stories from women who've been there

Trying to Survive

So Much of Me Died
This Was Not Counseling (from Giving Sorrow Words)

All I Wanted Was My Baby (from Giving Sorrow Words)
 

From The Ex-Abortionists: Why They Quit
Frank Joseph, MD (The Human Life Foundation, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10016)

Carol Everett and her abortionist partner had what they felt was "the Neiman-Marcus of the abortion industry" in the early 1980s. They had a record of no complications--until they decided to go for the big money by doing late abortions. Operating on one woman who was about twenty- two weeks pregnant, the abortionist perforated her uterus and pulled out the lining of her colon. Instead of calling an ambulance—which could have given the clinic bad publicity—Everett drove the woman to a hospital, where she had a colostomy. The abortionist persuaded a colleague to reverse the colostomy later at no charge; he also arranged for the hospital to write off bills for both surgeries. There was no lawsuit.

Another abortionist at an Everett clinic perforated a woman's uterus and also severed her urinary tract. Again Everett drove the woman to a hospital instead of calling an ambulance. "We were maiming at least one woman a month" at one point, she recalled.

Then there was the woman named Sheryl, who, after an abortion at twenty weeks, was in the recovery room "lying in a pool of blood." Everett said her bed "was soaked with blood, the privacy curtains were splashed with it, and even the wall had blood on it." The staff were finally able to control the bleeding; but the abortionist, eager to leave for a date, did not examine the woman to find the source of the bleeding. The woman was anxious to go home, and the staff let her go a few hours later, although her blood pressure was very low. She lost consciousness the next morning and was rushed to an emergency room, but she died. The abortionist and his girlfriend changed her medical chart so that the blood pressure readings appeared to be normal. But the coroner established the cause of death as hemorrhage due to a cervical tear. Everett said she "went numb" upon hearing this:
 

""We could have saved Sheryl's life!' my mind screamed. We only needed to have sutured her cervix. We had everything we needed in the clinic to save Sheryl's life, with one exception--a doctor willing to take the time to re-examine his patient to determine the cause of the bleeding. But he had a date, and the margaritas were waiting."

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