Born on This Date: Criminal and Legal Abortionist Jesse Ketchum

Back before legalization, Jesse Ketchum (November 7, 1917 - July 20, 2005) operated his abortion practice alongside a legitimate (if somewhat lawsuit-prone) medical practice. Although Ketchum's criminal abortion practice wasn't the best in the world, he evidently maintained some standards and protocols for screening patients. No patient deaths have been attributed to Ketchum's criminal practice, though he was arrested a total of three times for perpetrating abortions, and was convicted of breaking federal tax laws,and for obscene conduct in a pornographic movie theater. He settled or was judged against in nine malpractice suits.

Ketchum who kept abortion instruments in his house and perpetrated abortions in a motel room. Clergy Consultation Services (CCS), an organization created specifically to refer women to abortionists, began referring women to him.

In late 1969 or early 1970, Ketchum was arrested after an undercover policewoman arranged for him to perform an abortion at a motel in Southfield, Michigan. She had been referred to Ketchum through Clergy Consultation Service.

The Michigan Women's Commission and CCS responded to Ketchum's arrest by starting a drive to repeal laws against abortion. County Prosecutor Thomas Plunkett objected to feeling forced to prosecute Ketchum because he, himself, favored abortion rights. Whether allowing the likes of Jesse Ketchum to ply the abortion trade without let or hindrance was not even taken into consideration by his supporters.


When New York legalized abortion on demand in 1970, 52-year-old Ketchum -- assisted by his wife, Judith, nearly 30 years his junior -- set up shop in a Buffalo motel suite. For Ketchum, New York must have seemed like the Promised Land. Abortionists were flaunting safety standards with impunity. Practices such as injecting patients with saline then sending them home to abort raised eyebrows, to be sure, but they didn't get anybody thrown in jail even if the woman died. CCS continued to refer women to Ketchum in his new location.

On May 28, 1971, Ketchum did a D&C abortion under general anesthesia on Ellen K. Lawler of New Baltimore, MI, in his Buffalo office. Only later, at an undisclosed time, did Mrs. Lawler discover that Ketchum had lacerated her uterus, anterior cul-de-sac, right broad ligament, and peritoneum. He had told her the abortion had been uncomplicated. Such severe injuries in a criminal abortion patient would have brought the heat down on our boy Jesse. But this was New York, abortion was legal, and although Mrs. Lawler suffered ill effects from Ketchum's foul-up, Ketchum himself was able to carry on.

Ketchum decided to do hysterotomy abortions -- which involve slicing the uterus open to remove the baby -- in his office. It didn't take long for this practice to turn deadly. In the second half of 1971, Ketchum caught the eyes of the authorities by allowing two hysterotomy patients to bleed to death. 

His first victim was 25-year-old Margaret Smith, who had traveled from Ketchum's home state of Michigan to New York for a safe and legal abortion because she had been exposed to rubella. Ketchum performed a vaginal hysterotomy on Margaret at 10:30 the morning of June 16, 1971. Margaret was then left virtually unattended until her boyfriend returned at 2:00. He found Margaret unresponsive, and begged Ketchum and his staff to do something.

Paramedics were summoned, but they were unable to revive Margaret. She was taken to a hospital across the street from Ketchum's office, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Margaret's vagina had been sutured, but a laceration in her uterus and cervix had not been repaired. She had bled to death. -- just across the street from a hospital that could have saved her life had Ketchum made the effort to monitor her. (Ketchum V. Ward No. Civ-75-79)

Ketchum was verily astounded when he was charged with criminally negligent homicide in Margaret Smith's death. Abortion, after all, was legal. How could one be prosecuted for doing something legal? And evidently he didn't think the state could possibly succeed in their case. He kept taking risks with patient's lives Before his case went to trial, he performed a similar abortion on 37-year-old Carole Schaner of Ohio on October 20, 1971. Carole was 14 weeks pregnant. After the abortion, Carole went into shock, and was taken to a hospital. Despite all efforts, Carole died before doctors could even fully assess the extent of her injuries. She left behind four children.

