September 28, 2022: Another Planned Parenthood Patient Dies

In December of 2021, 24-year-old Alyona Kenna Dixon of Pahrump NV gave birth to a baby boy, whom she and her husband, Michael Dixon, named Wesley. 

In August of 2022, Alyona went to a doctor for a checkup and was found to be just over 8 weeks pregnant.

Though Alyona loved children, and hoped one day to operate a play center, she did not feel ready to add the child she was carrying to her family. Thus, on September 22, 2022, Alyona went to a Planned Parenthood for an abortion. 

According to a doctor who later reviewed the case, Alyona was "determined to be an appropriate candidate for elective termination of pregnancy with mifepristone followed 24-48 hours later by misoprostol intravaginally." The doctor further noted, "She was appropriately counseled about the risks of the medical abortion and was discharged home."

Three days later Alyona was suffering vaginal bleeding and sharp lower abdominal pain. The following day, still troubled by her symptoms, she went to the Dignity Health's St. Rose Dominican Blue Diamond emergency room in Las Vegas. She reported vaginal bleeding and sharp pain in her lower abdomen. Dr. Hayden Maag treated Alyona, but did not perform a pelvic exam or consult with an ob/gyn. He discharged her on September 26.

Alyona went to a different hospital the next day -- Desert View Regional Medical Center -- at around 11:15 the following evening, September 27. The admitting physician noted “abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, severe dehydration, acute renal failure, leukocytosis, sepsis, lactic acidosis, hypokalemia, sinus tachycardia, metabolic acidoses, pulseless electrical activity, respiratory failure.” The doctor treated her and her symptoms were improving. 

Doctors planned to transfer Alyona to Summerlin Hospital Medical Center, but her condition deteriorated. Her pulse elevated to 150 and she struggled to breathe. Doctors sedated her and intubated her to try to provide more oxygen. However, during the process she started vomiting and her heart stopped. In spite of attempts to resuscitate, Alyona was pronounced dead at 5:32 the next morning, September 28.

The Clark County Coroner's Office stated that her cause of death was "complications from septic abortion."

Her husband, Michael, sued Maag and Dignity Health on behalf of himself and their infant son Wesley. In an email to the Los Vegas Review-Journal, hospital spokesman Gordon Absher said, "While we share in the grief over the loss of any patient, Dignity Health policy does not permit us to comment on matters of pending litigation."

"We believe the evidence will show that defendants should be held accountable for Alyona's preventable and tragic death," the family's attorney, Mark Rouse, said. "We have alleged that had the sepsis been treated when she presented to Dignity Health they would have saved her life."

Dr. Hany Atallah, who had reviewed the case, noted that Maag had failed to rule out sepsis. 

Michael's father, Ian Dixon, said that Alyona was an angel with a heart of gold. "It just was all so sudden. ... To see her die in 24 hours. That's how long it took." Ian said that the family didn't even get a chance to properly say goodbye.

Ian said that Alyona had been a loving stepmother to Michael's two children from a previous relationship.

It's unclear why Planned Parenthood was not included in the suit, especially since Alyona was instructed to administer the second abortion drug vaginally -- which is known to increase the risk of fatal infection.

Alyona's death breaks Planned Parenthood's pattern of fatalities among young black women: Edrica Goode in 2007, Tonya Reaves in 2012, Cree Erwin-Shephard in 2016, and Roselle Owens in 2009.

Other Planned Parenthood deaths that I know of are Elise Kalat (race unknown) in 1987, Irene Stevenson (race unknown) and Diana Lopez (Hispanic) in 2002, and Holly Patterson (white) and Vivian Tran (Asian) in 2003.

Sources:

• "Lawsuit: Woman died after not being treated properly following abortion," Las Vegas Review-Journal
• "Las Vegas hospital sued after woman dies from 'septic abortion' in 2022," KLAS Las Vegas, September 22, 2023
• "Lawsuit: Pahrump woman died after not being treated properly following abortion," Pahrump Valley Times, September 27, 2023
• "Nevada woman's death after talking abortion pulls spurs lawsuit, safety fears," The Washington Times, September 28, 2003

September 28, 1982: The Short Life of Denise's Baby

"Denise" was 22 years old when radiologist Erma Roe 353 diagnosed her as 9 weeks pregnant. Roe performed two suction procedures on Denise on July 10, 1982. Roe noted only "scant tissue," but still sent Denise home. 

On July 22, Denise returned to report bleeding, pain, and passing clots. Roe reviewed the pathology report, which showed no products of conception. She performed a pelvic exam and told Denise that she wasn't pregnant. Instead she diagnosed a urinary tract infection and sent her patient home with antibiotics. 

On September 28, Denise went to the hospital. She was in active labor in a breech position, with a fetal foot protruding through her cervix. She gave birth to a 13 1/2 ounce baby boy who died an hour later. 

Denise underwent an emergency D&C, lost a liter of blood, and was hospitalized for three days. She suffered depression, recurring nightmares, and two subsequent miscarriages. (Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements, and Experts, August 1993, November 1993; Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District, 6th Division, Case No. 1-91-783; Cook County Illinois Circuit Court Case No. 84L 13308; Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, June 15 and 16, 1990; Peoria Star-Journal, August 9, 1990)

September 27, 2012: Death After Medical Instrument is Left in Woman's Body

I don't like to dehumanize women by just using initials, so the woman identified in medical board documents as "S.H." will be called "Shirelle."

Frank Rodriguez

On September 22, 2012, 31-year-old Shirelle went to Presidential Women's Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, for an abortion. There, Dr. Frank Rodriguez pushed a cervical dilator into Shirelle's uterus and left it there. Shirelle died five days later, on September 27.

It's interesting to note that the medical board doesn't mention Shirelle's death in the disciplinary documents. Operation Rescue discovered the death on a malpractice payout reporting form.

Evidently the insurance payout was done quietly, since I have not been able to find any newspaper coverage of Shirelle's death.

