November 25, 1999: "Therapeutic" Abortion Death

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I have a death certificate for this young woman, but since her family never went public with her death I am giving her the pseudonym "Marceline Powers."

Marceline was a 25-year-old black woman living in the Seattle area when she underwent what her death certificate calls a "therapeutic" abortion. Though some people used the term "therapeutic" abortion to refer to an abortion done for medical reasons, others use the term "therapeutic" abortion to indicate an induced abortion rather than a miscarriage. 

Marceline died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on November 25, 1999. Her primary cause of death on her death certificate is pulmonary embolism as a consequence of deep leg vein thrombosis. Deep leg vein thrombosis is rare, slightly more common in pregnant women and is treatable without harm to the fetus.  I've seen no evidence that it's seen as an indication for abortion, but the use of the term "therapeutic" abortion might indicate that the deep leg vein thrombosis was the reason Marceline ended up undergoing the abortion. 

Autopsy reports are confidential in Washington, and there's no record that her family sued or otherwise went public, so I can't determine how the sequence of events played out that cost Marceline her life.

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Source: Death certificate