Lime 5: Incapacitation

Women who have since died:

Shelby Moran, a 39-year-old mother of five, was given Prostaglandin F2 Alpha for a safe, legal abortion at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in January of 1978. Immediately after the drug was injected, Shelby experienced grossly abnormal elevation of her blood pressure. The abortionist, Dr. John J. Barton, thought that the elevation would be transient, and left the facility. Half an hour later, Shelby went into cardiopulmonary arrest. She suffered brain damage due to lack of oxygen, causing dementia and speech aphasia. Shelby was no longer able to care for herself, much less her five children. She required 24-hour care in a nursing home until her death on September 16, 1999, after being incapacitated for nearly 22 years.

Venus Ortiz

Venus Ortiz was 23 years old when she went for a safe, legal abortion at National Abortion Federation member Eastern Women's Center (Acme Reproductive Services 35) in New York on February 24, 1993. Evidence indicated that the abortion of Venus' approximately 15-week pregnancy was performed by Dr. Leiber (John Roe 489). Due to negligence in administering anesthesia to Venus, she went into cardio-respiratory arrest. Staff failed to notice and treat the arrest promptly and properly. Venus was left in permanent need of respirator, with profound brain damage. She remained in a coma/vegetative state until her death nearly six years later in a Staten Island nursing home on December 16, 1998 at the age of 29.  Two other patients, Dawn Ravenell and Dawn Mack, also died of complications of abortions done at Eastern Women's Center.

Fred Stile and daughter Christi

Christi Stile underwent an abortion on July 1, 1993 at Mayfair Women's Center in Aurora, Colorado. It was performed by Ronald Kuseski (John Roe 360). During the procedure, Kuseski looked up to see that Christi was pale and her lips were turning blue. Her heart had stopped beating. There were no records that Christi's vitals were being monitored, nobody at the clinic was trained to handle anesthesia complications, and the clinic lacked the proper resuscitation equipment. Paramedics were able to resuscitate Christi, but she was left blind and in a vegetative state. She remained in that condition for 21 years, 8 months, and 28 days until her death on March 29, 2015, at the age of 39. 

Women whose fates I've been unable to determine:

"Diana" had an abortion performed by John Roe 791 on July 21, 1973. She was admitted to the hospital the following day, in great pain and suffering a high fever. She expelled the retained fetus into a bedpan. The high fever caused permanent brain damage. (NEED ORIGINAL SOURCE: Hamilton County Ohio Court of Common Pleas Case No. A745102)

"LaVerne" was a 35-year-old mother of two when she underwent an abortion at a Washington, DC abortion clinic in November of 1987. The nurse who was administering anesthesia inadvertently placed the anesthesia tube in LaVerns's esophagus instead of in her trachea. Before the error was discovered, LaVerne had suffered oxygen starvation that left her in a persistent vegetative state. (NEED ORIGINAL SOURCE: Washington DC Superior Court Civil Action No. 10616-78)

Dr. Youl Choi

"Nina" underwent an abortion performed by Dr. Youl Choi (John Roe 158) on January 2, 1988. She went into cardiac arrest during the procedure, and Choi lacked both the training and the equipment to resuscitate her properly. As a result, Nina was left comatose and legally incapacitated, and was expected to need nursing home care for the remainder of her life. Choi had already performed a fatal abortion on Angel Dardie in 1982. (NEED ORIGINAL SOURCE: Wayne County Michigan Circuit Court Case No. 90-016792 NH)

"Augusta" underwent an abortion by John Roe 694 on February 17, 1992. She hemorrhaged during the procedure and went into respiratory arrest. She suffered permanent brain damage that left her incapacitated. (NEED ORIGINAL SOURCE: Tulsa County Oklahoma District Court Case No. CJ-92-1308)

Watch Lime 5: Incapacitation on YouTube.