The first case we noted was dubbed "Sandra" on the Blackmun Wall. Sandra was 18 years old when she underwent a first-trimester abortion procedure in New York. Three days later, on April 18, 1971, Sandra killed herself. Before her death, she had expressed guilt about having "killed her baby." Tragically, nobody had contacted Sandra to give her the results of the pathology report on what had been removed from her uterus. There had been no embryo. Sandra had not actually been pregnant. ("Maternal Mortality Associated With Legal Abortion in New York State: July 1, 1970 - June 30, 1972, Berger, Tietze, Pakter, Katz, Obstetrics and Gynecology, 43:3, March 1974, 321)
"Linda" was 35 years old and 3 1/2 months pregnant when she underwent her abortion at Hope Medical Group, performed by Dr. James DeGueurce. She was not clearly informed about the development of her unborn baby, or of the possibility that she could later expel recognizable fetal parts. The evening after the abortion Linda expelled the upper part of her fetus into her undergarments. She said, "I saw a baby that was fully formed." She reported severe emotional trauma and recurring nightmares including a child missing parts of its body. She said she was haunted by images of what she saw. "If I live to be 100 years old, I don't think I will ever forget." The defense argued that Linda had undergone a previous abortion and had been given informed consent. The document Linda signed noted "incomplete abortion" as a possible complication. (Caddo Parish Louisiana District Court Case No. 329, 969; "Woman: Abortion led to nightmares," Shreveport (LA) Times, February 27, 1991)
Arlin Della Cruz was still in high school when she learned that she was pregnant in the fall of 1992. A friend recalled that Arlin wanted to have her baby but agreed to an abortion to try to salvage her relationship with her boyfriend. In October, she went missing from her home. Her body was later found hanging in the woods nearby. Under her shirt she had her favorite stuffed animal. She had left a suicide note saying she wanted to be with her baby. (Lime 5 only cites Christian Broadcasting Network, "Pennsylvania Abortion / Suicide," Air date November 6, 1992, but I lived in Harrisburg at the time and the suicide was covered in both print and broadcast media. If anybody can go to a library and scan a newspaper article, I'd be grateful.)
"Melinda" was 25 when she underwent an abortion in New York City. A week later the facility got a pathology report noting that there was no fetus in the tissue they'd submitted. Despite the danger of an incomplete abortion or ectopic pregnancy, the facility did not notify Melinda. Prior to her scheduled follow-up appointment, Melinda suffered severe cramps and went to an emergency room. There she delivered a 4 1/2 inch fetus into the toilet. Melinda screamed until she was taken to an exam room to undergo a procedure to remove the placenta. Afterward she needed psychiatric care for post-traumatic depression, insomnia, and nightmares. She became reluctant to enter into relationships with men. (New York County New York Supreme Court Docket No. 14033/84; 582 N.Y.S.2d 673 [A.D. 1 Dept. 1992]; 597 N.Y.W.2d 636 [Ct.App. 1993]; Malpractice Reporter, January/February 1994; Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements, and Experts, Vol. 9 No. 11, November 1993; American Medical News, March 25, 1993)
"Stephanie" was 13 weeks pregnant and 42 years old when she underwent an abortion. The doctor's notes accurately reflected that Stephanie did not want an abortion but was submitting because it was what her husband wanted. She suffered profuse vaginal bleeding after the abortion, was bedridden for two months with a vaginal infection, and suffered depression and despondency resulting in a psychiatric hospitalization. (Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements, and Experts, Vol. 9 No. 10, October 1993; New York County New York Superior Court Index No. 24454/86)
I address how much a woman should be expected to know on her own versus the quality of the "informed consent" typically provided at abortion clinics. Should a woman know that "incomplete abortion" and "retained tissue" means that she might expel recognizable fetal remains?
Watch Lime 5: Psychiatric Injury on YouTube.
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