June 14, 1977: First Known National Abortion Federation Death

 Eighteen-year-old Barbaralee Davis had already lived an intense life. With her mother's permission, she had married David A. Davis II in September of 1973 at the age of only 15. She was separated from her husband and was caring for a 3-year-old son. Barbaralee had a history of irregular periods, but when she noticed symptoms of pregnancy she visited a local hospital for a pregnancy test, which came out negative. However, her symptoms continued so she returned to the hospital two weeks later and this time the pregnancy test was positive.

Hope Clinic for Women

Barbaralee requested an abortion referral. A local women's group sent her to Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Illinois. Hope Clinic, about a two-hour drive from Barbaralee's home, was a member of the newly founded National Abortion Federation. Her abortion was scheduled for about one week later.

When Barbaralee arrived at the clinic on June 14, 1977, it had been five months since her last menstrual period.

Hope Medical Director Hector Zavalos examined Barbaralee and concluded that she was 11 weeks pregnant. Zavalos performed a suction curettage abortion. 

Barbaralee was moved to the recovery room. The last recording of her blood pressure, taken about 45 minutes after the abortion, was low, at 100/68.

Barbaralee attended a post-abortion counseling session, during which she was pale and reporting lower abdominal cramping. She was kept for observation an additional half an hour.

At some point staff told Barbaralee's worried sister, Rita Tripp, that there had been complications but that everything would be fine.

About two hours after the abortion, Barbaralee reportedly told staff that she felt better and asked to be sent home. Barbaralee was not given a discharge examination. Zavalos simply discharged her, asserting that she seemed to be okay. However, according to the CDC's investigators, Barbaralee was showing symptoms "suggestive of internal hemorrhage."  Her sister, Rita Tripp, said that Barbaralee was pale and weak when she helped her out to the car.

Barbaralee lay in the back seat on the way home. When they arrived, Rita said, Barbaralee told her that she felt like something was wrong. 

Rita said that she tried to call Zavalos but was unable to reach him.

Barbaralee remained lethargic and seemed to go to sleep. About two hours after returning home she tried to stand up but fainted. She was rushed to the Pinckneyville hospital by ambulance, where an emergency hysterectomy was attempted to save her life. Barbaralee died during the surgery, leaving her child motherless.

The autopsy found the face and spinal column of Barbaralee's baby embedded in a hole in her uterus. There were two quarts of blood in her abdomen. Barbaralee had bled to death.

The medical examiner noted: "A very large retroperitoneal hematoma is present with dissection of blood along right ureter. A 4 mc. tear is noted on the right anterior surface of the lower third of the uterus and a large amount of blood, estimated at 2000 ccs. is present in the pelvis. Two fetal parts, the face and thoracic spinal column, are embedded in a 700 cc. fresh hematoma inside the uterus."

Illinois law placed a 12-week limit on outpatient abortions. Zavalos told CDC investigators that he thought Barbaralee had been only 11 weeks pregnant even though her last normal menstrual period had been five months earlier. The clinic records examined by CDC staff said that the gross examination of the fetal tissue removed during the abortion was consistent with an 11-week pregnancy. However, the medical examiner drew a different conclusion, based on the tissue that had been left embedded in Barbaralee's uterus:

In an attempt to estimate the length of gestation in the absence of the whole fetus, the two parts, namely the face, less the crown, and the thoracic vertebral column without the rump, are laid end to end. Together they measure 9 cm. A conservative estimate of the crown to rump length would be 10 to 11 cm. This will place the gestational age at 16 to 16 1/2 weeks.

Barbaralee's family sued both Zavalos and the clinic for $1 million. In particular, Barbaralee's family attorney brought up the following issues:

• "Patients who receive abortions should be observed at the clinic 'for a period of time sufficient to ensure that no immediate post-operative complications are present'."
• "Patients in whom any adverse condition exists or in whom a complication is known should be transferred to a hospital"
• "Clinics should have a 'written agreement' with an approved hospital to provide 'prompt transfer' of persons requiring in-patient care."

Illinois law required that outpatient surgery centers have a written agreement with a hospital not more than 15 minutes away for transfer of patients needing care. Hope Clinic did not have any such written agreement.

A doctor reviewing the case for Barbaralee's family noted that it would be evident from the fetal remains whether Barbaralee's unborn baby was over 16 weeks or merely 11 weeks. For reference, an 11-week fetus is about 1.6 inches long and weighs about 1.6 ounces, while a 16-week fetus is about 7.3 inches long and weighs a little over 5 ounces. A foot measurement, which is commonly used in abortion facilities to verify fetal age, would be 7-8 mm in an 11-week fetus and 20 mm in a 16-week fetus.

