1968: “Life of the Mother” abortion kills heart patient

“Rita,” age 21, was in the state of New York (but outside of New York City) when she underwent her legal but fatal abortion.

Grok AI illustration

Rita was told to have an abortion because of a medical condition— rheumatic heart disease. She was three months pregnant when the “therapeutic” abortion was done.

Even before Roe v. Wade, “life of the mother” abortions were legal in every state. However, killing Rita’s baby would not heal her heart problems or save her life. As a side effect of the abortion, she suffered multiple pulmonary emboli and died.

The deaths of Rita and her baby are made even more tragic with the knowledge that the abortion wasn’t just lethal, but unnecessary. Today, it is well-known in the field of medicine that cardiac patients are at a higher risk from an abortion than a healthy woman, and that the vast majority of pregnant patients with cardiac conditions will have a safe pregnancy and delivery with proper care. In fact, during pregnancy, stem cells from the unborn baby will migrate throughout the mother’s body and repair damage to the heart when necessary. Rita needed real medical care, not abortion.

New York State Journal of Medicine, January 1979 Edition (page 49–52)

https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/L29535