RealChoice

Friday, April 10, 2020

Gosnell: The Untold Story - Chapter Two, Desiree Hawkins

My quarantine reading is the audiobook of Gosnell: The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer, by Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. At the bottom of this post are links to commentaries I've written so far.

Desiree's Referral

Desiree Hawkins

I had been hoping to share the video of the interview with Desiree Hawkins, who had been referred to Gosnell by Hagerstown Reproductive. Her abortion was, of course, a nightmare ordeal, but the nightmare wasn't over. Years later she got word that her baby's foot was among those found in jars in Gosnell's clinic.

Desiree had been referred to Gosnell's clinic by Hagerstown Reproductive Health Services, which is a National Abortion Federation member clinic. (Even more damning, Gosnell worked one day a week at a National Abortion Federation member clinic.) Yet the media routinely cast Gosnell as an "outlier" or "rogue." Why would the most reputable abortion facilities in America refer women to an "outlier" or a "rogue"? Why would they hire one?

On a related note, Hagerstown Reproductive Health Services still advertises surgical abortions, but as of 2018 they hadn't been licensed as a surgical abortion provider since 2013.

Unfortunately, 3801 Lancaster no longer has the video of the interview with Desiree available. I do recommend watching the entire film. It's a chance to hear directly from the women, the people in the neighborhood, and Joe Slobodzian, one of the few reporters who actually bothered to cover the story the way it should have been covered.

You can choose your preferred online venue on the documentary's web page. You can also read a write-up with more details of Desiree's story.

Further Along Than She Thought

Desiree had been shocked to learn that Gosnell had kept her baby's foot. She was also outraged when she was given access to her medical file and learned that she had not been 19 weeks pregnant, as she had believed. She had been 23 weeks pregnant. Desiree said that if she had known that her pregnancy was that far along, she would have carried to term and made an adoption plan.
If Gosnell's ultrasound had been accurate, Desiree's baby would have had a 10% - 35% chance of survival if delivered alive the day of the abortion. She wouldn't have had to remain pregnant a single additional day and still could have placed a live baby for adoption.
Desiree's experience is hardly unique. Lime 5 had many stories of women who'd been told that they were not as far along in the pregnancy as they actually were. Many of them said that they never would have consented to an abortion at the actual gestational age. I also did a writeup of cases on my old RealChoice page at 0catch, not all of which ever made it into Lime 5.

Prior posts:

* Why I Want to Slap the Medical Examiner

* Politics and the SCOTUS

The Lime 5 Gestational Age Screw-Ups

In Lime 5, we documented a lot of cases in which abortions were performed on women who were a lot further advanced in their pregnancies than they'd been led to believe. In these cases, the cause appears to be sloppiness rather than deceit.

Dr. Joseph Rucker (John Roe 674)

Lime 5 notes two cases against Rucker of the many that we documented. ("Doctor thumbs his nose at the medical board," segments 1, 2, and 3, Detroit Free Press, November 14, 1982; "The case against Dr. Rucker: A study in delays," Detroit Free Press, November 14, 1982)

In 1977, "Cecelia," age 14, went to Rucker's clinic for an abortion. Rucker estimated her pregnancy at 14 weeks. When she began to hemorrhage, he loaded her into a car and took her to a hospital, where she was diagnosed as 7 months pregnant. She was released, but returned four days later when she gave birth to a premature baby with part of the scalp missing.

In 1974, "Nancy" paid a $75 referral fee for an abortion, expecting a reputable hospital. Instead she was sent to Rucker's nasty clinic. Nancy said that once she was on the table, Rucker walked in, put his hand on her abdomen, and announced, "Fifteen weeks." After he started the abortion he concluded that her baby was closer to six months gestation. He struggled to complete the abortion, cussing up a storm because he couldn't get the baby's head out. He ended up tearing Nancy's uterus and leaving the skull behind. He took Nancy to a hospital and turned her over to a surgeon who decided, without consulting Nancy, to do a tubal ligation and take her appendix out. When Nancy complained to Rucker, he told her that he'd refunded her abortion fee so she should be happy.