September 26, 1974: The Death of Louise's Baby

Louise A. was 20 years old when in 1974 when her periods stopped. She went to her hometown doctor's office, where a nurse told her that she wasn't pregnant. The nurse was mistaken. This mistake delayed confirmation that Louise was indeed pregnant. She went to Dr. Jesse Floyd's office in July of 1974.

Floyd determined that she was past the first trimester of her pregnancy. Under South Carolina law of the time, those later abortions had to be performed in a hospital It took Louise a while to pull together the $450 abortion fee. 

Floyd admitted her to Richland Memorial Hospital. On September 4, he injected her with prostaglandin to cause an abortion.

On September 6, Louise said, "I started having real bad labor pains again and finally my baby was born. I called the nurse." Several nurses, including the head nurse, came into the room, Louise said, and the head nurse asked her if she had known that "the baby was a seven-month baby." Louise said no.

"One of the nurses said that the baby was alive. They took the baby out of the room. He never did cry, he just made some kind of a noise."

The first doctor summoned to the abortion ward was a young resident, who had been paged from the cafeteria. As the Inquirer said, "She did not hesitate. On detecting a heartbeat of 100, she clamped and severed the umbilical cord and had the baby sent to the hospital's intensive care unit."

"It was a shock, a totally unique emergency situation, very upsetting to all of us," the woman, ty then a practicing physician in California. "Some people have disagreed with me [about ordering intensive care for an abortion live birth] but that seems to me the only way you can go."

"It's like watching a drowning. You act. You don't have the luxury of calling around and consulting. You institute life-preserving measures first and decide about viability later on."

At first the baby's condition seemed to be improving. By the time he was ten days old he was prognosed as having a 50% chance of survival.

Louise, who never saw the baby, checked out of the hospital on September 8. "I kept calling this nurse," she said in a deposition. "I would call ... and get information from them about the baby, and they told me he was doing fine. They told me he had picked up two or three pounds. I started going to school, and one afternoon I called them and they told me the baby had died, but no one told me the cause of his death."

The baby had developed a tear in his small intestine and died of that and other complications on September 26, just 20 days old.

Prosecutors were faced with a difficult case. Floyd himself never had any contact with the baby, nor was he involved in making decisions about the child's care. However, it struck them as obvious that by proceeding with an abortion was illegal in that it was done outside a hospital after the first trimester, Floyd had taken action leading to the baby's death. Floyd was charged with both murder and criminal abortion, but eventually the abortion-rights arguments won out. Floyd could claim not knowing that the baby had been past viability, and could even assert that under Roe and Doe, the state had no business meddling in his decision to perform an abortion even after viability. The charges were dropped.

September 18, 1979: Happy Birthday, Joshua Vandervelden

Joshua Vandervelden

Linda Noie was between six and eight weeks pregnant when she went to Fox Valley Reproductive Health Care in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on January 10, 1979. She was accompanied by her baby's father, Brian Rusch. They met with a clinic counselor and went home.

The couple returned on the morning of January 12. Linda read and signed the consent forms. Several hours later, Dr. Benjamin Victoria (John Roe 740 in Lime 5) performed the abortion. 

Linda was discharged under the impression that the abortion had been successful. It had not. 

On September 18, Linda was in labor but there were signs of fetal distress so the baby that had survived the abortion attempt was delivered via C-section. He was named Joshua Vandervelden. 

Joshua was placed on a respirator and hospitalized for two weeks prior to discharge. He was left with brain damage and partial hearing lost.

Joshua was awarded $1,125,000 in damages against the doctor who had tried to kill him in the womb. Victoria appealed the verdict, and the US Supreme Court asserted that Joshua had no grounds to sue the doctor because his mother had consented to the abortion.

Linda went public with her story and became a prolife activist. 

Sources:

• "Survivor of abortion gets award for damages," Tampa Bay Times, September 26, 1992
• "High court denies appeal on failed-abortion award," The (Fox River Valley, WI) Post-Crescent, November 1, 1993
• "Court refuses to hear case; doctor's lawyers are pleased," The (Waukesha, WI) Freeman, November 2, 1993
• Vandervelden v. Victoria, 177 Wis. 2d 243 (1993) 502 N.W.2d 276

September 18, 1979: Happy Birthday, Joshua Vandervelden

 A lawsuit filed suit on behalf of Joshua Vandervelden alleged that Dr. Benjamin Victoria attempted to perform an abortion on Linda Moie on January 12, 1979, at Fox Valley Reproductive Health Care Center in Wisconsin. The abortion injured but did not kill the fetus (Joshua), who was born September 18, 1979. Joshua spent two weeks on a respirator. The suit was struck down by the court on the grounds that Linda consented to the abortion. Linda appealed, but the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court's refusal to hear the case.

According to this site (translation by Babelfish), Joshua's mother became prolife after the birth of her son, and together they picket the clinic where the attempt on Joshua's life was made.

September 18, 1979: Happy Birthday Abortion Survivor Joshua Vandervelden

Linda Noie was between six and eight weeks pregnant when she went to Fox Valley Reproductive Health Care on January 10, 1979 to get information about abortion. She was accompanied by the baby's father, Brian Rusch. The couple agreed to go ahead with an abortion and scheduled it for January 12.

They returned on the 12th, and Linda did all of the consent paperwork. Several hours later, Dr. Benjamin Victoria performed the abortion. Linda was discharged from Fox Valley Reproductive Health Care under the impression that the abortion had been successful.

It had not.

On September 18, Linda was in labor but there were signs of fetal distress so the baby that had survived the abortion attempt was delivered via C-section. He was named Joshua. He was placed on a respirator and hospitalized for two weeks prior to discharge.

Joshua suffered hearing loss in his left ear as well as asymmetry in the lateral ventricles of his brain. However, the parties disagreed as to whether the abortion was the cause.

