Category: Legal Abortion Deaths

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

The abortion was performed by Douglas Karpen, an osteopath.

Denise suffered severe bleeding, and was admitted to Ben Taub hospital. Her condition deteriorated, and she died on May 29, 1988.

Her parents filed suit against Karpen and the clinic, saying that they had faied to adequately explain the risks of the procedure, and had not provided consent forms, or had the parents sign any informed consent document, prior to the fatal abortion.

According to their 1991 Annual Report, Women’s Pavillion was a National Abortion Federation member.

Sources: Harris County District Court Case No. 89-16747

Credit: Christina Dunigan

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Beverly Ann Moore, age 15, died after her abortion by Tuckey Hayes at Chattanooga Women’s Clinic.

Hayes assured Beverly’s parents that she would be “all right” just fifteen minutes before she died.

Chattanooga Women’s Clinic was written up for continued deficiencies even after Beverly’s death. Noted flaws included (with dates of citation):

* “Wrist, knee or foot controls not provided on lavatories used by physicians and nurses” (3-8-79)
* No system for referring patients to other health care providers (3-8-79)
* No emergency transfer arrangements (3-8-79)
* Lack of written job descriptions (3-8-79, 10-10-89)
* Lack of documentation of staff qualifications (10-10-89)
* Inoperable emergency lighting (3-8-79, 3-12-87, 3-17-87, 4-5-93)
* Re-use of disposable curettes (3-12-87) * Medications out-of-date (5-22-85, 3-12-87, 3-17-87, 10-10-89, 4-6-92)
* Outdated IV solution (10-10-89)
* Medications improperly stored (3-8-79, 3-12-87, 3-17-87, 6-18-87)
* Unwrapped speculums stored in examining table drawer (6-18-87)
* Used disposable curettes stored on shelf with clean supplies (6-18-87)
* Blood in procedure table (10-10-89)
* Dirty floor and equipment in lab (10-10-89)
* “[O]ut of date sterile instruments are in autoclave area” (6-18-87)
* “Sterile instruments in treatment room observed to have stains” (4-6-92)
* Patient records lacking documentation of required testing for sexually transmitted diseases (10-10-89).

Sources: Kevin Sherlock Death Log; Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center Survey Form 3-12-87; Statement of Deficiencies and Plan of Correction 3-8-79, 5-22-85, 3-17-87, 6-18-87, 4-24-90, 4-16-91, 4-6-92, 4-5-93; Licensing Board Docket No. 17.17-D-89-1104A

Credit: Christina Dunigan

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Eighteen-year-old Christine Mora underwent a safe, legal abortion at Doctors’ Surgical Center in Cypress, California — an FPA (Family Planning Associates Medical Group) facility. She was about 17 weeks pregnant and a high school senior. The date was November 2, 1994.

A nurse practitioner inserted laminaria to dilate Christine’s cervix. Christine went hom and returned the following day for the abortion. Dr. Thomas Grubbs performed the D&E and sent Christine to recovery.

Preparing to leave the clinic, Christine fell while unattended. Grubbs was called to check her, and noticed slurred speech and inappropriate responses.

Somebody called an ambulance, and Christine was taken to La Palma Hospital, where she spent several hours in the emergency room, attended by her friend Robert. When Christine’s father was finally located, Robert had to tell him about the abortion as well as about the hospitalization.

Christine was admitted to the intensive care unit, where her condition deteriorated until she was finally taken off life support at noon on November 8, and pronounced dead. Christine left an 18-month old child motherless.

The autopsy showed acute septicemia and hemorrhage in the brain, along with some small cervical lacerations. It also revealed that Christine had a congenital heart defect called “foramen ovale,” in which a connection between the two sides of her heart had not closed at birth as it was supposed to do. Her family filed a wrongful death suit.

