More on last month's Massachusetts abortion death

More information about the death of Laura Smith is available from National Catholic Register.

HT: Threshing Grain

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Legalization as a panacea

Department of awful statistics (HT: JJ)

Prochoicer Megan McArdle looks at the recent lame claims that abortion's legal status has no impact whatsoever on its frequency, just on its safety:

I can't see the Lancet study, which is gated. But the summary does not back up this claim. The study says that abortions are generally high in the developing world, where it is usually illegal, and low in the developed world, where it is usually legal. It also tells you that abortion is relatively unsafe in the developing world.

But it seems mad to extrapolate this to a blanket statement such as "Law does not influence a woman's decision to have an abortion." For one thing, we know of cases where the law absolutely and indisputably did exert such an influence, such as Communist Romania, where abortion bans caused the birth rate to soar. For another, societies where abortion is illegal are probably different from societies where abortion is legal in other ways, such as attitudes towards birth control. Also, enforcement of laws varies even when the laws don't (abortion was technically illegal in Germany for most of the post-war period). And finally, since the variation is almost entirely among developed countries where access to birth control may be spotty for economic, political or social reasons, this would not necessarily tell us much about developed nations. As I understand it, most abortions in America are obtained by women who have had more than one abortion, which seems to indicate that for at least some segment of the population abortion is a substitute for birth control, rather than birth.

Similarly, saying that "making abortion illegal doesn't reduce its incidence, but only makes it more dangerous" is nonsense on stilts when the comparison is largely between developed countries with legal abortion, and developing countries with illegal abortion. Having an abortion in Burundi would be more dangerous than having one in America even if their government legalized the procedure, made it free, and awarded a medal and a complimentary fruit basket to every woman who had one. I am pretty sure that abortion, like almost every other activity, gets more dangerous when it is legally prohibited. But from what I can make out, this study doesn't do a good job of demonstrating that truism.

Cross-country comparisons--what statisticians call latitudinal studies--are fraught with difficulty because of all the differences in law, enforcement, data collection, social norms, political culture, health care systems, and so forth. That's why it's important to also look at longitudinal studies--studies that examine the same place over time. And all the reputable studies I'm aware of, which to be sure are not an exhaustive list, show pretty much the expected result: if you legalize abortion, you get more of it.

Well said.

I also have to say that I think that the safety impact of legalization on the individual woman is gonna be pretty spotty. Yeah, it may make it possible for Susie to go to a nice, clean clinic run by Charlotte Taft. But it may also land Margaret and Carole at a fly-by-night run by Jesse Ketchum, or Wilma and Jeannie at a mill run by Milan Vuitch, or Linda and Yvonne at Benjamin Munson's office. All three of these guys had clean records as criminal abortionists, then got sloppy once legalization banished the fear of going to prison.

So on a case-by-case basis, I'd say that some women would end up with access to abortions that are actually safer than had their abortions been illegal. But others, such as Carole and Margaret, end up with abortions that are actually less safe because their abortionists take chances they'd never have dared had there been the specter of prosecution hanging over their heads.

What we do know for sure is that legalization drives the numbers up, meaning more women are exposed to the risks. Carl Tyler of the Centers for Disease Control and an avid abortion advocate, testified before Congress in the early 1970s, asking for nationwide legalization of abortion-on-demand as a public health measure that he was sure would "eliminate child abuse in a single generation." When quizzed about the expected impact on women, Tyler postulated that the safety of the procedure would increase somewhat for the individual patient, but the number of women exposed to the risk would skyrocket. He estimated that 200 additional women would lose their lives each year. But, Tyler asserted, the total elimination of child abuse was worth the cost in women's lives.

So what actually did happen with legalization? We can see that the abortion mortality trends didn't change much, as evidenced in this chart from the National Center for Health Statistics:



How accurate were their numbers? Pretty good, judging by studies done in California, Minnesota, and Tennessee, in which researchers turned over every rock they could think of to uncover maternal deaths from illegal abortions. Up until Willard Cates and David Grimes left the abortion surveillance area of the Centers for Disease Control in the mid-1970's, public health officials beat the bushes for data on abortion mortality. They contacted public health officials, hospitals, police, funeral directors, ob/gyns, and family doctors, asking if they knew of any suspicious deaths. People who didn't respond got a follow-up letter.

But when Cates and Grimes left (I last noticed them in 1976, but all my Abortion Surveillance Summaries are back home in the states so I'm going from memory here.), what happened? The numbers fell, got erratic, then leveled off:



Let's look at the actual numbers, shall we? You can click below to enlarge this chart from the Centers for Disease Control 2003 Abortion Surveillance Report, the most recent one I could find:



The numbers for illegal abortions were falling, as the numbers for legal abortions were climbing, leaving the total death toll on the same slow, steady downward trend it had been on since 1960 -- seven years before the first states started legalizing abortions for social reasons.

It's hard to credit legalization with a downward trend that had been in place -- except for a brief and inexplicable leveling-off in the 1950s -- for the previous thirty years and more. And the biggest drop after Roe doesn't come until 1976 -- when the CDC changed its data collection technique from an active one (sending out letters and follow-up letters in addition to collecting data sent in to the National Center for Health Statistics) to a passive one (making due with what the NCHS spit their way).

Crediting legalization with the fall in abortion deaths makes no sense, since absolutely nothing changed in the overall trends with legalization. One might with more statistical credibility attribute the fall to my birth in 1961, which at least coincides with the actual mortality drop.

As for what to do about women in developing nations, I'd say that the best thing we could do for them is what we did for ourselves: build an infrastructure that supplies sanitation, clean water, and healthful foods. It's inexcusable to pretend that changing the legal status of abortion will provide these women with basic good health, sanitary medical facilities, and they so desperately need.