I'm unclear as to why Joshua's surname is Vandervelden, but such it is.

A suit was filed on Joshua's behalf, and on March 29, 1991 the doctor was found to have committed a battery on Joshua while he was in the womb. The award for damages was $25,000 for future medical expenses, $300,000 for loss of earning capacity, and $800,000 for pain, suffering, and disability. The suit was struck down by the court on the grounds that Linda consented to the abortion. Linda appealed, but the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court's refusal to hear the case. You can find all the legal arguments at the Justia.com page about the case.

According to this site (translation below by Google Translate), Joshua's mother became prolife after the birth of her son, and together they picket the clinic where the attempt on Joshua's life was made.

Their son survived the abortion and now they both protest in front of the clinic where he had been sentenced to die.

When Linda Noie pickets the abortion clinic next door to her house, she holds up a sign that reads, "We can't forget aborted children!" And certainly she Linda cannot forget her own son, whom she nearly miscarried: Joshua is a constant memory.

On January 12, 1979, Joshua was the target of an abortion at a clinic in the State of Wisconsin, USA. But God had other plans for him. The abortionist failed in his attempt to perform the abortion. Now Joshua joins his mother in picketing the very clinic where he had previously been sentenced to die.

Through this traumatic experience, Linda converted to a pro-life stance. When told that the house next to the abortion clinic was available, Linda asked God for guidance, and she felt the Lord say, "That's where I want you to live." Linda and Joshua moved in and have been displaying a sign ever since that says, "We Can't Forget Aborted Children"!

Source: First Congress of Abortion Holocaust Survivors, April 29-May 3, 1992, in Ottawa, Canada, organized by Human Life International.

September 17, 1937: Doctor Implicated in Schoolgirl's Death

 SUMMARY: Phyllis Brown, a 16-year-old Riverside High schoolgirl, died at Grant Hospital in Chicago on September 17, 1937 after an abortion performed by Dr. C. Harold Edmunds (pictured, right).

While looking for clippings about Dr. Emil Gleitsmann, I found mention of him at the end of an article about an abortion death that was new to me.

On June 17, 1937, 16-year-old Riverside High schoolgirl Phyllis Brown was attacked and raped by an acquaintance near Villa Park in Chicago. She kept the assault a secret from her parents even after learning of the resulting pregnancy. Instead, she confided in her friend, 17-year-old Lillian Pernicka. 

Lillian (pictured, left) told Phyllis that she herself had undergone an abortion on March 8 at the hands of Dr. Clarence Harold Edmunds in Oak Park. The girls went to Edmunds's office in Oak Park on September 1. There, Edmunds performed an abortion. 

When Phyllis took ill afterwards, her parents summoned Dr. S. A. Sugar. He examined her on September 13 and admitted her to Grant Hospital. He believed that she might be suffering from abortion complications so he notified the police.

On September 18, Edmunds, age 48, and his secretary, Marie Trampush, age 27, were arrested. Edwards was released on $25,000 bond and Trampush on $3,000.

Phyllis's father, Samuel, put all the blame on the boy who had raped his daughter. "You don't need police to run down the boy," he said at the inquest. "He murdered my daughter and wherever he is, I'll find him and take care of him in my own way."

Both Edmunds and Trampush (pictured, right) denied having any knowledge of an abortion performed on Phyllis.

Edwards was originally licensed in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1913. He moved to North Dakota and practiced there before relocating first to Florida and then to Oak Park, where he set up practice in 1931.

The case had originally been struck off because there were legal issues with Phyllis's dying declaration. The charges were filed again and both Edmunds and Trampush were indicted. However, in January of 1938 the charges were dropped for reasons I've been unable to determine.

Sources:

• "Doctor Charged With Murder in Abortion Death," Chicago Daily Tribune, September 18, 1937
• "Chicago Physician is Held in Death of School Girl," Journal Gazette, September 18, 1937
• "Woman Charged With Murder in Abortion Death," Chicago Tribune, September 19, 1937
• "Charge Doctor with Murder," Cicero (IL) Life, October 10, 1937
• "Abortion Death is Reconsidered; Doctor Indicted," Chicago Tribune, October 30, 1937
• "Arraign Doctor and His Secretary After Death by Abortion," Chicago Daily Tribune, November 9, 1937
• "Free Doctor, Aide in Death Of Girl, 16," Berwyn Life, January 12, 1938

September 16, 1988: The Abortion Death That Wasn't

 Abortion Advocates Still Peddle Misleading Story on Becky Bell's Death

Here's the email I sent:

Dear Mr. Fox:

I am highly disappointed to see that people are still believing the lies that the abortion lobby has generated about Becky Bell.

I have abstracted thousands of abortion malpractice cases and over a hundred autopsy reports on women and girls who have died from abortion complications. Becky Bell's autopsy report, which I have also read, clearly shows no signs whatsoever of post-abortion infection. What it shows is pneumonia, the same strain that killed Muppets creator Jim Henson.

Even Becky's parents admitted that she was still pregnant when they brought her to the hospital: the doctor told them he wasn't sure the baby would survive. Becky's best friend told a Reuter's reporter that Becky was still considering running away to a home for unwed mothers in California shortly before her death. Becky had brochures for that home in her purse when she died.

Becky's grief-stricken parents latched onto the word "abortion" on her autopsy report, evidently not realizing that this is the medical term for a miscarriage. Their confusion is understandable. That the abortion lobby decided to capitalize on their confusion is deplorable. That the news media never question the abortion lobby is inexcusable.

Meanwhile you continue to ignore teens who died of secret abortions. Dawn Ravenelle was 13 years old when her mother got a call to come to St. Luke's hospital, where Dawn was "fighting for her life". Erica Richardson's aunt arranged a secret abortion that left the girl dead from an embolism. Jammie Garcia probably would have survived the complications of her abortion had she not kept it a secret, thus delaying medical care until it was too late. Sandra Kaiser went into a terrible depression after her clandestine abortion and ended up committing suicide by throwing herself off an overpass into traffic. Tamiia Russell was brought for a secret abortion by the sister of the 24-year-old man who had been sexually abusing her. Why are these girls' deaths not newsworthy?