John Roe 161

Since all we have as a cite for this case is court documents (Suffolk, MA Superior Court Civil Action No. 47117), and don't have any other John Roe 161 cases in Lime 5, I don't know the abortionist's name and can't provide any clippings. "Robin," age 19, went to Roe for an abortion in 1980. He thought she was 11 or 12 weeks pregnant and started using a first-trimester abortion technique. Once he started he realized that the baby was bigger than he'd originally thought -- perhaps 15 or 16 weeks of gestation. He struggled for over an hour to perform the abortion, lacerating Robin's cervix and perforating her uterus and bladder. Finally he sent her to the hospital in a taxi. There she had to have a hysterectomy to save her life and was hospitalized for a month. Her baby had actually been 19 to 21 weeks in gestational age.

John Roe 299

Our source for "Alexandra's" case was California Board of Medical Quality Assurance Case No. D-3132 L-31034, therefore I can't provide the doctor's name or a clipping. Roe told Alexandra that she was 24 weeks pregnant. He tried to grab the head but when he couldn't grasp it he sent Alexandra to a hospital. There she delivered a 4 1/2 pound stillborn infant of about 34 weeks gestation.

Erma Roe 401

Once again I don't have an abortionist's name or a clipping because our source was a court case: Multnomah County (OR) Circuit Court Case No. A 8605 03177. "Darla" was told that she was 16 weeks pregnant. Roe tried twice to abort Darla's baby with forceps and suction before finally giving up and sending Darla to the hospital. There, she gave birth to a little girl she named "Brandi." Brandi was of about 29 or 30 weeks gestational age and was bruised and lacerated from the abortion attempt. She spent 5 1/2 weeks in the hospital.

Dr. Harold Ticktin (John Roe 821)

"Jane" was 16 years old when she went to Ticktin for an abortion in 1986. Ticktin said that although Jane was slender, she was so tense that it was difficult for him to accurately determine gestational age. He decided that she was 12 weeks pregnant and started the abortion. He pulled off the baby's arm and realized that she was much further advanced than he'd thought. He delayed for seven hours before sending her to a hospital, where she underwent an emergency hysterectomy. Her baby, dead due to the dismemberment injury, had actually been 28 weeks -- seven months -- of gestational age. ("Doctor to go before board in abortion case," The Tampa Tribune, August 6, 1988)

Dr. Abram Zelikman (John Roe 664)

When Zelikman performed the fatal abortion on Eurice Agbagaa in 1989, he had originally said that she was 11 - 12 weeks pregnant. At autopsy it was discovered that Eurice had been at least 19 weeks pregnant.

Dr. Karen Smiley (Erma Roe 801)

Tralishia was 17 years old when she went to Family Planning Clinic for Reproductive Health in Nashville in 1989. Dr. Karen Smiley told Tralishia that she was six weeks pregnant, performed a suction abortion, and sent the girl home. Four days later, Tralishia gave birth to a 1 pound 13 ounce baby girl who ended up in the NICU with a 60% chance of survival. Tralishia's mother sued the clinic on her behalf. The attorney noted that Tralishia needed psychiatric care after the abortion, saying, "She's devastated, obviously. She never would have dreamed of having an abortion if she had known that it was 26 weeks old." ("Infant given 60% chance following botched abortion," The Tennessean, January 11, 1990; "Health Authorities Will Investigate Clinic," The Leaf-Chronicle, January 12, 1990)

Thursday, April 09, 2020

Gosnell: The Untold Story -- Why I Want to Slap the Medical Examiner

Chapter Two: In the Medical Examiner's Office

In Chapter Two, Ann and Phelim recount how Christine Wexler went to the Sam Gulino, the Chief Medical Examiner, to find out if the 47 intact babies found at Gosnell's clinic had been born alive or not. Ms. Wexler wanted the answer to a simple question: Had Gosnell suctioned out the babies' brains, meaning that they had probably been killed in-utero (albeit in an illegal manner), or had he indeed severed their spinal cords after they'd been born?