Two illegal anniversaries, docs implicated

On October 18, 1939, Miss Alice Corbett, age 28, of Brooklyn, New York, died from complications of an illegal abortion. Dr. Allen F. Murphy was sentenced to 2-10 years in Sing-Sing for Alice's death.

On October 18, 1942, 23-year-old Harriet Lichtenberg of Brooklyn died in Royal Hospital, the Bronx, from suspected criminal abortion complications. Dr. Henry Katz was indicted for first degree manslaughter in Harriet's death.



For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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New page for old mill

I noticed that there had been a lot of deaths at Chicago's notorious Biogenetics abortion mill, but that I'd never gathered all the dirt about this place together in one spot. Well, here it is.

Liar, liar, pants on fire!

The Planned Parenthood in Overland Park is being charged with performing illegal late abortions, among other charges:

Planned Parenthood's Overland Park, Kan., clinic was charged Wednesday with 107 counts, including accusations that it provided unlawful late-term abortions.

Johnson County prosecutor Phill Kline charged the clinic with 23 felony counts and 84 misdemeanor counts, according to court records. Besides 29 misdemeanor counts of providing unlawful late-term abortions, the clinic is charged with multiple counts of making a false writing, failure to maintain records and failure to determine viability.

Here's where having a good memory helps:

"I've heard nothing at all about specific charges that have been filed," Brownlie said in a telephone interview. "We always provide high-quality care in full accord with state and federal law."

As for allegations that Planned Parenthood performed illegal late-term abortions, Brownlie said its clinic doesn't perform any past the 22nd week of pregnancy.

Now for the lies:

1. "We always provide high-quality care" Right. Which is why you have Robert Crist working for you. The family didn't file suit after he let Nichole Williams die under his tender ministrations, so I don't know what sort of thing he might have done wrong there. But the two other dead patients I know of don't speak well for his attentiveness or skill. Diane Boyd, a 19-year-old mentally-challenged rape victim, was brought to Crist by her mother. Crist didn't bother to review her medications before doping her up for the abortion. The drugs he gave her interacted with her maintenance drugs, causing her to go into respiratory arrest. Since Crist had no apparent qualms about working at a place without proper resuscitation equipment, Diane was inadequately resuscitated and died. Seventeen-year-old Latachie Veal he simply sent home to bleed to death. Granted, he didn't perform these three fatal abortions at Planned Parenthood's Overland Park location -- Diane and Nichole were aborted at Reproductive Health Services, which PP took over management of at some point, and Latachie was aborted in Texas at a National Abortion Federation member facility not affiliated with Planned Parenthood. But it doesn't speak well for them that they'd have this guy doing abortions for them.

2. They don't do abortions past 22 weeks. Ha! Remember when an independent contractor came to Life Dynamics, confessing that he'd been helping to gut babies as big as 32 weeks to harvest their organs for medical research? The "clinic" in question was the Planned Parenthood in Overland Park, Kansas.

Misdiagnosis search

Somebody found my blog by searching for "misdiagnosed deformities resulting in elective abortion".

I'll divide the instances I know of into three catagories, based on what the societal drive to eliminate unsatisfactory fetuses costs the woman in question, ranging from needless distress through the needless death of her baby to the needless loss of her life. Since these losses are cumulative, I'll start with those who just suffer needless distress: those who are pushed to abort for a supposed feal abnormality, who manage to at least escape the more dire fates of their sisters, and who end up with a baby to love after all. This post will deal with women who were urged to abort, but who held firm.

Stephanie was told that her unborn baby had multiple abnormalities. One medical staffer actually tried to simply make an abortion appointment on her behalf. She got one false diagnosis after another, one recommendation for abortion after the other. The joy of her pregnancy was turned to stress and anxiety, and all for naught: Her baby was born with a bit of an enlarged head, but everything turned out to be fine.

Nancy was told that her baby had severe chromosomal abnormalities, incompatable with life. Her doctor urged her to arrange an abortion, even though she was 26 weeks pregnant. Devastated by the news, Nancy nevertheless did some research and rejected abortion, whereupon her doctor increased the pressure on her. Nancy stood firm, and gave birth to a normal baby.

Sandi was told that her baby had a fatal form of dwarfism. When she refused abortion, her obstetrician refused to care for her any longer. The treatment team she ended up with met with her regularly to again try to persuade her to abort. Though her baby was small and born a bit early, she had no major health issues at all and is a healthy little girl.

Carolyn was told that her baby had a 99% chance of dying in-utero and was urged to abort. Her daugher is a healty, normal little girl.

This article notes many women urged to abort, mostly for false or exaggeratedly grim maternal diagnoses. However, Case #5 is of a woman who was told she was infected with the cytomegalovirus, which could cross the placenta and harm the unborn child. She was urged to abort, and actually went as far as to make an appointment. A physician who was her neighbor learned of her situation and referred her to another doctor, who was able to give her a more realistic assessment of the risk that her baby had been harmed by the virus, and if so, how seriously. She decided to continue the pregnancy, and gave birth to a healthy little boy.

Laura was told that her unborn baby had died. She rebuffed the doctor's attempt to "emtpy her uterus", and ended up giving birth to a robust little boy.

Annette was urged to abort a baby she was told had severe spina bifada. She refused an abortion and gave birth to a healthy little girl.

Here is a collection of stories collected from Usenet groups.

Illegal anniversary, doctor blamed

On October 5, 1927, 31-year-old Auna Arola underwent a criminal abortion in Chicago. She died on October 17. On October 29, Dr. Vincent Tonavena was arrested. He was indicted for felony murder on November 1.



For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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About that three percent...

Since the brouhaha in Aurora, Planned Parenthood has been whining that "only 3%" of its "services" are abortions. And some critics have pondered, "Three precent counted how? Three precent of expenditures? Three precent of clients? Three precent of billable items? I've suspected the latter.

