December 22, 1989: Happy Birthday, Abortion Survivor De'Angela

Happy Birthday to De'Angela Nicole Alexander, 33 years old today.

Tralishia Gillespie was 17 years old when she went to Family Planning Clinic for Reproductive Health in Nashville December 18, 1989 for an abortion. Dr. Karen J. Smiley (Erma Roe 801) told Tralishia that she was six or seven weeks pregnant, performed a suction abortion that took about 30 minutes, and sent the girl home with some pain medication. 

Four days later, December 22, 1989, Tralishia began having intense abdominal cramps so she went to Edgefield hospital. Doctors there examined her and detected a fetal heartbeat. Tralishia was in labor.

Doctors transferred Tralishia to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, which had an obstetrics unit. There, in the hallway, she gave gave birth to a 1 pound 13 ounce baby girl. Tralishia named her daughter De'Angela Nicole Alexander. 

De'Angela ended up in the NICU. Dr. Frank Boehm, who delivered De'Angela, said that she was 26 weeks of gestational age and had about a 60% chance of survival. Smiley reportedly told Dr. Boehm that she had performed a pelvic exam on Tralishia, and that the girl had given a date for her last menstrual period consistent with a seven week pregnancy.

Tralishia's mother sued the clinic, Dr. Smiley, and nurse Lola Oni on her behalf Tralishia and the baby for $10 million: $5 million compensatory and $5 million punitive. The attorney noted that Tralishia needed psychiatric care after the abortion, saying, "She's devastated, obviously. She never would have dreamed of having an abortion if she had known that it was 26 weeks old." 

De'Angela was discharged from the hospital on March 21, 1990, weighing just over 4 pounds. Tralishia planned to marry the baby's father so they could raise her together. 

The state suspended Smiley's license after reviewing Tralishia's case along with three other botched abortions.

Watch Happy Birthday De'Angela on YouTube.

Sources:

• "Infant given 60% chance following botched abortion," The Tennessean, January 11, 1990
• "Mother files suit against abortion clinic," The (Murfreesboro, TN) Daily News Journal, January 11, 1990
• "Health Authorities Will Investigate Clinic," The (Clarksville, TN) Leaf-Chronicle, January 12, 1990
• "Despite abortion try, baby said doing fine," The Tennessean, March 22, 1990