiated with the insertion of laminaria (dialators).

The following day, the abortion procedure was initiated under ultrasound. Brigham removed a fetal arm and part of the placenta, then detected a perforation. Although he was reaching for bony parts of the fetus and instead grasping soft tissues, he continued to grasp and pull with his instruments.This caused an 8-10 cm uterine laceration. Brigham perforated Anne’s sigmoid colon, and caused extensive cutting of the connective tissues of the colon.

Anne required a colostomy, and the removal of a 16 cm segment of her colon. Brigham admitted that he did not know what he was grasping with forceps, “the ultrasound picture was not consistent with what he felt,” but he “opened his forceps wider and grasped again, with force.”

Anne was transferred by ambulance to a hospital. She arrived in shock, and 3-4 units of packed cells were transfused.

In addition to the damage to her uterus and colon, Anne suffered damage to both ureters damaged. The medical board noted, “While perforation of the uterus is a known risk … and perhaps could be excused under some circumstances, the injuries caused by Respondent went far beyond perforation. … It is unacceptable for a practitioner to move his instrument in the body cavity without a clear understanding of their location. … The resultant injuries, particularly those to the bowel and ureters illustrate the point. These injuries were entirely unnecessary and caused by compounded acts outside accepted standards of medicine.” The board also noted that Brigham “portrays the very extensive injury to A.W. as a slip of the instrument.”

Sources: New Jersey medical board Interim Decision and Order; Administrative Review Board Decision and Order Number ARB No. 94-98 & No. 94-146; State Board for Professional Medical Conduct Statement of Charges; Newark Star-Ledger 1-7-94; Philadelphia Inquirer 12-15-94; Courier-Post 12-22-94; Atlantic City Press 12-15-94 Rockland Journal-News 12-10-94; New York Medical Board Statement of Charges (beginning at the bottom of page 7) and Findings (scroll to bottom of page 36)

Credit: Christina Dunigan

Share on Facebook

Abortion Whether You Want it or Not

“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

Leave a comment below. (note: Even though it says comments are disabled, comment box will still work).

Share on Facebook

Top 10 Reasons Abortion is the Un-Choice

A pattern of injustices dressed up as “choice”…

1. The rhetoric of choice hides the reality of coercion

2. Abortion is often someone else’s “choice.” 64% of American women who have had abortions felt pressured by others. (1)

3. Pressure is significant. Her “choices” may involve loss of home, family or essential support, or abuse that can escalate to violence. (2)  Homicide is the leading killer of pregnant women. (3)

4. Coercion can take many forms, including undisclosed, misleading or false information about fetal development and alternatives. (4)

5. Even though the majority felt rushed and uncertain, 67% received no counseling; 79% were not told about alternatives.(1)

6. Abortion is often a woman’s last choice, but her abuser’s first choice. (2) Teens face an especially high risk for coercsion.(5)

7. Many Americans who pushed family or friends to abort were also deceived – by experts, authorities or even pastors – about fetal development, alternatives, and risks.(4,6)

8. The overall death rate of women rises 3.5 times after an abortion.(7) Suicide rates are 6-7 times higher after an abortion.(8)

9. 65% report symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder they attribute to their abortions.(1)

10. “We were maiming at least one woman a month.” — Carol Everett, former abortion clinic operator