The autopsy found that Carole's cervix and uterus had been cut open, and an artery outside her uterus had been cut. It also noted sutures that had evidently been put in by Ketchum in an attempt to repair the damage. The sutures, however, completely closed Carole's cervix, allowing her to continue bleeding from the injured uterus and artery.

Dr. Milan Vuitch

Ketchum was convicted of criminally negligent manslaughter for Margaret's death on October 26, 1973, despite the fact that renowned abortionist Milan Vuitch (who had challenged the District of Columbia abortion law) testified on his behalf. Margaret's parents sued him for $350,000. Ketchum tried various legal moves to stay out of prison. When Roe v. Wade was handed down and assorted criminal abortionists started getting their old convictions thrown out, Ketchum tried Roe for leverage. He got nowhere. Eventually, he was sentenced to prison. 

Ketchum served little time, however. He was released after less than a year, and relocated to Florida.
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Ketchum had asked to take the test to become licensed in Florida but his request was denied. In spite of this, he found work at the University of Miami School of Medicine, at Jackson Memorial Hospital, and at the VA hospital in Miami, from September of 1976 to November of 1977. It turned out that no license was required for a doctor to practice in a government operated hospital.

In 1978, he and Judith divorced.

While at the Miami School of Medicine, Ketchum was administering oxygen to Mrs. M for routine surgery. Rather than the 40% oxygen he was to administer, Ketchum provided only 15%. Mrs. M failed to notice until Mrs. M had gone into a coma from which she still hadn't recovered after 19 months.

According to the medical board licensee lookup, Ketchum relocated to Michigan. His petitions to restore his medical license, made in 1984 and 1987, were both denied. Nevertheless, despite killing two women, he remained a free man until his death in 2005.

Dr. Benjamin Munson

As for the former criminal abortionist, Milan Vuitch, who had testified on Ketchum's behalf -- he also had kept his nose clean as a criminal abortionist, then went on to kill two legal abortion patients. Wilma Harris and Georgianna English. Another abortionist that I know about, Benjamin Munson, likewise, had a clean record in his criminal abortionist then went on to kill two women in his supposedly safer legal practice -- Linda Padfield and Yvonne Mesteth.

Legalization -- as we can see from these specific tragedies as well as from the numbers -- did nothing to protect women from dying at the hands of abortionists. If anything, it seemed to have emboldened them to take risks they never would have considered taking were a botched abortion alone enough to carry the risk of the loss of a medical license or even of freedom.

1974: Troubled hospital kills abortion patient

On July 22, 1974, twenty-two-year-old Carole Wingo died of a Demerol over dose during a safe and legal abortion at Mercy General Hospital in Detroit.

Despite the name, Mercy was not a general hospital. It was an abortion hospital. It was also a hospital in big trouble even before Carole's death.

The Michigan Public Department of Health had cited Mercy for 43 violations of nursing standards and 12 violations of physical plant standards in October of 1973, and had withheld their license. Among the violations were that the operating room lacked a cardiac monitor, a resuscitator, and a defibrillator.

Carole's mother filed suit against the facility and doctors David Northcross, Chuk Nwokedi, and Robert Wolf.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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2004: Abortion arranged by abuser's sister fatal for teen

As 2004 got started, 15-year-old Tamiia Russell was pregnant as a result of statutory rape. Her "boyfriend" was 24 years old. He recruited his sister to get rid of his problem. She took Tamiia to five different Detroit area abortion facilities, which turned her away because of how advanced the pregnancy was. One even offered the girl prenatal care and vitamins. But the abuser's sister hit pay dirt on January 7 at Womancare Clinic in Lanthrup Village, a National Abortion Federation member.



Staff at Womancare Clinic inserted laminaria to dilate Tamiia's cervix and prepare her for the actual abortion to be performed the following day.

Upon returning home, Tamiia told her mother and aunt what was happening. They contacted WomanCare, asking to have the laminaria removed because Tamiia did not want the abortion. Staff lied, telling the family that removing the laminaria would kill the girl. So, the next day, Tamiia went through with the procedure, performed by Dr. Alberto Hodari (pictured).