And now (Cue drum roll.), from Charlotte Allen of the Weekly Standard:

One way Planned Parenthood massages the numbers to make its abortion business look trivial is to unbundle its services for purposes of counting. Those 10.1 million different medical procedures in the last fiscal year, for instance, were administered to only 3 million clients. An abortion is invariably preceded by a pregnancy test--a separate service in Planned Parenthood's reckoning--and is almost always followed at the organization's clinics by a "going home" packet of contraceptives, which counts as another separate service. Throw in a pelvic exam and a lab test for STDs--you get the picture. In terms of absolute numbers of clients, one in three visited Planned Parenthood for a pregnancy test, and of those, a little under one in three had a Planned Parenthood abortion.

Way to go, PP. Screwtape chuckles at the marvel of his handiwork.

Zooming in on the perp

I have new evidence that "Wanda" Roe, a recent chemical abortion death, probably died in 2006.

Weekly Standard says that the two most recent Planned Parenthood RU-486 deaths took place "last year" in an article published just this month.

Since odds are that Wanda is one of those deaths, Wanda likely died in 2006.

If we stay alert, we may be able to figure out who killed this woman and hold them accountable.

And you'd think this is an area where prolife and prochoice can be united.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Another queasy prochoice Brit

Brutal truth of DIY abortion

Here, in India Knight, we have a woman who thinks abortion "needs to be legal and freely available", but she clearly sees a callousness in the way women are treated by those supposedly supporting their rights, lives, health, and dignity:

[I]f said men found themselves in need of an emergency abortion, I don’t expect their doctors would chuck some kind of horror-pill at them and tell them to go home and sit on the loo until the foetus was expelled. And yet government advisers are, as we speak, paving the way to make DIY abortions “easier” for women. I like “easier”. It’s a bit like the NHS providing penknives and Savlon to anyone who fancies a caesarean, or who can’t quite face the queue for a mastectomy.

She looks at how things are now in the UK, and the direction abortion supporters want to move:

Currently, if you take an abortion pill – two pills, actually: mifepristone, which detaches the foetus from the womb, followed by misoprostol, which induces miscarriage – you are given both in hospital. If the law is changed, the second pill will be made available as a takeaway, so that you can stagger away cramping and finish the job in your own bathroom.

In other words, they're gonna imitate the Americans.

Ms. Knight ponders what this means:

Now, think what you like about abortion – I’m not keen, as it happens, though I do see that it needs to be legal and freely available – but surely chucking pills at women and expecting them to go home, cramp and bleed until the thing is done and then – what? Flush the loo? – is a brutality too far. It is, obviously, an act of brutality towards the foetus (which I would call the baby, hence my issue with this whole subject) but, my goodness, it is also an act of supreme brutality towards the woman.

Ms. Knight points out that a lot of women find abortion unexpectedly distressing as it's currently practiced in the UK, with the fetal remains being whisked away unseen and uncontemplated:

Get drunk with a gaggle of girlfriends and talk about children, and there are always one or two who’ll slur something like, “I’d have a 20-year-old by now”, or, “It meant absolutely nothing at time, but it does now”, or, “If I’d known how hard I’d find getting pregnant again . . .”

In closing, Ms. Knight imagines what it must be like:

Forget the fact that the abortion pill is “safe” and “effective”, and rather imagine the mother of four who simply can’t contemplate another child. She’s been to the clinic and taken her first pill, and she doesn’t feel great. She supervises the homework, puts another batch of laundry on, sorts the children’s tea, bathtime, bedtime, then she swallows the second pill and goes to her bathroom.

I mean, if that woman was your worst enemy, you’d break into her house to rescue her, or at least hold her hand. And in the morning she’s expected to get up as though nothing had happened and get on with life, with nary a look back at the lavatory pan. I know we’re “copers”, but this is ridiculous. It is also completely obscene.

HT Wheat & Weeds, who frames it very well and adds more information. So don't just rest happy with my comments and/or the article itself. Go read what Wheat & Weeds has to say.

Irony Alert

CodePink, a SanFrancisco leftist anti-war/pro-abortion group, chalked an ironic sentiment on the sidewalk outside a Marine Corps recruiting office:



(Photo: Zombie Time)

"Killing children doesn't defend my freedom" is an odd sentiment from somebody who holds that abortion -- which is, after all, killing children -- is the lynchpin of her freedom.

Hey, CodePink chick -- if you're so opposed to killing children, open a CPC and do something to fight the slaughter of children right at home. It might be a refreshing change for you.

Healing after "therapeutic" abortion

Poor Pre-Natal Diagnosis: resources for coping after abortion. A retreat will be held Sat. Nov. 24, 2007, 9:30 am to 5 pm, Bronx, NY.

HT: After Abortion

Cui bono?

On October 2, 1923, 16-year-old Lauretta Schranz underwent a criminal abortion somewhere in Chicago. On October 16, Lauretta died at Chicago Hospital from complications of that abortion. Ethel Davis and Lena Rumenstein were held by the coroner in Lauretta's death. Davis was indicted by a grand jury for felony murder on November 15.

Fast-forward 51 years. Maria Lira, age 19, was a college student when she went to Riveria Hospital on October 14, 1974, to undergo an abortion. After she'd been discharged, Maria had problems and returned. Staff perfromed a D&C, then discharged her again. That night, she went to the emergency room due to excessive bleeding. She was sent to Torrance Memorial Hospital for treatment. Maria died at Torrance Memorial on October 16. The autopsy found a decomposing fetus in her uterus, which had caused infection and DIC (disseminated intravacsular coagulopahty). The DIC prevented clotting, causing the hemorrhage that killed Maria.

We need to ask: Who benefitted from the legalization of abortion? Maria Lira? Or her doctor, who didn't have to fear going to prison?


For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Storming the gates of Hell

HT: Causa Nostrae

40 Days for Life. I'll post a few snippets verbatim:

EL PASO, TEXAS: We are able to confirm 12 babies lives saved.