The defendants tried to get the case thrown out on a technicality, because the family's attorney had sued both the facility and the doctor under the same count. In response, the attorney severed the two cases and asked for $1.4 million from each rather than $1 million for the two defendants.

Hope Clinic for Women was not only permitted to remain in operation, it was allowed to remain a member in good standing of the National Abortion Federation.

Sources: 

• Marriage license of David A. Davis II and Barbaralee Themm
• "Cutler woman, 18, dies, inquest pending," Southern Illinoisan, June 16, 1977
• "Inquest set in death of Cutler woman," Southern Illinoisan, August 26, 1977
• "Zavalos' Lawyer Defended Edelin," Southern Illinoisan, August 26, 1977
• "Abortion suit due to be filed," News-Democrat, August 29, 1977
• "Abortion Lawyer Defended Edelin," Decatur (IL) Daily Review, September 1, 1977
• "Byron assigns abortion death investigator," Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer, September 1, 1977
• "Lawyer Who Defended Edelin Joins Illinois Abortion Case," Decatur (IL) Herald, September 2, 1977
• "Criminal prosecution said unwarranted," Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer, September 28, 1997
• "Doctor Won't Be Charged; Evidence Not 'Sufficient'," Decatur (IL) Herald, September 29, 1977
• "Family to file $1 million lawsuit," Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer," August 30, 1977
• "Clinic Passed Inspection After Fatal Operation," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 30, 1977
• "Pro-life group blasts abortion practices of Hope Clinic," Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer, August 30, 1977
• "Girl's Post-Abortion Death Results in $1 Million Suit," Decatur (IL) Review, August 30, 1977
• "Suit Against Abortion Clinic and Medical Director Amended," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 2, 1979
• CDC Abortion Surveillance Summary 1977 (relevant excerpt)

Watch "Lying or Clueless?" on YouTube.

 As I was updating the entry for Barbaralee Davis, the first known abortion death at a National Abortion Federation member clinic, I because disgusted as I always am by the cavalier attitude the abortion lobby -- and their media lapdogs -- take towards women's legal abortion deaths. I just want to take some time to call out a particularly infuriating example.

The September 1, 1977 Decatur Daily Review quotes attorney Frank Susman, who had defended Dr. Kenneth Edelin in an infanticide case related to a post-viability abortion. 

The face and spine of Barbaralee's fetus were found embedded in a rip in her uterus. But how did Susman characterize the failure to even notice that major parts of the fetus hadn't been removed? "[A]bortion, like all surgical procedures involves a risk, and possibly a risk of death. And this patient in this procedure was advised of that."

Was Barbaralee informed that it was possible that pieces of her dead fetus would be left embedded in a uterine tear, and that she might be sent home with an undiagnosed, life-threatening injury? And why is "Well, all surgery has risks" an excuse for an abortion death caused by such an egregious injury? Had Barbaralee's abortion been illegal, though still performed by a doctor, no doubt that same spokesperson for the abortion lobby would have been livid about how the legal status of abortion had forced Barbaralee to seek substandard care and suffer an injury she never would have died from had her abortion been legal. If it weren't for double standards, the abortion lobby would have no standards at all.

Then there's the misinformation: "I think we just have to put this in perspective and realize that -- for example -- well over a million abortions were performed last year in the United states and there were five deaths."

That statement simply wasn't true. According to the 1976 CDC Abortion Surveillance Summary, there were ten legal abortion deaths -- twice the number Susman claimed. To be fair, the CDC doesn't exactly leap out and announce abortion death numbers right away. The 1976 summary wasn't issued until August of 1978. Susman doesn't say where he got the lowball number. The CDC also admittedly missed one, since the 2019 Abortion Surveillance Summary notes 11 legal abortion deaths for 1976. Of course, that's assuming that the CDC actually knows -- or even cares -- how many legal abortion deaths there are. There's abundant evidence that their data collection on legal abortion deaths has been perfunctory at best since Willard Cates and David Grimes left the abortion surveillance branch.

The kicker, though, is the way Susman, the abortion lobby, and the media simply dismiss legal abortion deaths as nothing worth worrying your pretty little head about. Imagine if, after an airline crash, the NTSB and the airlines insisted that the concern was far out of proportion and started citing the overall safety of airline travel. Such a transparently self-serving attitude would be roundly condemned. For some reason, though, the abortion lobby is able to dismiss cases of fatal malpractice by reminding us that comparatively few patients actually die. 

The proper response to any death caused by mistakes, or slipshod procedures, or faulty equipment is to do a preventability study and to at least suggest corrective action. Why aren't abortion facilities held to this standard?