The attorneys for Grubbs, Allred, and FPA claimed that Christine’s heart defect, not the abortion, caused her death. But an expert reviewing the case for Christine’s family said that the care provided to Christine at the FPA facility “fell below applicable standard” and that the “breach of standard care was the direct cause of Miss Mora’s death.” In particular, he faulted FPB because:

* Grubbs had never examined Christine prior to the surgery. In fact, he’d had no contact with her at all prior to beginning her abortion.
* “The anesthesia record says that Dr. Bruggs did the entire extraction procedure in three minutes (emphasis in original),” and that this haste caused the cervical lacerations.

The expert concluded that the amniotic fluid entered Christine’s bloodstream through the cervical lacerations, causing her death. Oddly, Dr. David Grimes, the expert defending FPA, agreed that Christine’s death was due to an amniotic fluid embolism and not to her heart defect. Grimes, however, claimed that the amniotic flued had entered Christine’s bloodstream when the placenta had detached, and not through the cervical lacerations. Grimes considered three minutes to be adequate time for a 17-week abortion. (Grimes had also spoken on behalf of notorious California abortionist Leo Keneally.)

The lawsuit had gone to trial, with Allred himself taking the stand, when prolifers discovered that Allred was being sued and complained that the medical board and news media were ignoring the death. As soon as the prolifers began agitating, FPA quickly settled with the family, stipulating confidentiality as part of the settlement.

Christine wasn’t the only young woman to die from abortion at a facility owned by FPA head honcho Edward Campbell Allred. Others include:

* Denise Holmes, age 24, 1970
* Patricia Chacon, age 16, 1984
* Mary Pena, age 43, 1984
* Josefina Garcia, age 37, 1985
* Laniece Dorsey, age 17, 1986
* Joyce Ortenzio, age 32, 1988
* Tami Suematsu, age 19, 1988
* Susan Levy, age 30, 1992
* Deanna Bell, age 13, 1992
* Kimberly Neil, 2000
* Chanelle Bryant, age 22, 2004

Allred’s facilities remain members of the National Abortion Federation despite these deaths.

# Sources: California Certificate of Death # 94-180853, Orange County Coroner’s Report # 94-06863-AB
# Mega-Abortionist Settles in a Hurry, San Diego News Notes May 1997

Credit: Christina Dunigan

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

The next day, she reported a severe headache, sore neck, neck stiffness, and trouble seeing. Her parents began the drive to take her to the hospital.

On the way there, Sara began screaming and behaving strangely. When they got to the hospital, she refused to get out of the car. She was disoriented and stuporous upon admission.

Sara went into respiratory arrest, and was admitted to the ICU. She was pronounced dead May 11, 1994. The cause of death was determined to be Group B Streptococci Meningitis caused by infected amniotic fluid in her bloodstream.

The autopsy performed on Sara found dead tissue and a fetal bone fragment in her infected uterus.

Midtown Hospital was a member of the National Abortion Federation.

(Georgia Autopsy Report No. A1994-13; Georgia Certificate of Death # 023154)

Credit: Christina Dunigan

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

Nicole Redden told reporters about her 15-year-old cousin’s death that followed a late-term abortion there: “This stuff needs to stop. People need to take a first hand look at what happens here.”

What follows is pieced together from various reports and interviews with Tamiia’s cousin and mother.

Taisha Glenn, the sister of Tamiias 24-year-old “boyfriend”, Stacy Glenn, arranged the abortion without notifiying Tamiia’s family. Stacy Glenn, according to Frances Russell, Tamiia’s mother, is a reputed drug dealer who has not been located since Tamiia’s death. He paid the $2000 for the abortion.

Glenn’s sister, Taisha, took the girl to five different Detroit area abortion facilities, and was turned away from all five because of how far advanced Tamiia’s pregnancy was. She was at least six months pregnant. One facility reportedly even offered prenatal care and vitamins. Finally Taisha found an abortionist willing to proceed — WomanCare, a Winthorop Village abortion facility run by abortionist Abraham Alberto Hodari. Despite the fact that the pregnancy was the result of statutory rape, and despite the fact that he had no permission from Tamiia’s parents or guardian, as required by Michigan law, the clinic agreed to take the case. Tamiia used an identification card with another woman’s picture to claim that she was 19, but according to Tamiia’s cousin, the woman in the picture ID looked nothing like Tamiia.