Learn more about abortion’s injustice and injury to women: www.unchoice.info

Footnotes

1. VM Rue et. al., “Induced Abortion and Traumatic Stress: A Preliminary Comparsison of American and Russian Women,” Medical Science Monitor 10(10): SR5-16, 2004
2. See the special report Forced Abortion in America at www.unfairchoice.info/coerced.htm
3. I.L. Horton and D. Cheng, “Enhanced Surveillance for Pregnancy-Associated Mortality- Maryland, 1993-1998,” JAMA 285(11): 1455-1459 (2001); J. Macfarlane et. al. “Abuse During Pregnancy and Femicide: Urgent Implications for Women’s Health,” Obstetrics & Gynecology 100: 27-36 (2002) 4. Melinda Tankard-Reist, Giving Sorrow Words (Springfield, IL.; Acorn Books, 2007)
5. Sobie & Reardon, “A Generation at Risk: How Pro-Abortionists Manipulate Vulnerable Teens,” The Post-Abortion Review, Vol. 8, No. 1, Jan-Mar. 2000
6. Carol Everett with Jack Shaw, Blood Money (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Books, 1992) See also Pamela Zekman and Pamela Warwick, “The Abortion Profiteers” Chicago Sun Times Special Reprint, Dec. 3 (originally published Nov. 12, 1978) p. 2-3, 33.
7. M Gissler et. al. “Pregnancy Associated Deaths in Finland 1987-1994 – definition problems and benefits of record linkage,” Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavia 76:651-657, 1997. See also DC Reardon et. al. “Deaths Associated With Pregnancy Outcome: A Record Linkage Study of Low Income Women,” Southern Medical Journal 95(8):834-41, Aug. 2002
8. M. Gissler et. al., “Injury, deaths, suicides and homicides associated with pregnancy, Finland 1987-2000,” European J. Public Health 15(5):459-63, 2005; and M. Gissler et. al. “Methods for identifying pregnancy-associated deaths: population-based data from Finland 1987-2000,” Paediatric Perinatal Epidemiology 18(6): 44855, Nov. 2004
From www.unchoice.info

Share on Facebook

Medics Forced to “Choose” Abortion

Four Washington, DC rookies in the Washington, DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department aborted their children for fear of losing their jobs after they were threatened with job termination if they became pregnant or took medical leave.

In July, 2001, Samanthia Robinson, interim assistant chief of operations for the Washington, DC fire department’s Emergency Medical Service (EMS) told about eight female medical rookies that they could not become pregnant because they were on probation for a year and have no job benefits, according to the Kenneth Lyons, chairman of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3721, five department sources and union attorney Louis Malone.

Lyons said that “The female medics were told if they get pregnant the first year, they will be fired. … This is disgusting to me … that this could happen in this day and age, in an agency that vows first and foremost to do no harm. .. This unwritten policy is one that has existed over years. … female firefighters now are saying they were under the impression, given their orientation, that this was the policy. We even have some females saying they withheld from having children for the first five years of employment because they were told this.”

One of the rookies, who was pregnant at the time, expressed concern to Robinson when supervisors were giving out ambulance assignments, the sources said. Robinson then told her she should get an abortion if she wanted to keep her job, Lyons and the sources said. So the pregnant rookie got an abortion.

Just after assignments were made to in-field units, “one of the females approached the interim chief of EMS operations, Samanthia Robinson, and informed her that she was, indeed, pregnant and she wanted to start a family,” Lyons said. “According to the young lady, [Robinson told her] that she had a choice to make and that choice will depend on whether or not you maintain your employment with this agency. She then went out and had an abortion,” he said.

Robinson “basically strong-armed her into getting an abortion,” said a fire department source who has spoken to the rookie about the problem. “Those comments are blatantly illegal,” and violate the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, said Malone, who represents AFGE Local 3721, whose members includes medics and emergency medical technicians in the department.

After having the abortion, the young lady requested time off to recuperate and was denied leave and forced back on duty, said Lyons. “She was forced to return to the street and started to hemorrhage,” he said.

The threat of job termination and Robinson’s suggestion so frightened the woman that she felt compelled to have an abortion even though she is a Roman Catholic, said sources, including one who has spoken to her about the problem. The woman got the abortion “directly as a result” of Robinson “telling her she couldn’t keep her job and be pregnant,” said a fire department source who has spoken to the woman about the situation.

The woman, 21, is trying to avoid publicity because she is still distraught, and the abortion has caused a rift with her family, several department sources said. “She is young, religious, scared and ashamed,” said one source. “She feels she has morally abused herself.”