She was not asking Gulino for much.. Even a little bit of research or even some rational thought on his part would have revealed that suctioning out the brain prior to delivery is a catastrophic injury. You don't have to open the head. Just look at it. Is it collapsed? The brains were suctioned out. Is it head-shaped? The brain is still in there.

Yes, sometimes a doctor who did a "fetal indications" D&X (or IDX or PBA) abortion would make the baby presentable afterwards so that the parents could maintain the illusion that they hadn't signed the baby's death warrant. In order to do that, the doctor would have to stuff the head full of gauze or cotton batting. I know this because I listened to a recording of National Abortion Federation members discussing how to handle such situations. Gosnell wasn't prepping these babies for post-abortion cuddling. He was putting them in kitty litter cartons for storage. But even if, for some ghoulish reason, Gosnell was suctioning out the brains prior to delivery then stuffing the babies' heads full of gauze or cotton batting, the gauze or batting would have clumped up in a small, soggy lump upon thawing. The head would still be collapsed.

Then there's the matter of the incision. For D&X / IDX / PBA, the surgical scissors are pressed against the base of the skull in a closed position then forced through to make a hole. The abortionist does not want to be pushing open scissors into the uterus. After the scissors puncture the skin, the abortionist opens the scissors to make the hole wider. This would be a fairly blunt puncture wound. Gosnell was using open scissors to slice the skin and then cut through the spine. This is a sharp, cutting wound. Any marginally capable Medical Examiner should be able to distinguish between a wound made by closed scissors being forced through the skin and one made by sharp scissors cutting the skin.

So what was wrong with Dr. Gulino? Was he too lazy to do a little research into how to do his job? Was he pissed off that he was being asked to step outside his comfort zone? Was he a rabid abortion-rights supporter angry that poor Dr. Gosnell was being picked on?

Your guess is as good as mine. What we do know for sure is that there was no legitimate reason for Dr. Gulino to tell Christine Wexler that she had to open those heads. He had no excuse for making that woman endure such a horrifying experience. That was just inexcusable. Intact baby + no digoxin in Gosnell's building = live births.

Prior posts:

* Politics and the SCOTUS

Gosnell: The Untold Story - Chapter 2, Politics and the SCOTUS

All the Way Up to the Governor

Gosnell got away with murder for as long as he did because Governor Tom Ridge ordered a hands-off policy towards abortionists. As I mentioned in "Anger and Law-Breaking," it behooves abortionists to have friends in high places. George Tiller was able to get away with perpetrating illegal late term abortions because of his connections, including a close relationship with Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Kansas medical board is comprised of political appointees. Is it any wonder that people who owed their positions to Sebelius wouldn't want to anger somebody who was feeding a lot of money into her campaign chests? The amount of political corruption associated with abortion is unknown because we only find it when we have a reason to dig. (This leads me to wonder how much connection there is between media decision-makers and abortionists.)

The amount of corruption and enabling that takes place is one of the reasons I think we need to switch to the "Right to Redress" paradigm first proposed by David Reardon and Feminists for Life in the late 1980s. I think the specifics that Reardon and FFL proposed were awkward and unworkable but the principle is sound: Put the power in the hands of the women and their families.

Flabbergasted

I'm flabbergasted that both Joann Pescatore and Christine Wexler were flabbergasted that elective abortions are legal until 24 weeks in Pennsylvania. Roe v. Wade was handed down in 1973. "Hands off abortion during the first two trimesters, and you'd better have loopholes for the last trimester" has been a Supreme Court mandate for half a century. Not knowing that abortions are legal for the first six months of pregnancy in all states is, to me, akin to not knowing that 16-year-olds are allowed to drive cars. What planet have you been on? How can you have lived through even the most superficial news coverage all of your adult life and not remember at some point hearing about how the mean, vicious, woman-hating right-to-lifers are trying to ban post-viability abortions, or "partial-birth abortions," or abortions after 20 weeks, or so on? If this is a fact that's shocking to you, wouldn't you have been shocked the first time the idea ran past your ears or eyes?