Tamiia’s presumably safe and legal abortion was begun on January 7, when laminaria was inserted. Laminaria are sticks of seaweed used to dilate the cervix. Staff then sent Tamiia home. Once home, Tamiia confessed to her aunt and mother that she was pregnant and she had begun the abortion. Tamiia’s mother said that she called the clinic, and staff told her that the abortion once be carried out once the laminaria are inserted. This is not true; laminaria can be removed and the pregnancy continued, with medical supervision. In fact, many crisis pregnancy centers offer laminaria removal for women who have changed their minds after beginning an abortion procedure.

Based on the false claim that Tamiia had no choice but to go through with the abortion, her mother drove her to WomanCare on January 8 for the actual abortion procedure. Tamiia bled heavily after coming home froom the abortion — so heavily that the blood soaked a mattress. Tamiia’s mother called WomanCare, where staff told her that such bleeding was normal and instructed them not to bring Tamiia to a hospital. Her family ignored this advice and called an ambulance, which rushed the girl to Sinai-Grace Hospital, where she was dead on arrival.

Dr. Leigh Hlavaty, who performed the autopsy on Tamiia, told a local pro-life activist who contacted LifeSiteNews.com that the girl’s death was caused by “uterine infarction with sepsis due to status second trimester abortion.” Hlavaty said, “I ruled it normal because these complications are expected with this type of abortion.”

Oakland County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jim Halushka told LifeNews.com that his office has reviewed an initial investigation by police into the abortion. If the abortion facility knew that Russell was under 18, they could be charged with a misdemeanor for performing an abortion on a minor. The investigation was turned back over to police for further investigation.

State Attorney General Mike Cox told WDEO Radio by email that he is looking into the incident, and one of his staff confirmed the state’s interest in the case.

Because Tamiia resided in Wayne County, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office has jurisdiction over the statutory rape. However, as the family apparently did not know Russell was pregnant until the day before she died, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said that there may not be a case: the parents or guardians must make the complaint, and once the minor is dead, the complaint of statutory rape cannot be filed.

Dr. Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society, reports that there have been 23 lawsuits in the past 20 years against WomanCare facilities and Alberto Hodari, for abortion injuries including complications resuting on hysterectomies on 19, 22, and 23-year-old women. All were dismissed, with many referring to undisclosed settlements.

Hodari was also implicated in the deaths of Chivon Williams and Regina Johnson.

“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Redden told reporters. She says she plans to speak at schools to encourage young people to seek help for problems from their loved ones. “I want to tell them, ‘No secret is worth your life,'” Redden said.

Womancare is a member of the National Abortion Federation.