Other department sources, including a medic who recently worked with her, echoed that characterization. “This poor girl. She’s a young girl, naive and would do anything to save her job,” said one medic who has worked with the woman. “She was given the impression that that’s what she had to do for her job, so she went out and did it.”

The woman has suffered medical problems since the abortion, according to Lyons, medics who have worked with the her and other department sources. Several department sources who have worked with the woman have described her as “distraught.”

Officials with the medic’s union have been collecting statements from the rookies who said they were threatened. Many have been hesitant to provide the written accounts because they fear retaliation, Lyons said. Lyons told The Washington Times that he raised the matter with Chief Few, and the chief later told him that Robinson denied making the statement. Malone confirmed that Lyons had brought the matter to Chief Few in the past several weeks, and that the chief issued a denial.

One source said the woman has been subject to harassment by supervisors as word of the incident has spread within the department.

Malone said at least 10 women in the department have called him in the past few weeks to recount other incidents where officials discriminated against them because of pregnancy. “When they heard about this, it has really triggered their consciousness,” he said.

Paul Strauss, shadow senator for the District, is Robinson’s lawyer. Strauss said Robinson was being “unfairly attacked,” and that the accusations against her may have been politically motivated.

A final report on the incidents by the Office of the District of Columbia Inspector General, substantiated the women’s claims and recommended “appropriate disciplinary action” be taken against Robinson. The Inspector General’s investigators interviewed the nine members of the class and “based on a preponderance of the evidence” concluded that Robinson “improperly advised EMT trainees that female EMTs could be terminated if they became pregnant during the first year of employment. … Robinson’s statements in this regard violated official District government policy prohibiting the termination of government women based solely on their pregnancy.”

Five of the nine members of the class specifically remembered Robinson telling trainees they could lose their jobs if they became pregnant. The other four class members remembered Robinson advising the new hires not to become pregnant during their probationary year because they could be fired for any reason.

Robinson denied advising the trainees they could be terminated for becoming pregnant, but the report says Robinson exhibited a “lack of candor” during her interview with investigators. It said her statements were “not credible in the face of consistent and contrary recollections of so many witnesses. Based on a preponderance of the evidence developed during the investigation, it is reasonable to conclude that Robinson improperly advised EMT trainees that female EMTs could be terminated if they became pregnant during the first year of employment.”

Fire department sources say Robinson was offered a choice between retirement and a demotion to a nonsupervisory field-medic position. She chose retirement. But Strauss said Robinson stands by her version of events and that she was not forced into retirement. Strauss did not rule out the possibility of filing a lawsuit on Robinson’s behalf, saying he will “advise her of her options.”

Some punishment! You can bet the bank that, if Robinson had been pro-life and tried to prevent an abortion-minded EMT from aborting her baby, she would have been thrown out of her job and probably jailed.

As a predictable aside, not a single pro-choice organization condemned these forced abortions and attempted forced abortions.

References: “Official Disciplined for Threatening Job Loss for Pregnancy: Government Employees Had Abortions Fearing They Would Lose Their Jobs.” LifeSite Daily News at http://www.lifesite.net, August 14, 2002; “EMS Supervisor Disciplined in Coercive Abortion Case.” Washington Times, August 14, 2002; Steve Ertelt’s Pro-Life Infonet at http://www.prolifeinfo.org, August 15, 2002; “Fearing Job Discrimination, DC Woman “Forced” to Have Abortion.” Washington Times, August 30, 2001; John Drake. “Union Backs 4 Women Who Claim Abortions Out of Fear.” The Washington Times, August 31, 2001; “More DC Medics Say They Were Forced to Have Abortions.” Washington Times, Cybercast News Service, August 31, 2001; Matthew Cella. “EMS Chief Who Coerced Medics Abortions Retires.” Washington Times, September 23, 2002; Steve Ertelt’s Pro-Life Infonet, September 25, 2002; Steven Ertelt’s Pro-Life Infonet, October 3, 2001; Ted Olsen. “Forcing Abortions: Mandated Abortions Happen in the U.S., Too.” Christianity Today Magazine, November 18, 2002 [Volume 46, Number 12], page 21.