Becky Bell, who Planned Parenthood still drags out periodically, died in 1988 from an abortion that only took place in the heads of abortion profiteers. That same year, 17-year-old Teresa Causey died of an actual abortion that really did take place -- legally. Denise Montoya, age 15, met the same fate. As did Katrina Poole, age 16. And since then, safe and legal abortion has claimed the lives of other underage girls, including these that I know of:

1989: Glenna Jean Fox, age 17; Erica Richardson, age 16
1990: Sophie McCoy, age 17
1991: Latachie Veal, age 17
1992: Deanna Bell, age 13
1994: Jammie Garcia, age 15; Sara Niebel, age 15
1997: Maureen Espinoza, age 16
2004: Tamiia Russell, age 15

Why is it totally unacceptable for an underage girl to die from an illegal abortion that never happened, but a big fat yawn when girls die from abortions that they'd been told were perfectly safe?

Why the double standard?

I can understand why the abortion lobby has the attitude that Teresa, Denise, Katrina, Glenna, and the other girls are just so much grist for the abortion mill. But what excuse does City Beat have?

Christina Dunigan

Clinic Quotes on Becky Bell.

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September 15, 1971: Teen Sent Home With Mangled Fetus in Womb

Eighteen-year-old Janet Foster underwent an abortion at the hands of Richard Neal at Valley Doctors; Hospital in North Hollywood, California on September 11, 1971. Janet's abortion had been a "therapeutic" abortion approved by the hospital committee, as was required at the time. Neal reported that he'd estimated the pregnancy at 12 weeks and performed what he thought was an uneventful suction abortion. 

Janet's brother-in-law reported that she was very weak and sleepy when he picked her up at the hospital. After returning home, Janet suffered abdominal pain, and called Neal on September 14. He told her he'd see her the next day. Janet felt ill, so she went to bed early. 

At around 2 a.m., Janet experienced hot and cold flashes for about twenty minutes, then went into convulsions. Her brother-in-law called for emergency services. Police and paramedics found Janet lying in bed with what appeared to be pus in her vaginal area. On the way to the hospital medics attempted attempted to revive her, to no avail; Janet was pronounced dead on arrival at 3:55 am. 

The autopsy found that Janet's heart and lung sacs contained serous fluid, and there was frothy tan fluid in her respiratory track. Her uterus was boggy and the placenta was still attached. Janet's uterus also contained "approximately 20 cc. of red-brown purulent and foul-smelling liquid with similar odor and color to an exudate on the endometrial surface."

Also in Janet's uterus was a "macerated, lacerated and purulent male fetus of about 19 weeks gestation. This fetus measures 14.5 cm. in crown-rump length, shows lacerations in the shoulder area, evisceration of the bowel through an abdominal laceration, and destruction of the skull and facial structures."  

Janet's death attributed to septicemia due to "incomplete abortion, therapeutic, septic." 

An LA County grand jury indicted Neal on a felony manslaughter charge in Janet's death. The 1976 trial ended with a hung jury.

Sources: LA County Coroner Case No. 71-9846 and LA County Superior Court Case No A310874 and Case No C34424

September 12, 1917: Unknown Perpetrator in Chicago

On September 12, 1917, 20-year-old Genevieve Popjoy of Momence, Illinois, died at Chicago's Northwest Side Hospital from a criminal abortion perpetrated by an unknown suspect on about August 30. Given the abundance of physicians and midwives practicing abortion in Chicago at the time, it's likely that she availed herself of one.

September 12, 1898: Massachusetts Doc Dumps Body

Emma Gill, age 26, died in Bridgeport, Massachusetts on September 12, 1898 after a botched abortion perpetrated by Dr. Nancy Guilford. Guilford and some accomplices dismembered Emma's body, wrapped the pieces up in rubber weighted with paving stones, and dumped the parcels in a river. Some young boys discovered the body that day and authorities were eventually able to identify Emma and trace the paving stones back to Guilford's property.

Jurors were so sickened by the testimony during the trial that a mistrial was declared. Rather than go through another trial, Guilford pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to ten years in prison. Her accomplices, for some reason, were never prosecuted.

September 12, 2001: Reassured Into an Early Grave

Brenda Vise, a 38-year-old pharmaceutical representative and former nurse, died on September 12, 2001, of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy after what she believed would be a perfectly safe, legal abortion at Volunteer Women's Clinic in Tennessee. 

Brenda as Senior Class Secretary in 1981

According to her high school yearbook, Brenda had been a very active student. She had served as senior class secretary, and had been active in the FHA, drama club, chorus, and color guard. She was elected homecoming queen and "most reserved" in her senior class. 

Brenda enrolled in the University of South Alabama, majoring in physical therapy, and became engaged to Robert Edward Rigsby, Jr., son of the mayor of Heflin, Alabama in 1981. I've been unable to determine that Robert and Brenda ever married.

Despite having been shut down by the state, VMC continued to do business and to advertise in the yellow pages for abortions, including chemical abortions. 

On Friday, September 7, VMC staff did a pregnancy test and did an ultrasound which showed no fetus in the uterus -- a clear sign of a likely ectopic pregnancy. Instead of performing further tests, the staff just told Brenda that the fetus was "too small to be seen" and gave her a dose of Mifeprex for a chemical abortion. Brenda was then sent home from the facility with a dose Cytotec that she was to self-administer to complete her abortion. No arrangements were made for a follow-up examination. 

Over the ensuing days, Brenda called VMC repeatedly to report problems upon returning home.  "Instead of advising Ms. Vise to immediately proceed to a doctor, the Clinic continually assured her that all of these were normal symptoms and that she was not to be concerned."

