1967: Dangerous use of drug in “therapeutic” abortion kills heart patient

“Bonnie” was 29 and had a heart condition called congenital aortic stenosis. She was suffering from congestive heart failure and happened to be pregnant in the first trimester at the time. She was put through a “therapeutic” first-trimester abortion that she was told was supposed to help keep her alive, but instead of improving her condition, it would exacerbate her cardiac problems and kill her.

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Bonnie was given IV Syntococin (oxytocin) for the abortion. This put even more of a strain on her already-struggling heart and she went into ventricular fibrillation. Her uterus became enlarged and she was cyanotic and hypotensive. Doctors struggled to keep her alive and had to perform emergency open-heart surgery and surgical correction of a valvular lesion. Despite all their intensive efforts, she still died.

The autopsy found that in addition to the above health problems, Bonnie’s heart also had an extensive subcardial endofarction that had been there even before she was hospitalized and that had not been diagnosed while she was alive. Abortion does not and cannot cure heart disease, and Bonnie could not tolerate the strain that it placed on her heart.

It was concluded in the medical journal that published her case that “oxytocin, given intravenously in doses greater than 2 units/min, should [only] be used with extreme care in all pregnant patients with severe heart disease.”

Only a month after Bonnie’s case was published in medical journals, California passed a law essentially legalizing abortion on demand in June of 1967. While it had already been fully legal if intended to save the life of the mother, the new law expanded the definitions of therapeutic use to include vaguely defined mental health and then had no requirements for psychiatric or psychological evaluation. In practice, this meant that absolutely anyone could qualify, which resulted in more women and girls dying like Bonnie did.

JAMA, May 1 1967