MARTIN COUNTY, FLORIDA: A young man and girl came up to me with tears in their eyes (They looked 16 or 17). They described how they had decided to abort their 5 month pregnancy. They saw our signs (one with a pregnancy care center and number.) They went and had a ultrasound and discovered that it was a girl. They decided at that time to keep the baby. They wanted us to know, and their words were, “Thanks for being here.”

MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY: In 20 days, we’ve grown to 8 vigil sites in 6 counties, and expect to keep on adding two or three more each week. Several saves have been reported from two of our sites where traffic is sufficient to permit that, and the human interest stories abound. Another site was manned by a loner who persisted for three long years before being joined by a local doctor, and the group now numbers 8 to 10 faithful witnesses for life.

WACO, TEXAS: One family, involved in a ministry with incarcerated youth, has the young men saying a daily prayer for life. Another deacon, working in a women’s’ state jail, has at least 65 women praying the rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to end abortion.

TRI-CITY, MICHIGAN: One seasoned pro life advocated has been praying on site at our local abortion mill for many years. Last Saturday, Oct. 13th, Dave said he has heard of more “saves” in the last few days than in the last 6 months combined.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: We have continued to turn around on average 2 or 3 moms from a certain abortion per day, mostly in the South Bronx. Three former abortion clinic workers, discovered us on the sidewalks (1 in the Bronx, 2 in Queens) and expressed deep regrets for their past misdeeds and two will be joining us in our work for Life. We have been able to bring out a brand new batch of ministers, and lay people, mostly new immigrants, mostly Hispanics, especially in Queens, and signed up hundreds for future outreach and sidewalk counseling.

FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA: Not only have babies been saved, not only is the body of Christ responding time and time again, not only are WE being changed BUT God is bringing people to us off the streets that need ministering. Some of our people are going out every single day and every single night. We are ministering not only to the abortion-minded individuals but to many of the walking wounded that need to share their story. We had no surgical abortions this past week in Fargo that we know of.

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA: We talked to one woman who changed her mind and chose life for herself and for her child. We talk to the abortionist and workers and are praying to get them new jobs and pray they talk to a former abortionist about getting out. Our community is growing in love with our God and with each other and in our commitment to serve our neighbors.

SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA: We are creating public awareness that abortions are being performed at our Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls. Many people in South Dakota are not aware of Planned Parenthood’s role. Also on our second Saturday morning after the start of the 40 days we had several new ladies join us that were post-abortive.

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: I personally have ministered to two post-abortive fathers and two other post-abortive women.

BUFFALO, NEW YORK: On day 2 the abortion mill’s drains all clogged up and halted the killing for 6 STRAIGHT DAYS.

CENTRAL TEXAS: Liz was on the sidewalk by herself praying last Tuesday and a lady went into the abortion clinic. She had 2 young children, I believe 4 and 7ish. Apparently, the man who she is staying with doesn’t want the expense of another child and she is not employed so he wants her to have an abortion. She went over to speak with Liz who listened to her story and got her phone number which she passed on to me and I passed onto a counselor at Hope Pregnancy Center. She called the woman and the next day she went to the Hope Pregnancy Center for help. She is keeping the child and Hope is assisting her. Praise God.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: Our key victories have been 48 babies that have been saved and one of the abortion worker/provider asked for a bible today and took it into the clinic.

NORWICH, CONNECTICUT: Also our local pregnancy center has seen a significant increase in abortion vulnerable and abortion minded clients as well as pregnancy tests and ultrasounds. Our nurse manager has already doubled the amount of ultrasounds she had for all of last month and it is only the 15th!

COLUMBUS, OHIO: A person who had previously had an abortion expressed great thanks and prayed with us for a bit.

WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA: We received word that a baby was saved last week. A woman had come to the West Chester Planned Parenthood and because she was unhappy with the counseling she received inside, went to talk to a priest. He “dropped everything” to help her. He connected her with an active pro-life couple who’s daughter was pregnant. After seeing the ultra-sound of the daughter’s baby, she decided to let her baby live.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA: On Sept. 25 we worried that we’d have to scale back our round-the-clock vigil, but about 200 people have come out to pray and keep our vigil going 24-hours a day! We’ve been able to talk to a number of post-abortive women about counseling and healing programs–including one woman who between domestic violence and abortion had lost 9 children. People are waving, honking, stopping to pray with us or sing to us, bringing us coffee and pizza…just an amazing outpouring of support from the community.

HOUSTON, TEXAS: We have had reports from the 2 Crisis Pregnancy Centers that we refer to (we have their phone numbers on the backs of the brochures we hand out) that women are coming in with these brochures in their hands! Also, it has been obvious to those of us who come out on a regular basis that their abortion business is down. This was evidenced last week when the Stericycle truck that picks up the babies came. The driver went into Planned Parenthood with about 8 boxes and came out with 3. I expected him to go back in for more because he usually picks up 5-10, and he never did. Several of the new escorts told us that we were not what they expected and have been very friendly.

PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA: The most incredible blessing we have witnessed during this campaign has been the number of girls who have just walked over to us and asked which side is the right place for a pregnancy test? We have never had so many turn-arounds each day

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA: We have had several miracles over the past 20 days. AMS of Pensacola (a local abortion mill) has been closed for 3 weeks!! We do not know why it has been closed, only to say it is God’s miracle! Praise the Lord! Taking into consideration the average number of lives lost each week at both clinics this would mean roughly 75 lives saved over 3 weeks! Also, we have had at least 6 confirmed turn-arounds along with 5 post-abortive women coming forward looking for healing!