Tamiia bled heavily after coming home froom the abortion on January 8. She bled so heavily that the blood soaked a mattress. Her family called WomanCare, and were reassured that Tamiia's bleeding was normal. But rather than take their advice and do nothing, Tamiia's family called an ambulance. She was dead on arrival at the hospital despite paramedics' attempts to save her.

Dr. Leigh Hlavaty, who performed the autopsy on Tamiia, attributed her death to "uterine infarction with sepsis due to status second trimester abortion." Hlavaty said, "I ruled it normal because these complications are expected with this type of abortion."

Hodari was also implicated in the death of Chivon Williams. Dr. Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society, reports that there have been 23 lawsuits in the past 20 years against WomanCare facilities and Alberto Hodari, for abortion injuries including complications resuting on hysterectomies on 19, 22, and 23-year-old women. All were dismissed, with many referring to undisclosed settlements.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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1885: A heartbreaking Christmas discovery

On Christmas day of 1885, Dr. Sawdy of Howard City, about 40 miles north of Grand Rapids, opened the newspaper to find out that his 21-year-old daughter, Sylvia, was dead.

Sylvia had left for Grand Rapids by train on December 10, ostensibly to meet the mother of her gentleman-caller, Harry McDowell. Dr. Sawdy had heard nothing more from or about his daughter until the morning of Christmas Eve, when McDowell's father came to him, saying that he'd gotten a telegram or telephone call from his son. The senior McDowell said that Harry had told him that Sylvia was very sick and wanted her mother to go to her. Dr. Sawdy learned nothing more until opening his newspaper on Christmas morning.

It came out in the trial that in November, Sylvia had consulted with Drs. Bodle, Hake, and Bradish, indicating that she was pregnant. Evidence indicated that in spite of the consultations with there doctors, McDowell had performed an abortion on Sylvia on December 23, and that she died that day. McDowell was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years.

In deference to SoMG, who wants me to tell what I think the point is of these stories instead of allowing my readers to draw their own conclusions:

I wish I knew what the three doctors had told Sylvia, aside from presumably verifying her pregnancy. We don't know if they refused to perform an abortion, if they quoted prices that either Sylvia and her lover found prohibitive, if they advised McDowell on how to perform the abortion himself, or if they just kept making circular referrals. History doesn't tell us why Sylvia elected to allow her lover to perform the abortion, just as the documents I've found tell us nothing as to why "Daisy" Roe decided to let her lover do an abortion on her in 1990. We can speculate on what the outcome would have been if abortion had been legal -- though given the state of medical care at the time, or the kinds of quackery that persist after legalization, it might have made little if any difference. We can speculate on what might have dissuaded Sylvia from proceeding with the abortion. Frankly, I can't draw any conclusion myself other than that Sylvia's death was tragic, and that I wish we knew more about how it might have been prevented.

Then why tell Sylvia's story at all? Because I don't pick and choose, only telling women's stories if I think I can use them to score political points. I want a world in which nobody is dying from abortions -- not mothers, not babies, not anybody. And I want to pursue that world honestly, not by hiding information that doesn't support my pet theories. So. Sometimes a woman's story doesn't seem to add diddly-squat to a store of useful information. I think my refusal to pick and choose at least adds an honesty and dedication to truth -- even unpleasant or puzzling or inconvenient truth -- that can only help in the long run.

For more about deaths in specific years or eras, see this post.



For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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1982: Clotting problems after abortion leave children motherless

Angel Dardie, age 22, left two children motherless when she died on August 3, 1982, of disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (a clotting disorder) after a safe, legal saline abortion performed by Youl Choie at Plymouth General Hospital.