Source: Abortionviolence.com

Share on Facebook

Abortion Was Forced, Says Teen in Lawsuit

Author: Womancare Services, Inc.

A Michigan woman who says that an abortionist held her down on the operating table and forcibly aborted her fetus after she changed her mind has filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages.

Caitlin Bruce, of Genesee County, was 18 years old and six weeks pregnant when she went to the Feminine Health Care Clinic in 2008 in Flint for an abortion. While getting an ultrasound, the clinic worker showed her the image and said, “This is your baby. This is the heart flicker,” Bruce then says she changed her mind.

She claims that Dr. Abraham Hodari did the procedure anyway, according to WJRT-TV. “He told his assistant, ‘Hold her down.’ They had my arm pinned,” Bruce told the TV station.

Tried to Scream, “Stop”

‘His weight was all on my chest and then he took his hand and he had it so tight on my mouth that it was muffled. I was trying to scream, “Stop!”

In court documents, the abortionist claims that he had started the procedure before she changed her mind. “The surgical instrument was inside her uterus and she was already bleeding when she verbalized any misgivings.”

The case, in which Bruce is claiming $25,000 in damages, is the latest one involving women who feel they have been coerced into having an abortion by others, whether they be boyfriends, parents, or overly-persuasive or forceful clinic workers. Since 1980, mental health providers have begun treating an increasing number of women who are suffering mental and emotional difficulties as a result of induced abortions, and the experience of feeling pressured into an abortion is common, according to the Elliot Institute.

No woman should be coerced into having an abortion. It is important for women to make a free choice. The best way to make a free choice is to make sure that you have complete, accurate information about abortion procedures and their short and long-term effects. It is also important to discuss your decision in a calm, unpressured atmosphere with an unbiased professional.

Women in Berwyn, Cicero, Stickney, N. Riverside, Forest Park, Maywood and other nearby suburbs in the western Chicago, IL area who need more information about abortion procedures and the short and long-term effects should call WomanCare Services.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/womens-health-articles/abortion-was-forced-says-teen-in-lawsuit-1569942.html

About the Author

Women in Berwyn, Oak Park, Stickney, LaGrange, Cicero, Westchester, and nearby towns who think they might be pregnant should call WomanCare Services in Berwyn, IL. WomanCare Services offers help to women facing unintended pregnancies in the near southwest Chicago area. Go to WomanCare Services. Or call 708-795-6000.

Share on Facebook

The Story of Baby Rowan

“Angele” was pregnant and in a bad situation. She had been seeing a Christian counselor for months, and they encouraged her to have an abortion in the second trimester.

This perfectly formed 22 week old baby was aborted at Orlando Women’s Center in Orlando, Florida in April 2005. According to this child’s mother, who wishes to be identified only by her first name, Angele, he was born alive. Here is Angele’s story, told in her own words.

“I counseled with a pretty and petite younger black woman who has a small son. Her name began with an L. I do not remember her full name. She explained the process of laminaria insertion. I asked her other questions such as, will they inject saline or urea into the amniotic sac? I was concerned that it would hurt the baby as it generally (from what I’ve read) burns the skin and lungs. I expressed my concerns that he not suffer or feel anything.”

“The injection burned a lot as it went in. … The discomfort was distracting. I still felt the ‘lams’ as they were being inserted. Dr. Perper told me to relax my muscles and noted that my cervix was slightly soft. I asked him what that meant and he said it was good.”

“I wanted it to be as humane and painless as possible for my son. They told me they would guide a needle directly into his heart and it would put him to sleep, and he wouldn’t feel anything.”