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE: The Diocese of Knoxville has been keeping vigil at two different abortion sites in the City of Knoxville. The response of our volunteers, the majority of whom have never done any pro-life work before, has been amazing. A local pregnancy help center said that since the campaign began, they’ve never been busier — all of which they attribute to the campaign.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: Planned Parenthood was closed on its regular Saturday that they perform abortions this past weekend.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA: Last week, one veteran pro-lifer was out praying and a car stopped. The young Mom told her that about 6 months ago she had planned to come to have an abortion, but she saw people out praying then (during our first 40 Days for Life) and decided to keep her child. That child was the infant in the car with the beaming and thankful Mom! Last Friday, two families of home schoolers came to pray for the first time. While these families were out praying, one of the young moms scheduled for an abortion decided to keep her child and left the clinic.

FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA: In the past three weeks, I have seen couples arriving early Saturday morning for an abortion and leaving early before the abortionist arrived. Last week, it appeared to be the slowest day as only 3 appeared to go in for an abortion. No one drove in to the entrance where I was standing where most normally come in.

SALEM, OREGON: We also noticed that there were two days in two weeks that the PPH office was closed down.

EVERETT, WASHINGTON: We have sensed the hand of God on our campaign from day one, and have seen at least 3 women turn away from abortion! God has given us the opportunity to counsel and refer at least a dozen women to pro-life pregnancy centers or post abortion healing, offering a “choice” to women that they didn’t get inside Planned Parenthood.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA: Post-abortive women (and men) who came to pray have recalled “choices” they have made and can now find the hope, compassion, love, and healing they need. People who have never done anything about their pro-life values are coming to the sidewalk for the very first time, leaving touched very deeply and personally as to the enormity and destruction of this “choice” as they see first hand the women going in and most especially, seeing the same women coming out of Planned Parenthood afterward, never to be the same again. Lives have been saved as abortion appointments were canceled when the abortionist didn’t arrive for work on two scheduled killing mornings.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: At least 3 or 4 babies have been saved every week at the Atlanta Surgi Center location. Yesterday a gentleman (sidewalk counselor), holding his baby son up to the waiting room window, caused one of the woman to abandon her abortion plan! God is good! Someone remarked, live babies are so much better than posters of aborted babies!

Two more equally dead

On October 15, 1926, 23-year-old Ethel Horner died at Chicago's Jackson park Hospital from an abortion performed earlier that day. Dr. Albert Peacock was arrested the following day. On November 15, 1926, he was indicted for felony murder.

Fast forward to October 15, 1990, when 23-year-old Angela Satterfield underwent a legal abortion. The abortionist did not diagnose Angela's ectopic pregnancy. He simply performed an abortion procedure and sent her home. That evening, the undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy ruptured. Angela was found dead in her home. She had hemorrhaged. Her death certificate only mentions the ectopic pregnancy and the hemorrhage, but her autopsy notes the failure of the abortionist to diagnose the ectopic pregnancy.

I've said it before: the biggest, most significant difference I can see is that the abortionist who killed Ethel was prosecuted, and the one who killed Angela went blithely about his business unmolested. Yeah, real big improvement for women there.

For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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Anniversary: Did he kill her, or was he trying to fix somebody else's botch job?

On October 15, 1915, Anna Anderson, a 25-year-old unmarried woman, went to the office of Dr. A. A. Ausplund. She had previously gone to another doctor who had examined her and found her to be about three months pregnant. She‘d asked him to perform an abortion, but he‘d refused.

Dr. Auspland said that Anna was ill upon her arrival at his office, and asked him to examine her. He attempted to do so, but she gasped in pain as soon as he‘d inserted his fingers. He said he immediately saw that she was dying and went out for a stimulant, seeking help from a female physician practicing in the same building.

The two doctors, assisted by a third doctor, were unable to revive Anna.

The coroner and other witnessed testified that Anna was found with her skirts removed. They found a bloody sheet in Dr. Auspland‘s office, as well as a bloody doctor‘s coat. Several medical instruments were noted, one of which appeared to have a portion of placenta on it. The floor in his operating room was wet, as well as a Kelly pad.

The autopsy found signs of recent pregnancy of about three months duration, as well as trauma to the interior of the uterus. It was estimated that the injuries were sustained about five to eight hours before death. The undertaker who embalmed Anna said that there was almost no blood in her body.



For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

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"Back off! I'm not dead yet!"

Read this wonderful op-ed in the Washington Post. It's pithy and full of good sense. Not to metion good humor:

I found something weasely in the way all those options were presented, as though my only real choice were between being dispatched into the hereafter at the first sign of loss of consciousness or being stuck with as many tubes as needles in a voodoo doll and imprisoned inside a ventilator until global warming melts the ice caps and the hospital washes out to sea.

HT: The Point

I've written up the three new RU-486 deaths

I hate treating them as nameless "Patient A" or "Jane Doe #1", so I've given them names: Cherish, Tara, and Wanda.

Cherish was somewhere in the midwestern United States and underwent an old-fashioned prostaglandin abortion in the second trimester. She died of a clostridium perfringens infection. This is a very unusual abortion method, so we should be able to figure out where she underwent the fatal abortion by identifying which midwestern abortion practitioner uses this method.

Tara initially had an unsuccessful attempted surgical abortion, followed by an unsuccessful medical abortion involving mifepristone, and then followed by a second and successful surgical abortion. The woman was hospitalized approximately one month after taking mifepristone, and she died approximately 24 hours after admission during a hysterectomy. There was no autopsy, but pathology findings included a degenerated, pus-filled uterine fibroid. Cultures were negative for any Clostridial bacteria. Based on the available evidence at this time, FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) do not believe this death was related to the use of mifepristone.

Wanda was in the western United States, took 200 mg of mifepristol orally, then followed up with 800 mcg of misoprostol vaginally, to induce an abortion. She died from Clorstridium perfringens infection. She almost certainly had her abortion at a Planned Parenthood.

If anybody has more information about these three deaths, please let me know.

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RU Counting?

Ashli directed me to Brian.