I still remember decades ago hearing a co-worker who was on the phone over lunch. I have no idea how the topic came up but she was telling the person that she was talking to that abortions are only legal in Pennsylvania for the first 12 weeks. I opened the phone book to the Yellow Pages listings for the two abortion clinics in town. Both had large ads. Both openly advertised elective abortions to 24 weeks. I pointed. Susan looked, scowled at me, and continued her conversation. Later I again heard her telling somebody that abortions are only legal in Pennsylvania for the first 12 weeks. There has to be something seriously weird going on in somebody's head to be that good at tuning out an open and obvious fact.

I think it goes to what you want to believe. If you want to be pro-choice, and want to believe that you're only in favor of letting "tissue" get removed, then you have to tune out that this is not, in fact, what you're actually supporting when you back pro-choice rhetoric, organizations, and candidates.

Third Trimester "Life or Health" Exceptions

Roe v. Wade held that states could, if they chose, ban third trimester abortions as long as they still permitted them for the life or health of the mother. The Justices did not define "health" in Roe." Instead, they issued a companion decision, Doe v. Bolton, which defined "health" so broadly that really, any reason is a good enough reason:

We agree ... that the medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors --physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age -- relevant to the wellbeing of the patient. All these factors may relate to health. This allows the attending physician the room he needs to make his best medical judgment. And it is room that operates for the benefit, not the disadvantage, of the pregnant woman.

There it is in a nutshell. If the woman says that the abortion will be for her benefit, then it qualifies as a "health" of the mother abortion.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey was the first case in which the Supreme Court decided that the states could tighten up "health" a tad if they chose. But they don't have to. The Doe v. Bolton standard of "If she says the abortion would be beneficial, that's good enough" can still be the standard, or the states can have no health standard at all.

The Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act still technically permits abortions of babies of 24 or more weeks of gestation only under tight conditions:

Abortion on unborn child of 24 or more weeks gestational age.

(a) Prohibition.--Except as provided in subsection (b), no person shall perform or induce an abortion upon another person when the gestational age of the unborn child is 24 or more weeks.

(b) Exceptions.--

(1) It shall not be a violation of subsection (a) if an abortion is performed by a physician and that physician reasonably believes that it is necessary to prevent either the death of the pregnant woman or the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the woman. No abortion shall be deemed authorized under this paragraph if performed on the basis of a claim or a diagnosis that the woman will engage in conduct which would result in her death or in substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.

(c) Abortion regulated.--Except in the case of a medical emergency which, in the reasonable medical judgment of the physician performing the abortion, prevents compliance with a particular requirement of this subsection, no abortion which is authorized under subsection (b)(1) shall be performed unless each of the following conditions is met:

(1) The physician performing the abortion certifies in writing that, based upon his medical examination of the pregnant woman and his medical judgment, the abortion is necessary to prevent either the death of the pregnant woman or the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the woman.

(2) Such physician's judgment with respect to the necessity for the abortion has been concurred in by one other licensed physician who certifies in writing that, based upon his or her separate personal medical examination of the pregnant woman and his or her medical judgment, the abortion is necessary to prevent either the death of the pregnant woman or the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the woman.

(3) The abortion is performed in a hospital.

(4) The physician terminates the pregnancy in a manner which provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive, unless the physician determines, in his or her good faith medical judgment, that termination of the pregnancy in that manner poses a significantly greater risk either of the death of the pregnant woman or the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the woman than would other available methods.

(5) The physician performing the abortion arranges for the attendance, in the same room in which the abortion is to be completed, of a second physician who shall take control of the child immediately after complete extraction from the mother and shall provide immediate medical care for the child, taking all reasonable steps necessary to preserve the child's life and health.

The exception has to be there in order to pass muster under Roe, which mandates a "health" exception. Roe mandates this even though post-viability abortion for maternal health is a nonsensical concept. (In fact, the Supreme Court created the idea of a post-viability abortion judicially in Roe; up until then abortion was, by definition, done prior to viability.) If the mother's life is endangered by the pregnancy after viability, you take whatever steps are necessary to end the pregnancy. You don't spend time subjecting the mother to additional procedures to kill the fetus first. Section C is just a fancy way of saying, "No, you can't claim medical necessity, kill the baby with a lethal injection, then leave the patient in a motel room for three days with her mom or partner monitoring her until she expels the dead baby into a toilet." No Tiller Loophole here. (For more about how Tiller got away with his illegal third-trimester abortion practice, read "Tiller defense: Larry said I could," "Tiller Trial: The plot thickens," and "Tiller Trial: Will Dr. McHugh testify?")