However, for reasons not entirely known, the digoxin that would have stopped the fetal heart was never injected. After putting in the lamanaria, the doctor sent her to the hotel to sleep and told her to come back the following day. “My friend and I took a taxi back to our hotel. We rested up a bit, changed and walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. That night, all night off and on I could feel the baby still moving. I told my friend this worried me. I remember thinking it must take time to slow down and stop his heart. I was still a little ‘out of it’ from the medicine and just figured I must have been mistaken about how the digoxin was supposed to work. He was still moving when I went to sleep. I was concerned and started to call the after-hours line, but again second-guessed myself.” When Angele came in the next day, her contractions had already started. She was taken to a cold delivery room. “I was directed to ‘the room.’ I had been there for a moment the day before and thought it to be a waiting room for family or driving companions. It had a leather sofa and a fabric sofa, both with a white blanket stretched across the seat cushions, a small television and a few magazines.” “My contractions became stronger and more frequent very rapidly. I called for [staff member] Violene, thinking it was time to be moved into another room and wanting to know if I could have anything for pain. She said that medication would stop the contractions and for me to stay right there and again, she would be back. I told her it was almost time; I could just tell, and she told me I was not at all ready. She left. I began to bleed.”

“I came back to the sofa, (they both really smelled awful), wrapped up in the wet and sour-smelling blanket, then decided it was better without it. I rocked back and forth on my hands and knees, trying to hold the heating pad to my stomach to both relieve the pain and try to stay warm. I was looking down and saw little smears and spots of dried blood on the floor and an old cotton ball with blood on it by the fabric-covered sofa across from me. Noticing how dirty it was and how no one was in the room or even nearby in the hallway began to make me nervous and uncomfortable. I went right back to the powder room and began to try to push a lot. I thought it might help since I was told I was not nearly ready to deliver.”

“In one agonizing push, I felt and heard something come out. Then immediately another push. I was weak. I just held my head in my hands for a moment. Then I decided to stand up. I looked. There was my baby, the whitish cord and what I thought surely must be the placenta.

“I started sobbing and lay down in the floor. I stared and stared at my son. I was horrified that I had just had him in a commode.”

“His right leg moved. He curled up a bit like he was cold; I screamed for Violene! No one came. I managed to get to the doorway, pants down, blood everywhere and yelled again. I went back to my baby. I heard her say she’d be right there.

“I showed her Rowan, told her he was alive and moving and to call 911! She took a quick look, said he’s not moving now and she’d be back to take care of things while walking out. I called her again. I was touching Rowan softly and he moved again. I called her back. Rowan jumped, I think startled by the loud sound of my calling for help. I showed her that he was moving and alive. I begged her to hurry and call 911, now!

“She said for me to lie down and she would get her supervisor. No one came.

“I continued to try to caress and comfort my son by rubbing his back, tummy and chest. I stroked his precious little head and kept telling him I loved him and we would be OK. I was afraid to move him because I did not want to do anything that might end up hurting him. I pushed my pinky into his little hand and his fingers curled around me. Still no one was coming. I was terrified but trying not to let him know I was scared. I kept telling him what a beautiful son he was and that we were going to be safe soon.

“I left Rowan for two seconds, grabbed the phone, jumped back into the bathroom to be with him, calling my girlfriend ‘Sharon’ at the same time,” she wrote. “I told her Rowan was alive and no one was helping us to please call an ambulance to the clinic immediately and hung up.

“I stayed beside Rowan talking to him, telling him how strong he was being and how proud I was of him. I told him God must really want us to be together for him to make it through everything he had just been through and that Mommy was so sorry but so happy to have a chance to love him. I told him he was a strong little miracle and that I couldn’t wait for him to meet his brother and sister. I just kept touching him, trying to warm him with my hands and talking to him so he would not feel any more afraid than he already must.

“Then Rowan stopped moving.”

…

“He was perfect, slightly pale and a little translucent. His eyebrows were pale but wide and well-defined. You could see little hairs on his face and head. He had the tiniest little fingernails and toenails. I noticed they already had a little bit of growth. His mouth was lovely. He was this perfectly formed one pound, one ounce human being. He was beautiful. He had been so strong.