Brian said that five women, dead from RU-486 abortions in the US, got their fatal doses at Planned Parenthood. (at 11:27 on the audio). I questioned him about this, posting:

The women who died, two (Holly Patterson and Chanelle Bryant) got their abortion drugs at PP, two (Oriene Shevin and Vivian Tran) at National Abortion Federation members, and one (Brenda Vise) at an unlicensed facility in Tennessee. Holly, Chanelle, Vivian, and Oriene died of sepsis. Brenda died of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy that the "clinic" failed to diagnose.

I got an email from Brian thanking me, and pointing me to his source. I think he got a bit caught up in the moment and mis-spoke about five dead women that he knew of getting their abortion drugs at Planned Parenthood, but the source did point me to something troubling. The tally -- six dead in the United States -- is one more death than I'd known about. And there's this:

The F.D.A. has now received reports that six women in the United States died after taking RU-486, or Mifeprex. .... The two most recent deaths and two of the previous four underwent their procedures at Planned Parenthood clinics, a spokeswoman said.

Again, I only know of two women -- Holly and Chanelle -- who got their drugs at Planned Parenthood. Does the FDA know of two more? Or was the spokeswoman confused and attributing the National Abortion Federation deaths to Planned Parenthood? And what of the sixth woman that I don't know about?

I went poking around the FDA web site and found this page, the testimony of Dr. Janet Woodcock, Deputy Commissioner for Operations at the FDA. In particular I focused on this section, with my notes in italics and parenthesis:

Deaths Reported After Use of Mifepristone

FDA is aware of 12 deaths possibly involving the use of mifepristone in women. Nine of these deaths were in the U.S. (I only knew of five.) Of these, five were determined to be related to infections (I only knew of four -- Holly, Chanelle, Oriene, and Vivian, one involved an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy (Brenda), one appears unlikely to be related to the use of mifepristone (Was it still related to abortion, or was somebody misusing the drug in another way?), one was determined to be unrelated to either the medical abortion or the use of mifepristone and misoprostol, and one that is currently under investigation appears not to have involved the administration of misoprostol and appears to be unrelated to the use of mifepristone. In addition, there were three deaths in other countries related to mifepristone and misoprostol induced abortion. These 12 deaths are described below:

• Five deaths in U.S. women associated with mifepristone and misoprostol induced medical abortion, with what appears to be a rapidly fatal toxin-mediated shock syndrome
  
• * Four of these five, all in California, were confirmed to involve a rare anaerobic bacterium, Clostridium sordellii (C. sordellii). All involved the use of mifepristone 200 mg orally, followed by 800 mcg of misoprostol inserted intravaginally, a regimen that is not part of the FDA-approved labeling. (Holly, Chanelle, Oriene, and Vivian)
  
• * One U.S. woman from the west, whose death was confirmed to involve a different bacterium, Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens). This case involved the use of mifepristone 200 mg orally, followed by 800 mcg of misoprostol inserted intravaginally, a regimen that is not part of the approved labeling. (One I did not know about. Does anybody have information on this woman?)
  
• One death in a U.S. woman who had an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancy is a contraindication for the use of mifepristone. (Brenda)
  
• One death involving a woman who initially had an unsuccessful attempted surgical abortion, followed by an unsuccessful medical abortion involving mifepristone, and then followed by a second and successful surgical abortion. The woman was hospitalized approximately one month after taking mifepristone, and she died approximately 24 hours after admission during a hysterectomy. There was no autopsy, but pathology findings included a degenerated, pus-filled uterine fibroid. Cultures were negative for any Clostridial bacteria. Based on the available evidence at this time, FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) do not believe this death was related to the use of mifepristone. (Though this does appear to be an abortion death. Does anybody have information on this woman?
  
• One death in the northeastern U.S. was determined to be unrelated to either the medical abortion or the use of mifepristone and misoprostol.
  
• One death in the southwestern U.S. is still under investigation, but appears not to have involved the administration of misoprostol, and appears to be unrelated to the medical abortion or the use of mifepristone.
  
• One death in Canada of a woman who died during participation in a clinical trial. This death was due to sepsis involving C. sordellii.
  
• One death in Sweden of woman as a result of severe hemorrhage related to a medical abortion.
  
• One death of a British woman was attributed to gastric (stomach) bleeding from an ulcer.

The four California deaths, plus the Canadian case, were reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in December 2005, by CDC scientists. Since that time, CDC has been actively seeking additional cases across the country. FDA is aware that CDC has identified two additional cases which appear to be unrelated to the use of mifepristone:

• A death from the midwest in a woman who had a second trimester medical abortion employing misoprostol and laminaria (a moisture absorbing medical device inserted into the vagina to stimulate cervical dilation), but not mifepristone. This woman had C. perfringens. (Another abortion death. Does anybody know anything about this woman?)
  
• A toxin-mediated infectious death due to C. sordellii in a woman who initially was reported to have had a medical abortion. However, the woman had appendicitis and pneumonia, not a uterine infection, and CDC has been unable (despite extensive investigation) to find evidence that she had an abortion or had ever been pregnant.

The cases of women with C. sordellii infection are of great concern to FDA and CDC. C. sordellii is a rare infection and has been reported in the literature since the 1930s. The largest case series, published in 1989 by McGregor, Soper, and colleagues in the obstetrical literature, describes cases after vaginal delivery and Cesarean section, as well as a case of spontaneous endometritis. All developed a fatal shock syndrome. Other literature describes infectious illnesses in intravenous drug users and in organ transplant recipients.

Well, I have to leave for work now, so I can't do any further research at the moment. But please do poke around, at the FDA site and elsewhere. Maybe even contact the FDA directly. If the New York Times was right in citing an FDA spokeswoman's statement that four of the dead in the US died after getting the drugs at Planned Parenthood, then it looks like the two mystery women above may have died after abortions at Planned Parenthood. Since this is still the midst of 40 Days for Life, there's a lot of prayer going on so now is a good time to do research to bring into the light what had been kept in the darkness.

