Tralishia Nicole Gillespie was 17 years old when she went to Family Planning Clinic for Reproductive Health in Nashville, Tennessee for what she thought was a first trimester abortion. She was examined by Dr. Karen Smiley, who told her she was six or seven weeks pregnant and performed an abortion on December 18, 1989.
Four days later, Tralishia went to the hospital, reporting abdominal pain. Doctors examined her and noted that she was still pregnant and her baby still had a heartbeat. She was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she delivered a 1-pound 13-ounce baby girl in the hallway.
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De'Angela was in critical condition for the first three weeks that she was in the neonatal intensive care unit, but by March 22, she was declared healthy and discharged, weighing just over 4 pounds.
Tralishia, and De'Angela's grandmother, Joan Stover, sued Smiley, nurse Lola Oni, and the clinic for $5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The medical board and health department investigated the case.
The family's attorney said that Tralishia was "devastated, obviously." She needed to undergo psychiatric treatment, and would never have consented to an abortion had she known that her baby was old enough to survive outside the womb. Tralishia and her fiancé indicated a plan to keep the baby.
The medical board suspended Smiley's license over this and three other cases of incomplete abortions. Family Planning Clinic for Reproductive Health surrendered its license after this and four other malpractice cases and an investigation nothing that two of the facilities doctors had no hospital privileges. Smiley, who was the clinic's medical director and performed most of the abortions "had practically no experience at performing abortions."
Sources:
- "Girl files suit in birth after abortion," The Orlando Sentinel, January 12, 1990
- "Doctor loses license over abortion cases," The Tennessean, March 21, 1990
- "Despite abortion try, baby said doing fine," The Tennessean, March 23, 1990
- "Abortion clinic yields license, stays closed," The Sunday Tennessean, June 17, 1990
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