"Professional Judgement" and Shelly Sella's Full-Term Abortion

Healey and her supporters celebrate as the new law is signed.

On August 10, 2026, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed “An Act Prioritizing Patient Access to Care," giving abortion practitioners broad power to justify abortions throughout the entire pregnancy.

The previous law allowed abortion after 24 weeks under two circumstances: Credible claim that the pregnancy posed a serious threat to the mother's life or health, and credible claim that the baby had been diagnosed with a potentially fatal condition. In other words, it already allowed for the justifications the new law's supporters are claiming.

The new law replaces that framework with “the professional judgment of the physician." Full stop. Under this framework, every abortion any doctor chose to perform would be legal. 

The law's defenders insist that no doctor would ever perform an abortion past 24 weeks for any but the most grave and tragic reasons. I challenge that assertion based on actual cases. Let's look at one from New Mexico. This was a totally legal post-viability abortion that only resulted in consequences for the doctor because she injured the mother, not because the law saw anything wrong with the elective abortion of a 35-week baby.

Shelly Sella's Professional Judgment

The New Mexico Medical board was called on to determine if Shelley Sella's care of Patient M.L. (I will refer to her as "Madison" to avoid the dehumanizing use of initials.) constituted negligence. There was no question as to whether a purely elective abortion at 35 weeks or later was legal. Sella's professional judgment was that the abortion should be done, and at no point was this judgment called into question.

Sella's abortion clinic, Southwest Women's Options, provides outpatient abortions only. For serious complications, the protocol is to call 911 and have an ambulance take the patient to the University of New Mexico Hospital. Sella's treatment of the patient was standard protocol for third trimester abortions at her clinic.

Madison's Abortion

"Madison" had traveled to New Mexico from New York specifically for the purpose of a late abortion. This was an elective abortion of a viable fetus. At the time she made the appointment, Madison informed clinic staff that she had a history of a previous c-section. Of all the patients Sella had seen with a previous c-section, Madison, at an estimated 35 weeks at the time she scheduled the appointment, would be the most advanced in pregnancy.

As was the routine for late abortions, Madison was to stay at a nearby hotel during the abortion process.

On May 2, 2011, an ultrasound had been performed. One measurement of the fetal head was consistent with a fetal age of 39 weeks 2 days, and the other measurement was consistent with a fetal age of 40 weeks 4 days. This was a full-term infant.

Sella herself didn't see Madison until May 10, over a week after an ultrasound confirmed a full term pregnancy. Sella proceeded with a routine late outpatient abortion. She administered two drugs vaginally: misoprostol to soften and shorten the cervix in preparation for delivery, and digoxin to cause fetal demise. Sella also inserted laminaria into Madison's cervix. These are matchstick-sized pieces of sterilized and dried seaweed which absorb fluid and expand, thus dilating the cervix.

Madison returned on May 11. Sella administered a second dose of misoprostol and changed the expanded laminaria with fresh ones. A second ultrasound was performed to verify that the fetus was dead. Madison was sent back to her hotel with a third dose of misoprostol which she was to self-administer. Madison followed instructions and late in the evening she went into labor. She returned to the clinic. Sella started an IV and began administering pitocin, a drug to induce and speed labor.

Shortly after midnight on the morning of May 12, Sella administered additional misoprostol.

At around 7:00 a.m. on May 12, Sella increased the dose of pitocin and administered more misoprostol. At around 1:17 p.m., Sella stopped the pitocin drip because she suspected that Madison's uterus had ruptured. Approximately 45 minutes later, Madison was taken to the hospital. Her uterus had indeed ruptured due to the strength of the contractions.

The entire question before the medical board when dealing with Madison's abortion wasn't whether the abortion was legal. In Shelly Sella's professional judgment, there was no reason not to do the abortion. The only issue was whether the abortion was performed in a way that needlessly injured Madison. She suffered no damage to her professional reputation. 

So much for the assertion that no reputable physician would dream of performing an elective late abortion.

 HT: Operation Rescue; Source: New Mexico Medical Board document regarding late-term abortion practitioner Shelley Sella, former colleague of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller.

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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.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:

https://www.givesendgo.com/stop-pp-from-profiteering-from-the-rapes

Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.