May 17, 1972: A College Student's Fatal Journey

It was May of 1972. Pamela Modugno, an 18-year-old unmarried college student living in Medford, Massachusetts, was pregnant. She decided that the best course of action would to be to go to New York to take advantage of their more liberal abortion law.

On Wednesday, May 17, Pamela went to Monsey Medical Center. Monsey had opened on with much local fanfare on July 3, 1970 two days after abortion-on-demand was legalized in the state.  The director, Dr. Lester Lando, was a licensed OB/GYN.

Pamela assumed that by going to a legal, openly operating abortion facility she'd be safe. She wasn't. During the abortion she went into cardiac arrest and died.

County Medical Examiner Dr. Frederick Zugibe determined that an air embolism had caused Pamela's heart to stop. He postulated that reverse air pressure from a suction unit might have blown air into her bloodstream instead of suctioning out the fetus.

Pamela was the second death from a safe, legal abortion in the county since New York liberalized the abortion laws effective July 1, 1970. The first, Edith Clark, had died on June 24, 1971. Like Pamela, she went into cardiac arrest and died during the procedure.

Pam's father, Thomas Modugno sued for negligence in how the abortion was performed and under the theory that the abortion was "assault and trespass" against Pam because at the time of the abortion, no surgery was permitted on an unmarried patient under the age of 21 without parental consent except in an emergency.

Pam is identified as "Danielle" in Life Dynamics' list of safe, legal abortion deaths.

Watch College Student's Fatal Journey on YouTube.

The 1970 liberalization of abortion had made New York an abortion mecca until the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling that abortionists could legally set up shop in any state of the union. In addition to "Roxanne," these are the women I know of who had the dubious benefit of dying from the newfangled safe-and-legal kind of abortion in pre-Roe New York:

• Pearl Schwier, July, 1970, cardiac arrest during abortion
• Carmen Rodriguez, July, 1970, salt solution intended to kill the fetus accidentally injected into her bloodstream
• Barbara Riley, July, 1970, sickle-cell crisis triggered by abortion recommended by doctor due to her sickle cell disease
• "Amanda" Roe, September, 1970, sent back to her home in Indiana with an untreated hole poked in her uterus
• Maria Ortega, October, 1970, fetus shoved through her uterus into her pelvic cavity then left there
• "Kimberly" Roe, December, 1970, cardiac arrest during abortion
• "Amy" Roe, January, 1971, massive pulmonary embolism
• "Andrea" Roe, January, 1971, overwhelming infection
• "Sandra" Roe, April, 1971, committed suicide due to post-abortion remorse
• "Anita" Roe, May, 1971, bled to death in her home during process of outpatient saline abortion
• Margaret Smith, June 1971, hemorrhage from multiple lacerations during outpatient hysterotomy abortion
• "Annie" Roe, June, 1971, cardiac arrest during anesthesia
• "Audrey" Roe, July, 1971, cardiac arrest during abortion
• "Vicki" Roe, August, 1971, post-abortion infection
• "April" Roe, August, 1971, injected with saline for outpatient abortion, went into shock and died
• "Barbara" Roe, September, 1971, cardiac arrest after saline injection for abortion
• "Tammy" Roe, October, 1971, massive post-abortion infection
• Carole Schaner, October, 1971, hemorrhage from multiple lacerations during outpatient hysterotomy abortion
• "Beth" Roe, December, 1971, saline injection meant to kill fetus accidentally injected into her bloodstream
• "Roseann" Roe, February, 1971, vomiting with seizures causing pneumonia after saline abortion
• "Connie" Roe, March, 1972, cardiac arrest during abortion
• "Julie" Roe, April, 1972, holes torn in her uterus and bowel
• "Robin" Roe, May, 1972, lingering abortion complications

Sources:

• "18-year-old student dies during abortion," The Journal News, May 18, 1972
• "Abortion death suit filed," The Journal News, January 18, 1973