Let's keep each other posted.

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Somebody wanted Gideon Kioko

Or at least they wanted information about him.

Kioko worked at the notorious Hillview abortion mill in Maryland, and performed the fatal abortions on Suzanne Logan and Debra Gray.

Kioko surrendered license his medical license 1991, admittedly in order to avoid prosecution in the cases of Gray and Logan. Less than six months later, he asked to get his license reinstated, but the board denied the request. Kioko continued to practice medicine in Maryland, and in 1993, on Kioko's request, the D.C. board reviewed cases that Kioko himself selected from among his hospital patients. (He submitted no records from patients he cared for in the unsupervised setting of his office.) Based on a review of 20 of those records, the DC board concluded that his practice met the standard of care. He tried again in 1994 to get his Maryland license back, but the board still found him unfit.

Kioko took his petition to the Circuit Court of Prince George's County, and on July 15, 1996, Judge Thomas P. Smith sent the case back to the medical board for further review, having found fault with their handling of Kioko's case. In a twist that shows Kioko was evidently a better conniver than he is a physician, the fact that Kioko voluntarily surrendered his license in the wake of the Hillview cases kept the board from doing a full review and disciplinary action and thus greased the wheels for getting his license back on the grounds that it had never been adequately documented that he was unfit to practice.

With the case kicked back to them under judicial order, the board reviewed Kioko's history and stated that:

When initially considering Dr. Kioko's petition for reinstatement of his suspended license, the [board] was not presuaded that Dr. Kioko expressed true remorse for the Hillview victims, except to the extent that it interfered with his professional career. In fact, it was not clear that Dr. Kioko was even cognizant of his own role in the deaths of two patients. Over the past several years .... [the board] has observed a change. Dr. Kioko appears truly remorseful for the deaths of the Hillview patients, has a better understanding of both his role in those events and the need to take responsibility to insure that they are not repeated.

Dr. Kioko ... now seems to comprehend that his role as a surgeon goes beyond merely performing a technical procedure: he is responsible for overseeing the well being of the patient.

The board noted that Kioko had busied himself with volunteer work.

Dr. Kioko's eventual understanding of the Hillview tragedies and his rehabilitative efforts to correct deficiencies in his judgment and training in life support skills to endure that they will never happen again, persuades the [board] that Dr. Kioko is competent to practice medicine in this State, provided he is placed on probation for a period of time and subject to certain restrictions.

Three patients also testified to the board of their confidence in Kioko. (Wouldn't you like to know who they are so you could ask them what drugs they were on when they defended this quack?) The board gave Kioko his license back in 1997, provided he didn't use general anesthesia or IV sedation unless in a hospital with an anesthesiologist present, and that he not do abortions past 12 weeks, among other requirements such as community service.

The Maryland medical board was far from finished with Gideon Kioko.

The board got a complaint on January 13, 2005, from the Risk Manager at Washington Adventist Hospital. The Risk Manager noted that on December 1, 2004, 26-year-old Patient A had been brought to their hospital by ambulance after an incomplete abortion done at Kioko's office that day. I'll refer to her as Astrid. The board also got an anonymous phone call, and a fax, complaining about Kioko's treatment of Patient B., who I'll refer to as Bethany. More on these patients later.

Kioko had been renting the office in question part-time from a dermatologist. There, Kioko was performing outpatient abortions, including second-trimester abortions, at the rate of about four a month, according to his own admissions.

The carpeting on the floor of the procedure room was described as "stained and unclean." Kioko's staff said that he did not use a new sterile tube for each patient. "The tube is used throughout the day and then washed and reused until it becomes opaque and then it is discarded." When suction is broken, fluid from this tube may backwash into the uterus of the patient.

The printer on the ultrasound machine was broken, so there were no hard copies of ultrasounds in patient records. There was no crash cart, laryngoscope, or equipment for entubating and providing oxygen to a patient who needed resuscitation. On a second site visit, Kioko's staff indicated that his "crash cart" consisted of an empty capped syringe and two vials of epinephrine kept in a rubber exam glove taped to the wall of the procedure room. There were no policies in place for dealing with an emergency.

Kioko also told the inspector that he did not keep appointment logs, and that he destroyed sign-in sheets the day of the appointment, for reasons of "confidentiality." Kioko had three employees: His wife, his niece who was reportedly a nursing student and occasionally worked as a receptionist, and a medical assistant/office secretary. This last employee would take vital signs, perform finger sticks, sterilize equipment, assist in procedures by handing things to Kioko, and cleaned up after procedures. Kioko's wife reportedly performed those tasks when the regular assistant was not there. At times only two staff would be in the building: Kioko and one of the three employees.

Kioko's wife reported that she did not work for her husband. She was a full time administrator of a home health agency. She did say that she occasionally helped with filing, answering the phone, and office duties on the evenings or Saturdays. She also said that she sometimes assisted with prepping patients for abortions, but she would do the charting and sign as if she was the regular medical assistant. Kioko's wife said that she was a registered nurse in the state of Maryland, but was unable to provide her license number. Upon investigation the board verified that Kioko's wife was lying; she was "not licensed by the Maryland Board of Nursing as an RN, or in any other licensure status."

Staff told the board that Kioko would perform an ultrasound to determine gestational age, but with the printer broken no hard copy would be available for the patients' charts. Kioko did not always document the ultrasound findings such as biparietal diameter or crown length. Kioko told the board that he obtains a medical history from all patients, but "does not always document this history." He told the board that he didn't perform physical exams "except if the patient presents with a significant medical history." He did indicate that he performed a pelvic exam on all patients. Staff noted that Kioko did not always complete history and physical exam forms.