Credit: Christina Dunigan

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Legend has it that the Centers for Disease Control keep   track of abortion deaths. The case of Latachie Veal should lay that legend to   rest. Latachie was 17 years old, and 22 weeks pregnant, when Robert Dale Crist   performed an abortion on her at Houston’s West Loop Clinic November 2, 1991. According to Latachie’s family, she bled heavily at the clinic, and cried out   to the staff for help. They told her that her symptoms were normal, and sent   her home. Several hours later, Latachie stopped breathing. Her brother-in-law   called 911 while her sister did CPR, to no avail. Latachie was dead on arrival   at Ben Taub Hospital. If Latachie’s death certificate had been filled out properly, with the   notation of the abortion in the proper box, using the proper ICD-9 code, then   theoretically the National Center for Health Statistics would spot the   abortion code and report it. But most states send only a statistical sample   of their death certificate data to the NCHS. So the CDC would be notified of   Latachie’s death through the NCHS only if the death certificate was properly   filled out, and Latachie’s death certificate was among those abstracted and   sent to the NCHS. But still, according to abortion defenders, Latachie’s death would   nevertheless be automatically reported to the Centers for Disease Control.   They’re not clear on who is supposed to report the death. Was West Loop   Clinic supposed to report it? Was Crist supposed to report it? Was Ben Taub   Hospital supposed to report it? Was the medical examiner supposed to report   it? Was the Texas Department of Health supposed to report it? The CDC says it   gets abortion death information from abortionists, abortion facilities,   hospitals, and state health departments, but it does not mention that the   reporting is not mandatory. This does not mean that Latachie’s death went utterly unnoticed. Latachie’s family filed suit, retaining the flamboyant “Racehorse”   Haynes as their attorney. The case was highly publicized, both in Texas and   in Missouri, where Crist had performed a fatal abortion on Diane Boyd, a   19-year-old developmentally disabled woman who had been raped in the   institution where she’d lived. The mainstream publicity went beyond the usual newspaper articles, with Crist   giving television interviews calling the publicity “media hype” and   “a political event.” Haynes retorted, “I wish he would have a   copy of the 911 tape…. If he would talk to the parents, if he would talk to   the sister as she gave her CPR or talk to the brother-in-law as she was   breathing her last breath and see then if he thinks it’s a media event.” With all this mainstream publicity in two states, prolife organizations   picked up the story, and it was reported in prolife newsletters around the   nation. A lot of people very quickly found out about the abortion death of   17-year-old Latachie Veal. But did the CDC? At the 1992 National Abortion Federation Risk Management Seminar in Dallas,   Crist spoke openly of Latachie’s death. (He did not, of course, mention her   name; I’ve concluded that he’s discussing Latachie’s death, since there’s   been no evidence of any another 17-year-old abortion patient of his who died   in 1991.) Crist blamed the death not on malpractice, but on disseminated   intravascular coagulopathy. Present at that Risk Management Seminar, where Crist chattered about   Latachie’s death, were two — count ’em — two — staffers from the Centers   for Disease Control’s abortion surveillance activities area: Stanley Henshaw   and Lisa Koonin. Henshaw’s presence isn’t quite as remarkable as Koonin’s. It was Lisa Koonin,   specifically, whose job it was to “verify” abortion deaths, and obtain   copies of death certificates. These she was to pass on to a research fellow,   Clarice Green, who would then gather the full information about the case. In spite of all the publicity, in spite of the lawsuit, in spite of the   prolifers shouting from the rooftops, in spite of the abortionist discussing   the death at an event attended by the very woman whose job it was to notice   abortion deaths, the Centers for Disease Control did not notice Latachie’s   death. Their 1991 Abortion Surveillance Report, published in May of 1995, did   not even make any mention of abortion mortality. And when we at Life Dynamics   filed a request for information about abortion deaths, we found that the CDC   counted zero — count ’em — zero — abortion deaths among women of Latachie’s   race in the 15 – 19 age range. In other words, they didn’t even notice. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if the CDC failed to notice this   highly-publicized death, discussed openly at an event attended by two of   their abortion surveillance staffers, exactly what does it take to get them   to notice an abortion death? And how can we even pretend to believe that any   serious attempt to accurately count abortion deaths was being made? Sources: Houston Chronicle 11-3-91, 11-6-91, 11-11-91; Kansas City Star   11-6-91; Springfield News-Leader 11-24-91; Houston Post 11-7-91, 11-12-91;   Washington Times 11-21-91; CDC Abortion Surveillance 1991; National Abortion   Federation Risk Management Seminar tape 1992

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Leigh Ann Stephens Alford, age 34, underwent a safe and legal abortion at the hands of Dr. Malachy DeHenre at Summit Medical Center of Alabama, a National Abortion Federation member clinic, on November 25, 2003.

Leigh Ann was discharged from the clinic 20 minutes after her abortion, according to a lawsuit filed by her husband. Within six hours, he said, he called the facility to report that Leigh Ann was suffering pain and fever. She died about 18 hours after the clinic had sent her home. Death was attributed to hemorrhagic shock from an unrecognized uterine perforation.