When she called on Monday, September 10, indicating her deteriorating condition, she was told that her symptoms were "to be expected," and was told to travel to VMC, in Knoxville, for a check-up at 3:30 p.m. "She was specifically directed not to go to a hospital in Chattanooga because, according to the Clinic, no hospital in Chattanooga would have knowledge about the drugs that had been administered." 

In total, Brenda called the clinic eight to ten times.

Brenda's boyfriend tried to take her to Knoxville, "but was unable to do so" and called an ambulance, which rushed Brenda to a Chattanooga hospital. "Ms. Vise was immediately admitted to the hospital in very critical condition. Exploratory surgery revealed that Ms. Vise had had an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy which had ruptured. Such rupture led to massive infection and a collapse of her vital systems." 

"On September 12, 2001, the attending physician certified that Ms. Vise was terminal with no reasonable medical prospect of recovery and was in a coma and totally unresponsive. Ms. Vise died later that day."

Sources:

• "$15 Million Lawsuit Filed In Case Of Local Woman Who Died After Abortion," Chattanoogan.com, August 14, 2002
• "FDA will release stronger warning for abortion pill," Bradenton (FL) Herald, November 17, 2004

September 11, 1962: The Death of a Socialite

Barbara Covington

Gynecologist Mandel M. Friedman, age 53, was out on bail for the abortion death of Vivian Greczka aka Vivian Grant when he was charged with homicide in the September 11, 1962 death of Barbara Clarke Covington.

Barbara, age 35, was a Florida socialite and Chi Omega Sorority sister. 

A 31-year-old Madison Avenue advertising executive, Franklin Charles Beck, was offered immunity. He gave a 10-page statement in which he admitted to securing the $1,000 abortion fee (over $8,500 in 2020 dollars) and driving Barbara to Friedman's office at 3:00 pm. on September 10 for a consultation. They returned the next day for the abortion. He told police, "I loved her. I wanted to marry her. I did not want her to go through with this thing." He waited for about an hour while Friedman operated, only to have the doctor come out and announce, "She's gone."

Beck said that he told Friedman that he was going to call the police, but Friedman said, "Don't. You'll get us both in trouble. You'll ruin us. Think it over." He told Beck to say that Barbara had gone into convulsions and died of a heart attack.  

Friedman contacted Abbey Funeral Home to arrange for the removal of Barbara's body. The undertaker requested the necessary permission from the Board of Health and was told to contact the medical examiner's office. The medical examiner reported the case to authorities, who immediately recognized Friedman's name due to Vivian Grant's death. Their suspicions aroused, they had Barbara's body taken to the morgue at Queens General Hospital for autopsy. She had suffocated when her larynx had swollen shut during anesthesia. Her brother, State Senator D. D. Covington Jr., claimed her body and took it home to Dade City, Florida, for burial.

Friedman was questioned by authorities and released on $10,000 bail shortly after midnight, pending completion of the autopsy. He was scheduled to surrender to the Queens District Attorney's Office. Instead he fled, leading to a 13-state manhunt that ended quickly. Friedman surrendered, accompanied by his attorney and refusing to give any statement other than his name, age, address, and occupation. His original bail bondsman dropped him as a client, leaving Friedman behind bars.

After legal wrangling, Friedman entered a plea bargain, getting a manslaughter charge dropped and being sentenced to only two to four years at Sing-Sing on abortion charges.

As an aside, Friedman had two charges on his record for indecent exposure in 1939 and 1940.

Sources: 

• "13-State Alarm Is Out For MD in Abort Death," New York Daily News, September 13, 1962
• "Frazzled Doc Surrenders In Divorcee Abort Death," New York Daily News, September 14, 1962
• "Term in Abortions," Kansas City Times, December 12, 1963

September 11, 1918: Obstetrician Arrested After Chicago Death

On the evening of September 11, 1918, 35-year-old homemaker Gertrude Mathieson Harrington died in Chicago's Wesley Hospital. She had been admitted by Dr. John J. Gill, who noted evidence of an abortion when treating her. 

Dr. Helen Dugdale, an obstetrician, was arrested. She went on trial in June of 1920 but I haven't been able to determine if this was for Gertrude's death or for the death of another woman.  Dugdale had been implicated the previous year in the abortion death of Marie Benzing.

Sources:

• "Suspect Illegal Operation Caused Death of Woman," Chicago Tribune, September 12, 1918
• "Sixteen More Face Trial as Slayers Today," Chicago Tribune, June 1, 1920

September 11, 1970: Choosing The Riskier Alternative

William Day, a 21-year-old microbiology student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, was given a five-year suspended sentence at Walpole State Prison after pleading guilty to charges relating to the death of his girlfriend, 21-year-old community college student Nancy Kierzek. 

Day, who intended to become a doctor, had studied the information he could find about abortion methods, then perpetrated the abortion in his apartment using a catheter on September 10, 1970. 

Nancy bled heavily so Day rushed her in his car to Holyoke Hospital. The young woman was unconscious on arrival. Hospital staff notified the police, who arrested Day at around 7:30 that evening at the hospital. 

Nancy, who had been about four months into her pregnancy, died of blood poisoning just after midnight on September 11, 1970, a few hours after her admission. 

Abortion-rights advocates such as D. P. Kline made the claim that "pregnant women in Western Massachusetts faced two choices: to continue the pregnancy to term (and either keep the child or put it up for adoption) or to seek an illegal abortion. However, abortion had been legalized in New York, and hospitals in Boston were loosening their guidelines for "therapeutic" abortions. Why Nancy would submit to an illegal abortion when she was within less than 2 hours driving distance of a legal abortion remains a mystery.

