Rosa's Premature Celebration

According to a Chicago Sun-Times article, Rosa Naperstek-Taft, a 28-year-old attorney who "was at the forefront of the fight for legalized abortion," "gathered with some friends who had had dangerous illegal abortions in the past" the night prior to her abortion, and, Taft said, "We all rejoiced that night about how I would be able to get a safe, legal one."

Her celebration was premature.

She underwent the abortion in January of 1973 at Planned Family Center in Detroit. She paid $150 and was told that the abortion would be performed by "Dr. Lee." It was actually performed by Dr. Ming Kow Hah, dubbed "physician of pain" by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Rosa said that she screamed in pain during the abortion, and a staffer responded by stuffing a tampon in her mouth.

The abortion was so badly botched that Rosa lost all her reproductive organs and her spleen. She had to undergo a colostomy and tracheotomy, and suffered damage to her heart, lungs, kidneys, and vocal cords. She was hospitalized for eight months, with three of those months spent in intensive care.

After her injuries were repaired, Rosa had to undergo intensive therapy to learn to walk and talk again. She was unable to work for a year.

Rosa said, "I don't have my normal body. My abdomen looks like a sky map of the Grand Canyon. ... My voice is totally changed, and I have a lot of psychological scars that will be with me forever."

She settled for $600,000 out-of-court.

Rosa's suit also charged Highland Park Hospital with negligence in allowing Hah hospital privileges and in "permitting Dr. Hah to operate as an abortionist and advertise and permit him to hold himself forth as a member in good standing and a member of the staff so as to attract the public to the abortion facilities."

Watch Premature Abortion Celebration on YouTube.

Sources: 

• "Dr. Ming Kow Hah: Physician of Pain," Chicago Sun-Times November 15, 1978
• Wayne County Circuit Court Case No. 73 250 920 CM