Monday, January 14, 2008

Anniversary: Antiquated abortion technique proves fatal for teen

Christella Marie Forte, age 16, screamed, convulsed, and went into cardiac arrest 27 hours after instillation of saline for an abortion. at New Centre Hospital on January 14, 1986. She died without ever expelling the 23-week fetus.

The concentrated salt solution that had been injected into Christella's uterus to kill the fetus got into her bloodstream, poisoning her and causing cardiac arrest. Strangely, her death certificate lists her manner of death as "natural," rather than "accidental."

A medical journal article that appears to be about Cristella's death says that she was an obese Black girl experiencing her first pregnancy. The article gives the gestational age as 21.5 weeks. Nothing seemed to have gone wrong with the injection, until 26 hours afterward when she "complained of severe abdominal cramps with projectile expulsion of amniotic fluid. Generalized convulsions and shaking followed and the patient went into shock. Death occurred within 2 hours."

"At autopsy, microscopic examination of lungs revealed pulmonary edema with marked vascular congestion..... Positive test results ... confirmed a diagnosis of amniotic fluid embolism. There was marked congestion of the blood vessels of the kidneys, liver, brain, and spleen."

What is particularly disgusting about Christella's death is how utterly needless it was: saline abortions had been discredited as far too dangerous for over a decade. The documents surrounding her death do not explain why her abortionist chose an outdated, high-risk procedure for his young patient.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It always shocks me how easy it is to get away with killing someone ... no really I mean that. I remember when I was in my abusive realtionship the mother of the basterd who was beating me said "you know if you kill them with your car it is only vechlair homecide which is only 5 yrs here". (the person who abused me is alive and well as far as I know). But I thought about it. How much easier is it for a physcian? what does it cost to off a girlfriend that is just too much trouble? You know Christina one of the things we agree on is that there simply is not enough transparency or oversight in the abortion/sugercail feilds. It isn't that I think he purposly killed her.... but it makes me REALLY want to know WHY he would do such a stupid thing and the only answer I really come up with is because HE CAN WITHOUT consquense. ..... Why do people not see this is too much power with out oversight?

Christina Dunigan said...

You want a real doozy, achromic? When Joe Bills Reynolds killed his wife (he let her bleed to death when he'd opened a 25-cm incision, ostensibly for liposuction!), he was found guilty -- and fined $1!

The worst that happened to him is that he lost his medical license. For murdering his wife!