Sources: 

• "UMass Student Charged With Abortion," (Pittsfield MA) Berkshire Eagle, September 11, 1970
• "UM Student's Abortion Case Delayed," Greenfield (MA) Recorder, October 27, 1970
• "Bound Over In Abortion Death Case," Holyoke (MA) Daily Transcript, November 19, 1970
• "Do-It-Yourself Abortionist Sentenced," (Pittsfield MA) Berkshire Eagle, February 2, 1971
• D. P. Kline, Creating Choice, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2006

September 11, 1976: Death Uncovered by Journalists

Diane Smith, age 23, was one of the women mentioned in the Chicago Sun-Times expose, "The Abortion Profiteers." 

According to the report and her death certificate, Diane was admitted to Englewood Hospital in Chicago due to hemorrhaging. She told staff that she'd had a legal abortion in a Chicago-area clinic. 

Diane was treated for a perforated uterus and sepsis, to no avail. She died on September 11, 1976.

Watch Investigation Uncovers Abortion Death on YouTube.

September 10, 1975: Cardiac Arrest During Hospital Abortion

Pacoima Lutheran Hospital

Thirty-one-year-old immigrant Mitsue Mohar went to Pacoima Lutheran Hospital in Los Angeles County for a safe and legal abortion on August 5, 1975. Dr. Baca performed the D&C abortion under general anesthesia. After the abortion, Mitsue went into convulsions. She remained 16 days at Pacoima Lutheran without regaining consciousness.

On August 21, she was transferred to LA County/USC Medical Center, where she died on September 10 without ever regaining consciousness. The autopsy found that she had suffered hypoxic encephalopathy due to cardiac arrest during the abortion, and had developed pneumonia which eventually killed her.

Watch Fatal Abortion at California Hospital on YouTube.

Source: LA County Coroner Report 75-10935

September 9, 1921: Probable Abortion Death Ruins an Innocent Man

In 1921, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (pictured, left) was one of the highest paid men in Hollywood. But on September 5 of that year, Arbuckle's life took a horrible turn nobody could have predicted. An aspiring actress, 25-year-old Virginia Rappe (pronounced ra-pay), took ill under strange circumstances at a weekend party Arbuckle was holding at a San Francisco hotel. Four days later, she was dead.

Arbuckle stood trial three times for Virginia's death. Two of the trials ended with hung juries. The third brought an unprecedented apology from the jury:

"Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him ... there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story which we all believe. We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgement of fourteen men and women that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame."

Arbuckle had done nothing to harm the girl. He was accused of murder by one Maude Delmont, aka "Madame Black." Delmont ran a blackmail scam, in which she'd provide young women to entertain men at Hollywood parties. A girl would claim that she was raped by some prominent man, who would then pay off Delmont to keep quiet. Delmont's story was so outrageous -- as was her character -- the prosecutors never called her as a witness.

But Arbuckle's name had already been dragged through the mud. The stories of bootleg liquor and wild women had done their damage. Arbuckle was banned from the screen. Although the ban was lifted in December of 1922, Arbuckle's career never recovered. He died of a heart attack in 1933, just as he was starting to recover financially and personally from his ordeal.

The allegations varied: that Arbuckle had raped Virginia, rupturing her insides with his 266-pound weight; that he was drunk and impotent and therefore angrily violated the girl with a wine bottle, or a Coke bottle, or a jagged piece of ice.

The booze-addled party-goers were not very consistent sources of information about exactly what happened. What is agreed upon is that Virginia (pictured, right) stumbled into a bathroom at some point on Monday. Arbuckle followed her. He later said that he found her hunched over the toilet, vomiting and in pain. He moved her to his bed, where he hoped she would sleep it off. He then rejoined the party.

Virginia's condition deteriorated. At some point, she became hysterical, screaming that she was dying and tearing her clothes off. Arbuckle and Delmont argued over what to do next.

The drunken party guests eventually decided to put the nude Virginia into a bathtub of ice water. Some reports have Arbuckle placing a piece of ice near or in Virginia's vagina, which may have contributed to the claim that he'd injured her insides with a sharp piece of ice.

Of course, this did nothing to help Virginia, who continued to scream. Arbuckle carried her to another room and summoned doctors. The guests, thinking Virginia was just hung over, continued to party.

Virginia was not taken to a hospital until Thursday. She taken not to a regular hospital, but to Wakefield Sanitorium, a maternity hospital known for performing quasi-legal abortions. Virginia died the next day, Friday, September 9. The cause of death was listed as peritonitis due to a ruptured bladder due to "external force."

The next day, Arbuckle was charged.

Arbuckle's defense attorney brought forth Josephine Roth, who testified that Virginia had five times availed her self of services at Roth's clinic: four times for abortions, and once to give birth to a baby. This information might seem to be unnecessarily slamming the victim, but turns out to be very relevant.

Although Virginia's ruptured bladder was produced as evidence in the trial, her reproductive organs had vanished after the autopsy. The autopsy was performed illegally on site at Wakefield Sanitorium, without consulting the coroner's office. One of the doctors overseeing the autopsy, Dr. Melville Rumswell, was reputed to be an abortionist.

Without the uterus and vagina, there was no way of knowing if Virginia had indeed suffered blunt vaginal trauma inflicted by Arbuckle.

Blunt-force trauma would have made a strong case against Arbuckle. But sharp instrument trauma would have cleared Arbuckle and pointed the finger at whoever performed a final, eventually fatal, abortion on Virginia Rappe.

There is also the mystery of why Delmont directed suspicion toward Arbuckle. She was a blackmailer. Why didn't she milk Arbuckle for money? Why didn't she simply allow the police to investigate the death of the young women? To these questions, we can add two others: Why had Virginia's uterus, ovaries, and vagina been removed and disposed of? And why was Virginia brought to a marginal facility like Wakefield Sanitarium?

One theory that answers the mysteries is this: Perhaps Delmont had a hand in arranging an illegal abortion that ruptured Virginia's bladder. When Virginia took ill, perhaps Delmont directed her to the Sanitarium, where the abortion may well have been performed -- where there would be accomplices who would also have a motive to keep the real reason for Virginia's death secret. And after the girl died, perhaps Delmont concocted the rape story to create a scandal that would divert attention away from herself.