Prior posts:

Tuesday, April 07, 2020

Gosnell: The Untold Story - The Rest of Chapter One

What caught Detective Jim Wood's eye about Karnamya Mongar's death was the unqualified staff administering anesthesia. Gosnell might be the worst in that he had people with only an 8th-grade education administering anesthesia drugs. Gosnell wasn't the first to let untrained staff do this job.

Laura Hope Smith

Rapin Osathanondh had nobody on staff -- including the "hand-holder" who assisted with anesthesia -- who knew how to resusciate patients. This cost Laura Hope Smith her life in 2007.

When Joe Bills Reynolds' wife died in 1989 during liposuction surgery at his combination abortion/weight loss clinic, medics found Joe Zorger administering anesthesia. Zorger told two investigators that he'd been hired as a maintenance man but testified in Reynold's murder trail that he's actually been a self-trained weight-loss hypnotist. (Reynolds' clinic is where Gaylene Golden underwent her fatal abortion.)

When Hanan Rotem performed the fatal abortion on Gloria Aponte in 1986, investigators found that he's had his receptionist, who had no medical training, administering anesthesia.

A Fortunate Shortcoming?

One of the reasons we're urged to get rid of expired drugs is that they might lose efficacy and potency. Though much was made of the expired medications in Gosnell's clinic, this might have been a blessing, allowing the meds to degrade and do less damage. I'd love to see any research into how much those drugs degrade over time.

Animals in the Clinic

Gosnell had his turtles and his cats. In the late 1970s, Joseph Rucker had his dog trotting around the clinic, going in and out of the procedure room, lapping the women's blood up off the floor.

Angry Patients

A nurse who went along on the raid noted that even with the filthy conditions, patients were angry that the raid was interfering with getting their abortions done. Gosnell's attorney even used the fact that the patients were willing to tolerate the filth as evidence that Gosnell was a good doctor. I think it's more a matter of who the patients were. I remember reading about the mindset of women going in for abortions, that they get into a sort of "Let's just get this over with" tunnel vision. They've worked up the momentem to go through with something they didn't want to do in the first place but they feel trapped into doing. They feel like terrible people for doing it. They don't feel like they deserve better. They're too numb to care. I would love to interview Gosnell's patients to see what they thought of the filth and the poor treatment they got.

Eating During Abortions

Gosnell's staff said that he'd eat during abortions. The staff of Dr. Robert Sherman, who performed a fatal abortion on Rita McDowell in 1975, said that he would "operate with one hand and eat a tuna fish sandwich with the other, and talk to his stock broker on the phone."

Down the Toilet

Gosnell's toilets would get backed up with fetal remains. Toilets remain a popular method of fetus disposal.

In 1989, abortionist Curtis Stover was considering the purchase of Mayfair Women's Center in Aurora, Colorado. He was taken on a tour by the owner, James Parks (John Roe 472 in Lime 5) and was so disgusted by what he saw that he reported it to the medical board in an affidavit. Parks would finish his day by grinding up the 15 - 22 week fetuses in an old-fashioned hand-cranked meat grinder so that he could flush the remains down the sink. He did this, he told Stover, because fetuses that big would stop up the toilet, and he couldn't put them in the trash because the prolifers would fish them out. One must presume that the fetuses younger than 15 weeks did indeed go down the toilet. (Several years later, Mayfair was where Christi Stile would suffer the catastrophic brain damage that eventually took her life.)

Douglas Karpen, the "Texas Gosnell" who perpetrated the fatal abortion on Denise Montoya, must have been flushing fetuses down the toilet. We know that because they backed up out of the sewer and into the lot of the car dealership next door.

Prior posts: