A Bag to Breathe Into and Other Abortion Deaths

A Paper Bag Is Not Medical Care

On May 2, 2009, 18-year-old Antonesha Ross went to Women's Aid Clinic of Lincolnwood, Illinois. She had an ultrasound performed that showed that she was 13 weeks pregnant. She made a down payment for an abortion to be performed on May 8, at which time she would pay the additional $390 that was due.

She returned as scheduled. Dr. Josephine Kamper performed the abortion, while CRNA Lawrence Hill administered anesthesia.

During the abortion, Antonesha's blood oxygen saturation fell to between 80% and 90%, and she began to cough up blood through her mouth and nose. An employee gave her a bag to breathe into.

Needless to say, this wasn't any help, and Antonesha went into cardio-respiratory arrest. She was not provided with proper resuscitation and she died, leaving behind 1 1/2-year-old Antonio and 6-month-old Antwane.

Her parents, Maria and Anthony Ross, sued on behalf of the children, and accepted the settlement of annuities offered by the defendants.

Antonesha was the third patient I know of to have died after abortions at Women's Aid Clinic. Kathleen Gilbert and Dorothy Musorewa had both been sent home to bleed to death.


Screaming

Claudia Caventou, age 33, underwent a safe, legal first-trimester abortion at Mercy Medical Clinic in Los Angeles on May 8, 1986, performed by H. N. Fahmy.

Claudia's boyfriend was in the waiting room during the procedure. Staff told him that everything was okay, and suggested that he leave and get something to eat. Since he'd heard Claudia screaming earlier, he decided to stay.

Several hours later, he heard the doctor come out and tell his staff to call 911. Claudia was taken to a hospital where she underwent emergency surgery for what doctors thought was a perforated uterus. It turned out that Claudia's pregnancy had been in her fallopian tube, which had ruptured during the abortion. Efforts to save Claudia were futile, and she died later that day.

Even though, in theory, women who choose abortion should be less likely to die of ectopic pregnancy complications, experiences shows that they're actually more likely to die, due to sloppy practices by abortion practitioners.


One of Four

Twenty-four-year-old Maura Morales was eight weeks pregnant when she went to Woman's Care Center in Miami for a safe and legal abortion on May 8, 1981. When she was in the recovery room, her heart went into spontaneous ventricular fibrillation -- irregular heartbeats not capable of effectively pumping blood. Maura was taken to a hospital, but died that day. Maura was the fourth woman to die at the same facility. The others were Shirley Payne, Myrta Baptiste, and Ruth Montero.


A Mystery Perp

On May 8, 1928, 27-year-old Margaret Barnts died from a criminal abortion performed by Pauline Zickerman. The defendant was indicted for felony murder on May 15, 1928. Her profession is not mentioned.