“I wrapped him in [a] blue pad instead of one of the wet blankets. I just kept kissing him and telling him I loved him so much. I told him I was sorry I couldn’t get anyone to help us and I was so sorry for ever coming here.”

At that point, Angele says, staff member Debbie came in a demanded to have the baby. Angele refused.

“Oddly, she came back within two or three minutes,” Angele wrote. “She was more irritated and insistent than before. I was irritated that she was rushing me and that she did not seem to be in such a hurry when Rowan was alive. Where was she when Violene was supposedly going to get her and we needed her help? She asked again to take him. I flatly refused her. I could tell she was angry. I did not care. I told her that I expected her to leave me alone so I could finish praying with Rowan and that we needed privacy.”

…

“Surprisingly, Angele said, the police came to the clinic instead of an ambulance.

…

“Angele says her friend overheard a staff member saying she did not see the baby move, a contention that angered the distressed mother.

“I saw Violene one more time, and I was furious after what ‘Sharon’ told me,” Angele wrote. “I spoke to her telling her how little I appreciated them telling the police my child was not alive. I stared hard at her and said, ‘Violene you saw him moving. That is when you were supposedly going to get your manager and “take care of it.” You stayed away until Rowan died. I don’t care what you say, you and I both know he was very much alive. We know the truth.’ She said nothing and turned away.

“They gave ‘Sharon’ a bag with my medicine and we left. Oddly enough, they no longer needed me to be seen by the doctor at 2 p.m.,” Angele wrote, saying the staff just wanted her “to leave as quickly as possible.”

“The first two times I told Violene to call 911, I thought she would. It hadn’t crossed my mind that she wouldn’t…. It finally dawned on me: They’re not going to help me save my son.”

Source: Ron Strom, “Abortion Staff Ignores Baby Born Alive?” Sunday, July 9, 2006.

The local coroner refused to autopsy the body of the baby. An autopsy performed later by Dr. Garavaglia could not conclusively verify that the baby was born alive; however, the doctor concluded that it was “probable” that the heart was still beating after the baby was born. Her report did prove that the clinic’s contention that the baby could not have been born alive because he had been injected with digoxin was false. As Angele said, the baby was never injected with chemicals prior to his birth.

(After Abortion Autopsy Can’t Rule Out Live Birth- Shows Abortion Clinic Claim False” 5/3/05 by Lifesite)

More pictures of Baby Rowan:

The article “Death By Drowning” from World by Lynn Vincent 6/18/05 referred to an interview with a paramedic who responded to the call about Baby Rowan. According to this paramedic, he and his partner were convinced not to go inside the clinic because one worker (probably Violene) told him that there had been no live birth.

“A patient had merely “passed some tissue”….and that “the physician had the situation under control.”

Paramedics had come to the clinic because Angele had called a friend on her cell phone and begged her to call 911 on her behalf. Here is a transcript of this call:

OFD: Orlando Fire Department.

(Unintelligible.)

OFD: Thank you what is the address of the emergency?

Friend: 609 West Virginia Street. The EPOC Center.

OFD: 609 West Virginia? One moment please.

Friend: Let’s see … I don’t have the address on me. A friend of mine called form the abortion clinic and her baby was born alive.

OFD: Okay. Do you know the closest intersection. Did she call you on a phone?

Friend: Right, she called me off her cell phone.

OFD: Okay. Did you ask her to call 911? Because …

Friend: She asked me to call because she was back there with no kind of … They were just telling her to leave it … this is gross but … leave it in the toilet, you know, and let it die.

OFD: Is she in a house?

Friend: She’s in the clinic, the abortion clinic.

OFD: Okay.

Friend: Correct. EPOC. Center. Oh my God! I’m freaking out!

OFD: Did she call from a cell phone?

Friend: She called from her cell phone.

OFD: Okay. What did you say? She was having … the baby just came out?

Friend: Right. She as getting an abortion and the baby came out and it was still living. And they’re wanting it to die.

OFD: Okay. And she’s inside the clinic?

Friend: Correct.

