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Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Another sad safe-n-legal anniversary

Dawn Mendoza, a 28-year-old mother of two, underwent an abortion at the hands of Edward Rubin at Women's Medical Pavilion in Dobbs Ferry, New York, on June 29, 1988. During the abortion, Dawn started screaming and gasping for breath. Staff tried unsuccessfully to revive her, but she died without ever being transferred to a hospital.

The medical examiner determined that she had died from amniotic fluid embolism (AFE), as evidenced by particles of placenta and amniotic fluid in her lungs.

It's interesting in that although AFE is extremely rare in obstetric patients, abortionists commonly attibute patient deaths to AFE. The following abortion deaths were blamed on AFE, or had AFE cited as a contributing factor:

  • Belinda Byrd - not confirmed; disputed by survivors
  • Vanessa Preston - confirmed
  • Patricia Chacon - confirmed
  • Mary Ives - confirmed
  • Sheila Watley - confirmed
  • Christine Mora - confirmed
  • Deanna Bell - not confirmed; disputed by survivors
  • Alerte Desanges - unknown
  • Denise Holmes - unknown
  • Gaylene Golden - confirmed
  • Gloria Aponte - not confirmed
  • Marie Gibson - not confirmed
  • Angela Hall - confirmed
  • Christina Goesswein - confirmed
  • Lynn McNair - not confirmed

    Abortionists frequently attribute deaths to AFE because it's a known risk of abortion. However, a review of cases in which AFE was confirmed indiates that the AFE was not an unforseeable complication, but rather was a predictable consequence of cervical or uterine lacerations. Steps can be taken to reduce the risk of AFE, so the mere verificaiton of AFE is not proof that this was an unforseeable and unaviodable complication, as abortionists would like survivors to believe.

    Fatal AFE has long been associated with induced abortion. During the discussion period of a National Abortion Federation Risk Management Seminar, promiment abortionists Warren Hern and Mildred Hanson had a heated discussion about how to prevent mortality from AFE. Hanson recommended suctioning the fetal brain from the skull prior to collapsing it and extracting it, noting that fetal brain tissue is the tissue most likely to trigger a fatal chain of events upon entering the maternal bloodstream. Hern, on the other hand, advocated simply crushing and removing the fetal skull, because he recommends watching for the oozing of the brain tissue through the cervix to verify that the structure grasped is indeed the fetal head. (Hern referred to this oozing as "calvarium show," and provides an illustration in his book, Abortion Practice.) Hern also indicates on his web site that he ruptures the membranes prior to abortion after 15 weeks to reduce the risk of AFE.

    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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