Angel's mother sued, saying that the abortion was performed negligently. Although she sued for $5 million, she was awarded a settlement of $6,000 from Choi and $2,500 from the hospital. $1,744 of this went to the attorney, plus an additional $667 given to him from the settlement for his expenses. $1,528 of the settlement was ordered to be used to reimburse for funeral expenses. This left Angel's mother and orphans with $4,561. No settlement was awarded for pain and suffering, nor was there any settlement for Angel's motherless children.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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1974: Detroit woman overdosed on Demerol for abortion

On July 22, 1974, twenty-two-year-old Carole Wingo died of a Demerol overdose during a safe and legal abortion at Mercy General Hospital in Detroit.

Despite the name, Mercy was not a general hospital. It was an abortion hospital. It was also a hospital in big trouble even before Carole's death. The Michigan Public Department of Health had cited Mercy for 43 violations of nursing standards and 12 violations of physical plant standards in October of 1973, and had withheld their license. Among the violations were that the operating room lacked a cardiac monitor, a resuscitator, and a defibrillator.

Carole's mother filed suit against the facility and doctors David Northcross, Chuk Nwokedi, and Robert Wolf.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Anniversary: Antiquated abortion technique proves fatal for teen

Christella Marie Forte, age 16, screamed, convulsed, and went into cardiac arrest 27 hours after instillation of saline for an abortion. at New Centre Hospital on January 14, 1986. She died without ever expelling the 23-week fetus.

The concentrated salt solution that had been injected into Christella's uterus to kill the fetus got into her bloodstream, poisoning her and causing cardiac arrest. Strangely, her death certificate lists her manner of death as "natural," rather than "accidental."

A medical journal article that appears to be about Cristella's death says that she was an obese Black girl experiencing her first pregnancy. The article gives the gestational age as 21.5 weeks. Nothing seemed to have gone wrong with the injection, until 26 hours afterward when she "complained of severe abdominal cramps with projectile expulsion of amniotic fluid. Generalized convulsions and shaking followed and the patient went into shock. Death occurred within 2 hours."

"At autopsy, microscopic examination of lungs revealed pulmonary edema with marked vascular congestion..... Positive test results ... confirmed a diagnosis of amniotic fluid embolism. There was marked congestion of the blood vessels of the kidneys, liver, brain, and spleen."

What is particularly disgusting about Christella's death is how utterly needless it was: saline abortions had been discredited as far too dangerous for over a decade. The documents surrounding her death do not explain why her abortionist chose an outdated, high-risk procedure for his young patient.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Anniversary: "Licence to Lie" doc Hodari's care kills 15-year-old statutory rape victim

As 2004 got started, 15-year-old Tamiia Russell was pregnant as a result of statutory rape. Her "boyfriend" was 24 years old. He recruited his sister to get rid of his problem. She took Tamiia to five different Detroit area abortion facilities, which turned her away because of how advanced the pregnancy was. One even offered the girl prenatal care and vitamins. But the abuser's sister hit pay dirt on January 7 at Womancare Clinic in Lanthrup Village, a National Abortion Federation member.



Staff at Womancare Clinic inserted laminaria to dilate Tamiia's cervix and prepare her for the actual abortion to be performed the following day.

Upon returning home, Tamiia told her mother and aunt what was happening. They contacted WomanCare, asking to have the laminaria removed because Tamiia did not want the abortion. Staff lied, telling the family that removing the laminaria would kill the girl. So, the next day, Tamiia went through with the procedure, performed by Dr. Alberto Hodari (pictured).

Tamiia bled heavily after coming home froom the abortion on January 8. She bled so heavily that the blood soaked a mattress. Her family called WomanCare, and were reassured that Tamiia's bleeding was normal. But rather than take their advice and do nothing, Tamiia's family called an ambulance. She was dead on arrival at the hospital despite paramedics' attempts to save her.

Dr. Leigh Hlavaty, who performed the autopsy on Tamiia, attributed her death to "uterine infarction with sepsis due to status second trimester abortion." Hlavaty said, "I ruled it normal because these complications are expected with this type of abortion."