OFD: Okay. Let me give a call to the county. Hold on. Actually, do not hang up. Just hold on the line, okay?

Friend: Okay.

DISPACHER CALLS COUNTY

OCFR: Orange County Fire and Rescue

OFD: Hi can you look up a couple of addresses for me. I have a 911 caller on the line with a baby. She’s in an abortion clinic and the baby is born and it’s still alive. They don’t know for how long.

OCFR: What would we be going for?

OFD: Uh, it would be for an obstetrics. It’s a female that’s in the center, I guess for … it’s an abortion clinic but the baby was born, and it’s alive at this moment and they don’t know for how long.

OCFR: Oh!

TRANSFER TO ORLANDO FIRE DEPARTMENT

OFD: Orlando Fire Department.

Friend: I need an ambulance to 609 Virginia Drive in Orlando.

OFD: 609 Virginia Drive?

Friend: Correct.

OFD: Okay, and what going on there?

Friend: Uh, it’s the women’s clinic. Uh, my friend was having an abortion and the baby was born alive.

OFD: Okay, you said the baby was born?

Friend: Correct.

OFD: Okay, hold on one second for me.

Friend: Okay.

OFD: 609 Virginia Drive?

Friend: Correct.

OFD: What’s the business name?

Friend: Uh, EPOC Clinic for Women. E-P-O-C.

OFD: EPOC Clinic for Women? Okay. Is there a phone in the building?

Friend: Yes.

OFD: Okay, can you call me from that or just pick up that phone and dial 911?

Friend: Uh, well I’m not there. She’s there. She called me and they’re not allowing her to use the phone there.

OFD: Okay.

Friend: But they’re wanting the baby to die.

OFD: She wants the baby to live?

Friend: Correct.

OFD: Okay.

Friend: She was expecting it to not be alive, and it is.

OFD: Okay. I’m going to get help out there.

Friend: Okay.

OFD: Just stay on the line with me.

Friend: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

OFD: Okay the baby’s been born?

Friend: Correct:

OFD: How long ago, do you know?

Friend: Uh, she just called me. It wasn’t 10 minutes ago. And said that the baby was born and it was alive and they were wanting her to leave it in the toilet. And uh … just let it die. And uh … she’s not wanting that to happen.

OFD: Okay, we do have help on the way like I said. We’re going try and call the center as well as have someone on the way.

Friend: Thank you very much.

OFD: Your welcome.

DISPATCHER CALLS WINTER PARK FIRE DEPARTMENT

OFD: Hi. Can you respond with us to 609 Virginia Drive?

Ambulance: For?

OFD: Uh, this is supposed … This is the EPOC Center E-P-O-C Center for Women. We are going for a lady that is in an abortion clinic. She says that the baby has been born ten minutes ago, but the center wants to kill the baby and will not let the mother call 911.

Ambulance: Woah!

OFD: Uhm hmm! So we have a third party calling because the mother did call 911 … uh …call a family member.

Ambulance: Okay, so we are the way now. Alright. okay.

OFD: Bye!

Share on Facebook

Women Who Changed Their Minds

Abortion advocates ensure us that women only have abortions they “need.” How, then, can they explain why women change their minds after a failed abortion attempt? If the birth of this baby is truly going to utterly ruin the woman’s life, wouldn’t she still “need” the abortion when she learned it had failed to kill the fetus?

“Liz” has an abortion at a Planned Parenthood on September 22, 1990. As it turned out, the pre abortion ultrasound had shown a twin pregnancy, but only one twin was aborted. Planned Parenthood was short staffed when it came time for Liz’s 3-week follow-up appointment, so they canceled it. Liz repeatedly attempted to reschedule, but the phone would be busy when she called at 8 AM as instructed, and when she would call later in the morning they would tell her to call back again at 8 AM because that is their time for scheduling appointments. Liz later returned to Planned Parenthood for a counseling appointment in October, but she was not given an examination. During her annual physical in February of 1991, her doctor discovered that the surviving fetus was still gestating. Although Liz feared that the abortion attempt had harmed the surviving fetus, she continued the pregnancy. The surviving fetus was born on May 16, 1991, and named Jordan.

