1987: Teen dies in California abortion mill

Eighteen-year-old Michelle Thames suffered a seizure during her safe and legal abortion at Her Medical Clinic on September 19, 1987. She died later that day. Her family filed suit, claiming that Her Medical Clinic staff had made inadequate attempts to resuscitate Michelle.

Michelle wasn't the only young woman to die at the notorious Her Medical Clinic, run by abortionist Leo Kenneally. Liliana Cortez died there September 20, 1986. Donna Heim died there August 12, 1986. And Maria Soto died there after being injected with drugs and left unattended on September 9, 1985.

The battle over Kenneally's medical license turned political after it was suspended by the medical board over the appalling conditions at Her Medical Clinic. Former state medical board executive director Dixon Arnett's said that Leo F. Kenneally's case was "the most egregious I have seen, bar none." But a judge restored Kenneally's license on the grounds that he was doing a public service "providing abortions" in an "underserved area."

The investigation of patient deaths wasn't the first time Kenneally got in trouble. His license had been suspended in 1979 for Medi-Cal theft, and previously in 1975 for records-keeping violations.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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