Hodari was also implicated in the death of Chivon Williams. Dr. Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society, reports that there have been 23 lawsuits in the past 20 years against WomanCare facilities and Alberto Hodari, for abortion injuries including complications resuting on hysterectomies on 19, 22, and 23-year-old women. All were dismissed, with many referring to undisclosed settlements.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Anniversary: Tragic holiday surprise

On the morning of Deceber 24, 1885, Dr. Sawdy of Howard City, about 40 miles north of Grand Rapids, Michigan, got an unexpected visit from the father of Harry McDowell, who had been courting Sawdy's 21-year-old daughter, Sylvia.

On December 10, Sylvia had taken a train to Grand Rapids, saying that she was going to visit with Harry's mother. The senior McDowell told Dr. Sawdy that he'd gotten a telegram from Harry, that Sylvia was very sick and wanted her mother to go to her.

Dr. Sawdy would not learn the truth until he picked up the newspaper the following morning: Sylvia was dead, and Harry was the prime suspect in her death.

It came out in Harry's trial that in November, Sylvia had consulted with Drs. Bodle, Hake, and Bradish, indicating that she was pregnant. Evidence indicated that McDowell had performed an abortion on Sylvia on December 23, and that she died that day. McDowell was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years.



For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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To the Medical Students for Choice

Kia Jones, Katie O'Connell, Cynthia Velting-Kidder. Whichever of you it was that proudly introduced Alberto Hodari (pictured). You said, "I'm sure pretty much everyone here knows that this has been... there's been a lot of [unintelligible] surrounding this talk. One of our fellow students sent our flyer to the national pro-life people. We are now all blogged on their blogs, and you know, it's pretty upsetting that a fellow student would do that to us, brand us, so people know what kind of people we are. But we're here to stay and we're not intimidated by that and we really appreciate everyone coming out becuase it makes all that perhaps worth it."

This man killed a fifteen year old girl and you hold him up as a role model, then have the unmitigated gall to stage a pity party that people judge you? Where is your pity for Tamia Russell and her devastated family?

What the hell is wrong with you? Fine. You're "prochoice" and thus see fetuses as garbage. But what excuse does that give you to treat Tamia Russell like garbage? Why don't you go to her family and tell them how insignificant she was, how far beneath your notice she was? Does that poor girl ever cross your mind? I'd say not, but maybe she does. Maybe you admire Hodari because he rid the world of a poor, minority girl. One less ghetto dweller? Is the spirit of Scrooge alive in your callous heart?

You should be ashamed of yourself.

HT: Jill Stanek

Just devastating!

Planned Parenthood is evidently making a tactical retreat from several of its Michigan facilities. They're shutting down Planned Parenthood of West Michigan and Planned Parenthood of Northern Michigan.

Planned Parenthood has seen $700,000 in funding vanish as the state Department of Community Health uses a new formula to determine where health dollars go. The new equation focuses on the percentage of clients who are below the poverty line rather than how many clients a center sees.

In other words, PP can no longer bill the taxpayer at exhorbitant rates for cheap and free "services" to people who can afford to go to a real health care center. The heart just breaks. Though this explains why Planned Parenthood of Mid-Michigan remains open for business. Their victims are poor and thus they can still bill the taxpayers for abusing them:

The following cases are from my notes involving Planned Parenthood of Mid-Michigan was a member of the National Abortion Federation.

A suit by patient L.H. alleged that she underwent an abortion by Dr. Alan Beer at Planned Parenthood of Mid-Michigan on July 16, 1985. No ultrasound was performed to determine gestational age. Beer ruptured the amniotic sac, then referred Harat to University of Michigan Medical Center, where five days later she gave birth to a 2 lb. 3 1/2 oz premature infant boy of approximately 25-29 weeks gestation. The infant, named Bryan, suffered developmental delay, intracranial bleeding, hydrocephalus, and disfigurement.