This is, of course, speculation. But since an abortionist could face murder charges if a patient died -- and since an accomplice likewise would face a prison sentence -- it's the only scenario that explains the otherwise inexplicable behavior of Delmont and whoever got rid of Virginia's uterus and vagina.

Watch Who Really Killed Virginia Rappe? on YouTube.

September 9, 1913: Second of Five Deaths Laid on Chicago Doctor

On September 9, 1913, 27-year-old Anna Adler, a homemaker, died in Chicago, on the scene of an abortion performed by Dr. Lou. E. Davis that day. 

Davis was arrested that day, and she was indicted by a Grand Jury on October 15, but the case never went to trial. 

Davis wad implicated in four other Chicago abortion deaths:  Irene Kirschler in 1913, Mary Whitney in 1924, Anna Borndal and Esther V. Wahlstrom in 1928.

September 8, 2009: Planned Parenthood Brings Death to Another Black Woman

 

Roselle proudly celebrating non-alcoholic
just two months before her fatal abortion.

Roselle Owens was a vibrant 17-year-old high school student, thinking ahead to college, when she discovered that she was pregnant in 2009.

She made the mistake of entrusting herself to Planned Parenthood of New York City. She went to the Margaret Sanger Center for an abortion on the morning of April 11. Dr. Gerald Zupnick, who has a history of malpractice, performed the abortion under general anesthesia. The anesthesia was contracted out to employees of Somnia, also called Outpatient Anesthesia Services.

Zupnick noted in the operative report that the abortion was "uneventful," completing the procedure at 9:20 a.m. Shortly thereafter, staff found that Roselle's breathing was labored and her blood oxygen levels had fallen. A lawsuit filed by Roselle's half-brother on behalf of himself, Roselle's father, and her twin brother asserted that neither Somnia employees, Zupnick, or Planned Parenthood's other staff properly monitored Roselle. The ambulance was not summoned for her until 9:43 a.m., over 20 minutes after the abortion was completed. EMS services transported Roselle to St. Vincent's Medical Center at 10:05 a.m.

Staff at the hospital were able to stabilize Roselle, but the damage had already been done. Roselle remained on a ventilator at St. Vincent's until her death on September 8. She died when she should have been just getting settled into her new college life.

Both Zupnick and Planned Parenthood settled off-the-books, thus ending the paper trail.

Roselle Owens isn't the only woman to die from complications of a Planned Parenthood abortion. 

No Friend to Black Women

Taking Margaret Sanger's name off the clinic where Roselle suffered her fatal injuries does nothing to change a disturbing pattern at Planned Parenthood: It's been Black women dying from Planned Parenthood abortions.

Cree Erwin-Shephard, age 24, suffered internal injuries during an abortion at Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo, Michigan on June 30, 2016. She sought aftercare from a hospital and decided to stay at her mother's house for a while until she felt better. Her mother found her cold and dead in a basement bedroom on July 4. 

Tonya Reaves, age 24, was rushed to Northwest Memorial Hospital in Chicago and pronounced dead at 11:20 p.m. on Friday, July 21, 2012. She was taken there from the Planned Parenthood facility at 18 S. Michigan Avenue, which advertises abortions up to 18 weeks. Tonya had undergone a D&E abortion and ended up bleeding to death from an undiagnosed uterine perforation.

Edrica Goode went to a Planned Parenthood in Riverside, California, on January 31, 2007, for a safe, legal second-trimester abortion. A nurse there inserted laminaria to dilate Edrica's cervx, although Edrica had symptoms of a vaginal infection at the time. Edrica, who had not told her family about the abortion, did not return to the facility to have the laminaria removed and the abortion completed because her mental state had deteriorated overnight. She had became feverish, her mother said. She became mentally "confused and disoriented," not knowing what day it was. Edrica's family took her to Riverside County Regional Medical Center on February 4. After Edrica's boyfriend told her family about the visit to Planned Parenthood, staff at the hospital performed a pelvic examination and discovered the laminaria, along with some gauze. Edrica miscarried that day, and died on February 14 from toxic shock syndrome.

Watch Another Dead Black Woman on YouTube.

September 8, 1923: Who Killed Madge?

On September 8, 1923, 16-year-old Magdeline "Madge" Bowman died at Chicago's Garfield Park Hospital from an abortion performed there that day. Midwife Kate Seuer and a 20-year-old man named Walter Page were arrested on October 5 based on Madge's dying declaration, but Sauer's case didn't go to court until March of 1925. As of yet I've been unable to determine the outcome. 

• "Midwife and Youth Held Following Girl's Death," Chicago Tribune, September 9, 1923
• "Aged Woman Held to Grand Jury as Slayer," Chicago Tribune, March 19, 1925

September 8, 1973: Teen Dies after Hospital Abortion

Seventeen-year-old Kathy Murphy went to Inglewood Women's Hospital in Los Angeles County for an abortion on August 24, 1973. During the days after her abortion, Kathy suffered breathing problems and became semi-conscious, so Inglewood staff transferred her by ambulance to Centinela Hospital on September 7.

Later that night, Cetinela transferred Kathy back to Inglewood, where John Dupont pronounced her dead at 1:20 on the morning of September 8. The autopsy found that Kathy had died of sepsis from the abortion; her cervix and uterus were infected, and her cervix covered with greenish-black pus.

The Inglewood facility was far better at evading responsibility than it was at providing adequate care. After Kathy's death, the next woman to die was 22-year-old Lynette Wallace, who underwent an abortion at "Inglewood Women's Hospital" on September 13, 1975, just a little over two years after Kathy Murphy's death.

Elizabeth Tsuji was the next to die. She had a saline abortion on February 2, 1978. The next to die was Cora Mae Lewis, age 23, following abortion under general anesthesia  in 1983.