Source: Rhode Island Superior Court Case No. 91-7127

**********

“Glenda” had an abortion at a Family Planning Associates facility on August 20, 1981, and was assured that “the abortion…had been successful and that she was no longer pregnant.” The abortion had failed to kill the fetus, however, and Glenda had the baby.

Source: Orange County Superior Court Case No. 390004

**********

“Emily” has a suction abortion by Basil Bisca on September 24, 1983. The lab report indicated that “only a few fetal tissue were seen which was a direct indication that it was very likely that the pregnancy was not interrupted during the abortion procedure.” Emily’s pregnancy continued, and she gave birth to a full term infant on April 29, 1984.

Source: Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Case No. 84CV-11-6384

**********

Sixteen-year-old “Tawnya” had an abortion done by Joseph Booker at New Woman Medical Center September 29, 1990. Booker did not send the tissues to the lab, and therefore did not realize that he’d removed a portion of the placenta but had left the fetus alive and entact. Four and a half months later Tawnya gave birth by C-section to premature infant boy who died from multiple birth defects about five hours later. Tawnya sued not only for the failed abortion, but for the premature birth and death of her baby, blaming the prematurity and death on damage done by the abortion attempt. She was given a $75,000 verdict by the jury.

Source: Clarion-Ledger 5-18-94, 5-20-94

**********

“Lena” has an abortion by Dr. Gay Boyle at Birmingham Women’s Medical Clinic November 21, 1982. Although staff there assured her that the abortion had been successful, she learned later that the fetus had survived and that she was in the second trimester of pregnancy. When she informed the facility, they advised her to have another abortion because the fetus might have been harmed by the abortion attempt. Nevertheless, Lena chose to continue to term despite considerable emotional distress caused by worry about the baby, who was born July 23, 1983.

Source: 10th Judicial Circuit Court of Alabama Civil Action No. CV83-5839

**********

“Latisha” had a positive pregnancy test on December 30, 1981. The staff at Her Medical Clinic recommended an abortion, which she had that day. When she returned to Her Medical Clinic on February 22, 1982, they told her she was still pregnant. Latisha “could not bear the emotional trauma of a repeat abortion at that stage in her pregnancy,” so she had the baby.

Source: LA County Superior Court Case No. C447811

**********

“Kathleen” had an abortion at Women’s Health Center of West County April 13, 1984. When she reported for Army Basic Training a few weeks later, she was found to be 13 weeks pregnant. Kathleen was discharged from the Army, and gave birth to her baby on October 19, 1984.

Source: St. Louis City Circuit Court Cause No. 542086

**********

“Peg” had a D&C abortion at Dr. Burton Krafte’s office when she was eight weeks pregnant. Upon returning for a follow up visit, Peg was discovered to be 18 weeks pregnant. She had the baby.

Source: New York Appellate Court 98 A.D.2nd 128, January 12, 1984

**********

“Addie” had abortion done by Marvin K. Levin at Family Planning Centers on November 1, 1978. When she returned on December 20 for her follow-up appointment, she told them that she still felt pregnant, but they assured her that the abortion had been successful. Addie went to a clinic for a pregnancy test on January 9 of 1979, and was informed that she was indeed still pregnant. By then, Addie was 14 weeks pregnant and decided to carry to term.

Source: LA County Superior Court Case No. C309011

**********

If, as abortion advocates would have you believe, women seeking abortions are adamant that they “need” them, then wouldn’t women always have a second “safe and legal” abortion to kill the fetus that survived a first abortion attempt? The fact that a cursory glance through my notes found these cases, and more, should give us pause. Is abortion something women are really so sure about? Or is it something they resort to in a moment of crisis, something that they’re ambivalent enough about to change their minds even after undergoing an abortion procedure to get rid of the “unwanted” pregnancy?

The preceding was by Christina Dunigan

Share on Facebook