A suit by patient C.J. alleged that she was attended a counseling appointment on June 22, 1987, and expressed concern that her pregnancy might be tubal or otherwise abnormal because the of "spotty watery bleeding she was experiencing and because this pregnancy was unlike her previous pregnancies." C.J. was assured that a doctor would examine her on June 23, just prior to the abortion, and decide if an ultrasound was necessary. C.J. arrived on June 23 for abortion, was given medicine, and was "instructed to put on a hospital gown and to get on a table and put her feet into stirrups." Seabrook "appeared and attempted to abort her pregnancy without examining Plaintiff." C.J. heard Seabrook comment that he was not "getting much material." Three or four days later, C.J. again experienced watery bleeding and backache, and she "felt tired, depressed and very pregnant." She attempted to contact the clinic on June 27, and left a message on their answering machine. Her call was returned by Nurse Shaw who told her "that her feelings of pregnancy could last for several weeks and assured her that they would go away." On June 29, C.J. had to be taken home from class a by friend due to severe pain. She went to the clinic later that day, per instructions, and was given 3 pelvic exams by Nurse Froebel, who detected an adnexal abdominal mass, and recommended that C.J. see her private physician or go to a hospital. C.J. stayed home the next day, "exhausted and without any energy." She attempted to attend class the following morning, but had to be taken to a faculty lounge to lie down due to pain. An ambulance was called, and emergency room personnel determined that she was hemorrhaging. C.J. required emergency surgery due to a ruptured fallopian tube. She was hospitalized one week. The laboratory report had detected "scanty chorionic villi," indicating that the abortion had not removed the fetus. C.J. alleged negligence in failing to perform other tests and procedures to determine cause of her symptoms.

With patient S.R., the State of Michigan sued Planned Parenthood to recover $7400 Medicaid money paid out for care "for the injuries sustained ... as a result of the alleged negligence and malpractice of the defendants." S.R.'s June 29, 1983 abortion at Planned Parenthood was unsuccessful, and the continuing pregnancy was detected and aborted when S.R. sought a tubal ligation later at University of Michigan Hospital.

A suit by patient B.M. alleged breach of confidentiality: after her January 10, 1989 abortion, the medical lab that ran the pregnancy test sent a bill to her home, resulting in B.M.'s mother learning of the abortion.

HT: The Dignity of Human Life.

Quack abortionist a "US health official", according to UPI

Health risks tied to partial-birth ruling

Several U.S. health officials argued that the passage of the Partial Birth Abortion Act is forcing more dangerous procedures to occur.

Health officials through agencies like Michigan's WomanCare have pointed out that since the U.S. Supreme Court passed the act, they have been forced to use medical procedures that make abortions increasingly risky and painful, The Detroit News said Monday.

WomanCare medical director Alberto Hodari said that health officials are being forced to do additional procedures to ensure they follow the act's strict guidelines.

Alberto Hodari (pictured) is a fairly seedy abortionist, linked to the illegal abortion death of a 15-year-old statutory rape victim, and another patient I've found few details about. And WomanCare ain't exactly the Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society, reports that there have been 23 lawsuits in the past 20 years against WomanCare facilities and Alberto Hodari, for abortion injuries including complications resuting on hysterectomies on 19, 22, and 23-year-old women. All were dismissed, with many referring to undisclosed settlements.

But by UPI standards, Hodari is a "US health official". Now, correct me if I"m wrong, but that makes it sound like he's working for the federal government, not for a chain of for-profit abortion clinics with a string of malpractice suits.

One more point in closing -- Many abortion facilities routinely administer digoxin to kill the fetus as part of their touted "safe" services. They've been doing it for at least ten years, as far as I can guess. How come what's "safe" if it's the clinic's normal, chosen routine becomes a "needless risk" when they're administering it to cover their asses legally?

HT: Jill Stanek

Anniversary: Fatal overdose at abortion hospital

On July 22, 1974, twenty-two-year-old Carole Wingo died of a Demerol overdose during an abortion at Mercy General Hospital in Detroit. Despite the name, Mercy was not a general hospital. It was an abortion hospital. It was also a hospital in big trouble even before Carole's death.

The Michigan Public Department of Health had cited Mercy for 43 violations of nursing standards and 12 violations of physical plant standards in October of 1973, and had withheld their license. Among the violations were that the operating room lacked a cardiac monitor, a resuscitator, and a defibrillator.