Yvonne Tanner died next. The 22-year-old mother of one had an abortion performed July 10, 1984 at Inglewood. The last death I know about at Inglewood was Belinda Ann Byrd, a 37-year-old mother of three. She underwent an abortion by Steve Pine at Inglewood on January 24, 1987, when she was 19 weeks pregnant.

Belinda's mother wrote to a Los Angeles district attorney: “I am the mother of Belinda Byrd, victim of abortionists at [Inglewood]. I am also the grandmother of her three young children who are left behind and motherless. I cry every day when I think how horrible her death was. She was slashed by them and then she bled to death ... and nobody cares. I know that other young black women are now dead after abortion at that address. ... Where is [the abortionist] now? Has he been stopped? Has anything happened to him because of what he did to my Belinda? Has he served jail time for any of these cruel deaths? People tell me nothing has happened, that nothing ever happens to white abortionists who leave young black women dead. I’m hurting real bad and want some justice for Belinda and all other women who go like sheep to slaughter.”

In the wake of the series of abortion deaths at Inglewood, the authorities inspected the place. Among other things, they caught an abortionist writing post-operative examination notes without even examining the patients. When the state closed Inglewood for numerous violations, the facility simply re-opened as Inglewood Women's Clinic; as a clinic rather than a hospital they were no longer subject to the same intense scrutiny and were able to remain in business.

Sources:

• LA County Coroner Report 73-14675
• Death certificate
• LA Superior Court Case No. C555261

September 7, 1989: She Wasn't Even Pregnant

Synthia Yvette Dennard

Twenty-four-year-old Synthia Dennard, a married mother of two, went to Biogenetics in Chicago for an abortion and tubal ligation on September 7, 1989. The surgery was performed by Inno Obasi.

Snythia had been described in her high school yearbook as "A pretty young lady with enough smiles to light up the world."

Synthia began to hemorrhage during the surgery. A medical investigation later found that Obasi had "failed to summon help in a timely manner; refused to allow trained and skilled paramedics to attend to Synthia; refused to allow paramedics to transport Synthia to a hospital in a timely manner," and otherwise "allowed Synthia to bleed to death."

Synthia's survivors had to file a court order to keep the facility from destroying her records. An autopsy revealed that instead of removing a section of Synthia's fallopian tube, Obasi had removed a portion of an artery. The autopsy also revealed that Synthia had not been pregnant at the time of her abortion.

The state suspended Obasi's license for five years for cases of malpractice including Synthia's death along with perforating the uterus of Krystal S in 1989 and of Michelle P in 1990. Obasi poo-poohed the board's concerns, saying, "There is a little saying in obstetrics and gynecology that you are not yet a gynecologist until you've perforated a uterus."

Watch She Hadn't Even Been Pregnant on YouTube.

Sources: Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 89L 13692; Illinois Department of Professional Regulation Case No. 80-2096; Cook County Autopsy Report Case No. 125 of September 1989; Obasi v. Department 639 N.E.2d 1318 (1994); Illinois Death Certificate No. 617111; "State acts against Loop doctor," Chicago Tribune, October 26, 1989; "Famous Quotes," Chicago Tribune, December 4, 1989; "Revoke doctor's license, board urges," Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1990; 6/13/90

September 6, 1974: The Birth of Louise's Baby

Louise A. was 20 years old when in 1974 when her periods stopped. She went to her hometown doctor's office, where a nurse told her that she wasn't pregnant. The nurse was mistaken. This mistake delayed confirmation that Louise was indeed pregnant. She went to Dr. Jesse Floyd's office in July of 1974.

Floyd determined that she was past the first trimester of her pregnancy. Under South Carolina law of the time, those later abortions had to be performed in a hospital It took Louise a while to pull together the $450 abortion fee. 

Floyd admitted her to Richland Memorial Hospital. On September 4, he injected her with prostaglandin to cause an abortion.

On September 6, Louise said, "I started having real bad labor pains again and finally my baby was born. I called the nurse." Several nurses, including the head nurse, came into the room, Louise said, and the head nurse asked her if she had known that "the baby was a seven-month baby." Louise said no.

"One of the nurses said that the baby was alive. They took the baby out of the room. He never did cry, he just made some kind of a noise."

The first doctor summoned to the abortion ward was a young resident, who had been paged from the cafeteria. As the Inquirer said, "She did not hesitate. On detecting a heartbeat of 100, she clamped and severed the umbilical cord and had the baby sent to the hospital's intensive care unit."

"It was a shock, a totally unique emergency situation, very upsetting to all of us," the woman, ty then a practicing physician in California. "Some people have disagreed with me [about ordering intensive care for an abortion live birth] but that seems to me the only way you can go."

"It's like watching a drowning. You act. You don't have the luxury of calling around and consulting. You institute life-preserving measures first and decide about viability later on."

At first the baby's condition seemed to be improving. By the time he was ten days old he was prognosed as having a 50% chance of survival.

Louise, who never saw the baby, checked out of the hospital on September 8. "I kept calling this nurse," she said in a deposition. "I would call ... and get information from them about the baby, and they told me he was doing fine. They told me he had picked up two or three pounds. I started going to school, and one afternoon I called them and they told me the baby had died, but no one told me the cause of his death."

The baby had developed a tear in his small intestine and died of that and other complications on September 26, just 20 days old.

Prosecutors were faced with a difficult case. Floyd himself never had any contact with the baby, nor was he involved in making decisions about the child's care. However, it struck them as obvious that by proceeding with an abortion was illegal in that it was done outside a hospital after the first trimester, Floyd had taken action leading to the baby's death. Floyd was charged with both murder and criminal abortion, but eventually the abortion-rights arguments won out. Floyd could claim not knowing that the baby had been past viability, and could even assert that under Roe and Doe, the state had no business meddling in his decision to perform an abortion even after viability. The charges were dropped.

See also Justia, and Google other documents.