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| Grok AI illustration |
Dolores checked into Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh for a safe, legal abortion. The reason for the abortion is not noted on either her death certificate or the medical journal article. At the time abortion was not broadly legal in Pennsylvania, but it was not being aggressively prosecuted and many were declared legal by doctors who would interpret the "health exception" as broadly as they pleased.
Dolores was put under general anesthesia for a hysterotomy abortion and bilateral tubal ligation performed on October 20, 1970. She was 17 weeks pregnant, meaning that her unborn baby was 15 weeks past conception.
A hysterotomy is just a C-section with the intention of allowing the baby to die of extreme prematurity. A viable baby might be killed by the doctor before being removed to avoid legal problems caused by dismayed staff reporting a baby's death, as would later happen with the Edelin case. Realistically, though, at only 17 weeks of gestation, with the neonatal care available at the time, there was no risk that Dolores's baby would survive. When asked about live births during abortions, Dr. Ronald Bolognese of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, said, "At the time of delivery, it has been our policy to wrap the fetus in a towel. The fetus is then moved to another room while our attention is turned to the care of [the woman]. ..... Once we are sure that her condition is stable, the fetus is evaluated. Almost invariably all signs of life have ceased."
Initially, the abortion was believed to have been uneventful. About an hour after the baby was delivered and left to die while the doctor stitched his patient back up, hospital staff noticed that Dolores's incision was bleeding.
Blood tests found that Dolores's blood was very low of fibrogen, a factor that allows clots to form properly. Despite blood transfusions, Dolores deteriorated and was still critically ill after 24 hours of intensive care. She was suffering abnormally low blood pressure, low urine output, and a generalized excessive bleeding. By this time, Dolores had been given 23 units of blood just to keep her vitals going. Her abdomen was severely distended from all the bleeding and a laparotomy removed 10 liters of blood.
Dolores's kidneys began to fail, so she was put on dialysis. On the third day after the abortion she had to have a tracheostomy to keep her airway open.
Further testing revealed gram-negative sepsis. Despite all efforts to save Dolores, she did not respond to treatment and died on October 26 (the death certificate lists her date of death as this even though a medical journal stated it was the eight postoperative day). Among other damage to her internal organs, her kidneys had gone necrotic.
Sources:
- Death certificate
- "Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation Complicating Hysterotomy in Elderly Gravidas," Obstetrics and Gynecology, December 1971
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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.
Sherlock has pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims. But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.
Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.
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