DeHenre’s medical license was suspended in Mississippi and Alabama after the death. DeHenre, age 53, also performed abortions at New Woman Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi, as well as his own Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization.

Alabama suspended DeHenre’s license as of July 28. The Mississippi suspension was expedited, rather than addressed in a board meeting scheduled for September 16.

An Associated Press article quotes Dr. W. Joseph Burnett, executive director of the Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure: “We couldn’t wait another day to take action. He won’t be practicing in Mississippi.”

The Alabama medical board concluded that DeHenre’s practice was conducted in such a way as to “endanger the health of patients,” and found that he had committed “repeated malpractice.”

DeHenry was also investigated after an abortion he performed on March 20, 2003. That patient began to hemorrhage and was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where she underwent a total hysterectomy.

Sources:

# Associated Press, Thu, Aug. 19, 2004
# Mississippi suspends license of doctor who performed abortions
# Mississippi physician has Alabama license suspended after abortion death
# Open Book: Poor Guy!
# Suspended doc: Didn’t like doing 35,000 abortions
# Clarion Ledger, “Miss. suspends abortion doc eyed in Ala. death” 12/18/04

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Thirty-eight-year-old Pamela Wainwright and her husband had two children living at home, one of whom had Down Syndrome.

Pamela was admitted to Shallowford Community Hospital in Dunwoody, Georgia on January 15, 1987, for an abortion and tubal ligation. Pamela was 11 weeks pregnant.

Pamela was taken to the operating room for her surgery the next day. The abortion and tubal ligation were to be performed by Dr. Wendell Phillips.

Phillips placed a needle into Pamela’s abdomen to pump in carbon dioxide. He did not ensure proper placement of the needle. Instead of pumping carbon dioxide into her abdomen, he pumped it into her bloodstream.

Pamela died almost immediately from cardiac arrest, due to vapor lock in her heart.

Source: Fulton County (GA) Superior Court D-62259

Credit; Christina Dunigan

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Tami, who had a history of asthma, underwent her abortion on August 19, 1988. After the surgery, she went into an asthma attack that led to respiratory failure, which resulted in cardiac arrest. She was transported to a local hospital and died shortly after arriving.

Dr. Allred, who founded this chain of abortion clinics and performs abortions, said the following in an interview:

“Very commonly, we hear patients say that they feel like they’re on an assembly line. We tell them they’re right. It is an assembly line…We’re trying to be as cost-effective as possible and speed is important…We try to use the physician for his technical skill and reduce the one-to-one relationship with the patient. We usually see the patient for the first time on the operation table and then not again. More contact is just not efficient.”(1)

Tami is one of many women to die at this NAF facility after the National Abortion Federation was founded. Others known to have died after abortion at Allred’s facilities include:

• Denise Holmes, age 24, 1970
• Patricia Chacon, age 16, 1984
• Mary Pena, age 43, 1984
• Josefina Garcia, age 37, 1985
• Lanice Dorsey, age 17, 1986
• Joyce Ortenzio, age 32, 1988
• Susan Levy, age 30, 1992
• Deanna Bell, age 13, 1992
• Christina Mora, age 18, 1994
• Kimberly Neil, 2000
• Chanelle Bryant, age 22, 2004

I suspect that the reason the deaths appear in clusters is because those are years that researchers checked for lawsuits, rather than that these are all the women and girls who died at Allred facilities. Anybody with the time and resources to do so could probably uncover other deaths Allred and his staff have managed to sweep under the carpet.
________________________________________

Sources: Riverside County (CA) Death Certificate No. 38833005990; Riverside County (CA) Autopsy File No. 64442; State of California Certificate of Death # 149559

Credit; Christina Dunigan

1. The San Diego Union, October 12, 1980. Also quoted in Anthony Perry. First quote also found in “Doctor’s Abortion Business Is Lucrative.” ALL About Issues December 1980, pages 10, 14, and 15

……

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Oriane Shevin, age 34, died of infection following off-label use of RU-486 for a safe and 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 determine 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

Credit: Christina Dunigan

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