Kioko's staff indicated that he administered paracervical blocks to his abortion patients, but did not use sedation, intravenous anesthesia, or general anesthesia in his office. (Thank God for small favors.) A blood pressure would be taken before and after the abortion. The patient would be walked to the other room, and after an hour Kioko would check her for bleeding and discharge her with an aftercare sheet, a prescription for antibiotics, and an appointment for a follow-up exam in two weeks. He did not send tissues to a lab for a pathology exam.

Kioko had no contract for biohazard removal, particularly the bloody fetal remains and sheets. Staff said Kioko would put these biohazardous materials into a red bag and dispose of them himself. "Office staff did not know where." Kioko lacked procedures for cleaning and sterilizing instruments. A refrigerator near the receptionist's desk contained drugs, food, soda, and condiments.

Now, let's get back to Astrid ("Patient A").

The board investigation found that Astrid had come to Kioko's office at 9 a.m. for her abortion. Only Kioko and the receptionist were there. The receptionist called for someone to come to the office. Astrid told Kioko that she believed she was four months pregnant. Kioko told different stories about estimating the gestational age. Initially, he'd said that the electric power had gone out, so he'd not done an ultrasound. But later he said that he'd done an ultrasound and estimated that Astrid was 19 to 20 weeks pregnant. Astrid's chart in Kioko's office didn't contain any ultrasound or documentation that one had been performed.

An unidentified young woman took Astrid's vital signs. No blood work was performed. At about 10 a.m., Kioko started an IV and gave Astrid some Motrin. Kioko said that the power kept going on and off during the aspiration procedure, which he started at about 11:30 a.m. He also stated that there was a "power failure" for about an hour.

At around noon, Astrid started to feel hot and dizzy, and requested her cell phone to call her emergency contact person. Kioko refused to give it to her. Astrid said that Kioko also refused her pleas that he call her emergency contact for her.

At about 2 p.m., Kioko resumed the procedure. He removed the placenta but was unable to remove the head. Astrid was bleeding profusely. Astrid said that Kioko told her that he would have to "cut the baby up" to get it out, but was unable to remove the head.

Astrid told Kioko to call 911 because she was having trouble breathing and kept passing out. She said that nobody was monitoring her blood pressure during this time. Kioko called his wife, and she came to his office to help. She took vital signs and observed Astrid. (Kioko's wife told the board she had no recollection of these events.)

Finally, at 3:50 p.m., Kioko called 911, reporting that an abortion patient was semi-conscious, and bleeding profusely. He asked for Astrid to be taken to Prince George's Hospital. The county ambulance arrived at 3:55. Upon arrival, EMS staff heard a woman screaming from the back of the office. Kioko told them that Astrid was bleeding and that the fetal head was still in her uterus. (At least he gave them some information. Another small favor.) Kioko told them he suspected D.I.C. Here I'll quote the EMS report:

Femal pt. naked from the waist down and rolling back and forth on the table, screaming. Pt. covered in blood, legs bathed in blood, heavy constant stream of blood spurting from pt's vagina, table covered in blood numerous equipment tools on tables covered in blood. Suction unit on table also covered in blood and had blood in it. Pt. had an IV line started by on scene office personnel. IV bag also covered in blood.

Pt. responded to her name but could not answer questions. Moaning and screaming. Pt. Stopped moving. Female attendant on scene tried to arouse pt. No response. (emergency personnel) slid onto cot. Pt. awake as being moved & responded by screaming again.

Astrid was taken to Washington Adventist Hospital because it had the closest emergency department. She arrived there at 4:09 p.m. Surgery repaired the damage to her reproductive organs and removed a 17.5 cm fetal head, consistent with a 20.5 to 22 week fetus.

Bethany ("Patient B") was 30 years old when she went to Kioko on January 29, 2005. She was referred to Kioko by Potomac Family Planning. She completed an intake form noting that this was her fourth pregnancy. She'd had two previous abortions and one miscarriage. Bethany didn't complete the sections of the form about allergies, current medications, or medical history. Kioko didn't chart anything about Bethany's prior pregnancies and abortions.

Kioko did document a pelvic exam, estimating the fetus as 18+ weeks. He said that he also verified the gestational age with an ultrasound examination. Nothing about this was noted on Bethany's chart. Kioko later told the board that Bethany had brought an ultrasound with her that another physician had performed. Somebody charted vital signs.

Kioko administered a paracervical block, and began the abortion using a 16 mm suction tip. The aspiration was performed "with difficulty." Kioko suspected that he had perforated Bethany's uterus and possibly damaged her bowel. He documented the procedure as completed at 3 p.m., and transferred Bethany to Prince George's Hospital. The hospital records indicate that Bethany arrived at about 7 p.m. and that Kioko had brought her in his own car.

Kioko had sense enough to request help with the surgery to fix Bethany's injuries. Bethany had suffered a perforated uterus, and "transection of rectosigmoid colon and extensive lacerations of the left colon and upper rectum and perforated urinary bladder." The other doctor repaired Bethany's bladder and performed a colostomy, while Kioko performed a hysterectomy, removing the uterus and fetus. Bethany was hospitalized until February 6.

Based on those findings, the board noted that "facts regarding [Kioko's] office conditions and procedures in [his] care and treatment of Patients A and B, constitute extraordinary circumstances, requiring immediate suspension of [his] license to practice medicine." The DC medical board has also, finally, suspended Kioko's license.

A patient in DC, Thakerya Drayton, complained to the medical board about him. She'd been referred to him for an abortion. She was in a lot of pain in the recovery room, where she spent about an hour. When she returned home, she was "bleeding out of control". After a few days, Thakerya's mother called an ambulance. Thakerya was treated for an incomplete abortion. The board found that an incomplete abortion was an expected complication and declined to investigate the case.

God only knows how Kioko managed to practice unsupervised for 8 years without, to anybody's knowledge, killing any more of his patients.

Elsewhere on the web:

• Despite Deaths, DC License Upheld
  
• Gideon M. Kioko, M.D., CR No. 256 (1993)