RealChoice: Abortion Deaths in the 1990s

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Abortion Deaths in the 1990s

The Centers for Disease Control deigned to count the following abortion deaths in their most recent Abortion Surveillance Summary, for 2004:

Today I'll look at deaths in the 1990s.

1990: They count 9 legals and no illegals. I have 6 -- 5 legals and 1 illegal: Mary Ann Dancy, Christina Goesswein, Sophie McCoy, Sandra Milton, "Daisy" Roe (illegal), and Angela Satterfield. I know they didn't count Angela, because in the 1970s they shifted deaths that happened because the abortionist let her die from an undiagnosed ectopic into the generic ectopic pregnancy category, effectively hiding these deaths even though National Abortion Federation members agree that it's totally inexcusable for an abortion doctor to fail to diagnose an ectopic. So, I have an illegal and an ectopic that the CDC missed, which means they have at least 5 legal abortion deaths I don't know about.

1991: They count 11 legal and 1 illegal. I have 9: Colleen Chambers, Edith Cote, Anjelica Duarte, Angela Hall, Shirley Hollis (who they probably don't count, since she died of an undiagnosed heart ailment that went untreated because she thought she was just having side effects from the abortion), Dawn Mack, Terri Roe, Latachie Veal (who we know they didn't count), and Ingar Weber. So there are at least three legal abortion deaths the CDC knows about that I don't. The illegal abortion death might be a case like "Daisy" Roe, where the woman knew full well she was doing something illegal and dangerous, or it might be a case like Myrta Baptiste, who thought her abortion was legal, and didn't realize that her doctor had a suspended license when he did her abortion.

1992: They count 10. I have 10 as well: Diane Adams (who they likely don't count -- she died in the US Virgin Islands, an area US public health officials tend to ignore, and her abortionist was charged with manslaughter in her death which means he might have been operating without a license, in which case the CDC would have counted Diane's death as an illegal abortion death), Deanna Bell, Arlin della Cruz, Susan Levy, Suzanne Logan (who they likely didn't count because of the time that elapsed between her fatal injury and her death), Kelly Morse, DaNette Pergusson, "Melissa" Roe, "Susan" Roe (who Life Dynamics verified the CDC did count), and Rhonda Rollinson. So it's possible, but impossible to confirm, that the CDC had two deaths I haven't counted, if they didn't count Diane Adams and Suzanne Logan.

1993: They count 9 - 6 legal, 1 illegal, and 2 undetermined. I have 6: Andrea Corey, Jane Doe, aka "Tracy", Giseline Lafontant, Kathy McKnight, Guadalupe Negron, and Angela Sanchez, who if the CDC counted would be an illegal abortion death because her abortionist was an untrained clinic owner -- something Angela had no way of knowing. So they have at least one legal abortion death that I don't know of. I'd probably also count their two "undetermined" as legal abortion deaths as well, since my criteria is that the woman had to have believed her abortion to be legal, whereas they have to determine if the abortionist was a licensed physician in order to tally it as legal or illegal.

1994: They count 10 legal and 2 illegal. I have 8: Pamela Colson, Alerte Desanges, Jammie Garcia, Kris Humphrey (illegal - she was doing a "safe and natural" herbal abortion), Christine Mora, Sarah Niebel, Magdalena Rodriguez, and Ingrid Thomas. So they have at least three legal abortion deaths I don't know about, as well as at least one they classify as illegal.

1995: They count 4. I have 2: Lisa Bardsley and Linda Boom. So they have at least two that I don't know about.

1996: They count 9. I have 4: Carolina Gutierrez, Sharon Hamplton, Chivon Williams, and Tanya Williamson. So they have at least five legal abortion deaths I don't know about.

1997: They count 7. I have 4: Maureen Espinoza, Jennifer H., Gracealynn "Tammy" Harris, and Nichole Williams. So they have at least three that I don't know about. (Updated 12/27/08)

1998: They count 10. I have 5: Tamika Dowdy, Lou Anne Herron, Kendra McLeod, Venus Ortiz (who they almost certainly don't count because of the time elapsed between her fatal injury and her death), and Virginia Wolfe. That means there are at least 5, probably at least 6, that they're counting that I don't know about.

1999: They count 4. I have 2: Shelby Moran (who they almost certainly don't count because of the length of time between the injury and her death) and "Yvonne" Roe. So they have at least 2, probably at least 3, deaths I don't know about.

The CDC thus left me eating their dust in the 1990s; however, much of my information hinged on the extensive study done by Kevin Sherlock in the 1980s. Without his contributions, you can see the difference in how thorough my own data are.