Carole's mother filed suit against the facility and doctors David Northcross, Chuk Nwokedi, and Robert Wolf.

Seeking Alberto Hodari

Again, ask and it shall be given unto you. This is what I have on Alberto Hodari:

Hodari is blamed for the fatal abortions on Tamia Russell (pictured) and Chivon Williams.

The following information is about lawsuits filed against Hodari.

Pamela L. alleged that she underwent an abortion by Hodari (pictured) and/or Dr. Roumell and/or other physicians. (Since it's not unusual for abortion facilities to keep a woman in the dark about who staff members are, it's not unusual for a woman to be forced to file suit against every doctor associated with the facility that did her abortion.) Whichever of them did her abortion failed to properly determine gestational age, failed to remove all of the placenta, and failed to detect Pamela's incomplete abortion. Pamela required further hospitalization and surgery. (Wayne County Circuit Court Case No. 86-627445)

Joann B. alleged that she was diagnosed pregnant by Hodari and/or staff at Northland Women's Medical Center. No ultrasound or other verification was done to verify that the positive pregnancy test was accurate. Joann underwent an abortion by Hodari on June 17, 1985. She suffered a perforated uterus and permanent injury, and required surgery. After her ordeal, Joann learned that she had not actually been pregnant. (Oakland County Circuit Court Civil Action No. 86 320211)

Bonita L. alleged that she underwent an abortion by by Hodari on September 5, 1984 at Womancare of Lakewood. Bonita was 9 weeks pregnant. About 30 minutes post-procedure, Bonita experienced bleeding and cramping, and was treated with Ergotrate. Pamela experienced shock and continued bleeding, and was "ultimately transported to Bon Secours Hospital." There, surgery found a 3 cm uterine perforation, bleeding from the right uterine artery, and perforation of the broad ligament. Bonita's injuries were so severe that the surgeon had to remove her uterus. (Wayne County Circuit Court Case No. 85-504476)

Other suits were filed against Womancare and other abortionists working for Hodari there.

Christine B. alleged an incomplete 1983 abortion at Hodari's Womancare. Valerie H. alleged failure to diagnose her ectopic pregnancy in a 1982 abortion by Sasinee Vibhasiri at Woman Care/Detroit Memorial Hospital, and in follow-up by A. Hodari at Detroit Memorial Hospital. Karen W. alleged that she underwent an abortion by Lee Stevenson at the direction of Hodari on September 9, 1980, at Detroit Memorial Hospital; she was discharged from the hospital September 15, and faulted Hodari's staff with failure to notify her of risks and complications.

In spite of all this, the Michigan medical board lists no disciplinary actions against Hodari.

My RealChoice page on Hodari is here.

Safe-n-Legal: Christella Forte

Christella Marie Forte, age 16, screamed, convulsed, and went into cardiac arrest on January 14, 1986, 27 hours after instillation of saline for an abortion at New Centre Hospital. She died without ever expelling the 23-week fetus.

The concentrated salt solution that had been injected into Christella's uterus to kill the fetus got into her bloodstream, poisoning her and causing cardiac arrest.

Strangely, her death certificate lists her manner of death as "natural," rather than "accidental."

A medical journal article that appears to be about Cristella's death says that she was an obese Black girl experiencing her first pregnancy. The article gives the gestational age as 21.5 weeks. Nothing seemed to have gone wrong with the injection, until 26 hours afterward when she "complained of severe abdominal cramps with projectile expulsion of amniotic fluid. Generalized convulsions and shaking followed and the patient went into shock. Death occurred within 2 hours."

"At autopsy, microscopic examination of lungs revealed pulmonary edema with marked vascular congestion..... Positive test results ... confirmed a diagnosis of amniotic fluid embolism. There was marked congestion of the blood vessels of the kidneys, liver, brain, and spleen."

What is particularly disgusting about Christella's death is how utterly needless it was: saline abortions had been discredited as far too dangerous for over a decade. The documents surrounding her death do not explain why her abortionist chose an outdated, high-risk procedure for his young patient.