By Cheryl Sullenger
Cleveland, Ohio — When the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner released a statement late Friday announcing that the death of Lakisha Wilson was related to complications to an abortion, the Preterm abortion clinic in Cleveland where Wilson suffered her fatal abortion immediately began to spin the story their way.
On May 30th, the Plains Dealer reported Preterm’s reaction to the Medical Examiner’s statement.
“Meanwhile, Preterm Abortion Clinic, the facility where 22-year-old Lakisha Wilson ended her pregnancy, said the cause of death announcement indicated no medical error,” the newspaper noted.
However, that statement was misleading, at best. In truth, the Medical Examiner’s statement purposefully chose not to address the issue of “medical error.”
“The designation of manner of death as ‘Therapeutic Complication’ reflects the association of this death with a medical procedure and is not intended to address issues regarding quality of care or standards of practice,” the Medical Examiner’s Office stated. (Emphasis added.)
“The State Medical Board of Ohio and the Ohio Department of Health are the ones that should determine whether medical standards were breached in Ms. Wilson’s death, and we know that their investigations are ongoing at this time,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “However, we look forward to the release of the full autopsy report for answers to some serious questions we have about actions taken by abortion clinic personnel that led to a 22-year old woman being sent to an all-too-early grave. We hope it will also tell us what happened to Ms. Wilson’s baby.”
Wilson reported to Preterm in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, March 21, for an abortion. At 10:59 a.m., an employee of Preterm dialed 911 and reported to a dispatcher there was a 22-year-old female patient at the clinic who was not breathing at all. Wilson was transported to the University Hospital Case Medical Center where she was treated and “pronounced” on March 28.
The technical medical terms used in the Medical Examiner’s statement concerning Wilson’s cause of death led to some questioning what the statement really meant. To understand it fully, medical terms need to be defined.
Here is the Medical Examiner’s text related to Wilson’s cause of death:
CAUSE:
Cerebral edema and necrosis, due to Cerebellar and medullary necrosis, due to Diffuse anoxic encephalopathy and cerebral edema, due to Cardiopulmonary arrest with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, due to Hypotension, bradycardia, and cardiopulmonary arrest immediately following elective abortion of intrauterine pregnancy.
Below are some definitions of terms, according to the National Institute of Health’s MedLine Plus web site:
Cerebral edema: the accumulation of fluid in and resultant swelling of the brain that may be caused by trauma, a tumor, lack of oxygen at high altitudes, or exposure to toxic substances. [Note that 911 records obtained by Operation Rescue noted that Wilson was “not breathing at all” for nearly a half an hour.]
Necrosis: death of living tissue
Anoxia: hypoxia especially of such severity as to result in permanent damage. (Hypoxia is a deficiency of oxygen reaching the tissues of the body.)
Encephalopathy: a disease of the brain; especially: one involving alterations of brain structure.
In layman’s language, Wilson suffered brain damage after having been deprived of oxygen when she suffered a heart attack and stopped breathing (cardiopulmonary arrest) immediately after her abortion.
The heart attack was brought on by Hypotension (abnormally low blood pressure) and Bradycardia (relatively slow heart action), symptoms that began during the abortion.
The M.E. attempted to explain:
The cause of death reflects the subsequent effects of the cardiopulmonary arrest the decedent suffered during a pregnancy termination procedure.
When Wilson suffered a heart attack and stopped breathing sometime during her abortion, a chain of biological events occurred, resulting in fatal brain damage. The Medical Examiner’s cause of death statement describes each of those biological occurrences that contributed to Wilson’s death.
While there is clearly a relationship between the abortion and the brain damage that killed her, we still do not know exactly which actions taken during the abortion process caused Wilson to die. That was not addressed in the Medical Examiners’ brief statement, but should be addressed in the full autopsy.
“While we are not doctors, we have researched what would cause hypotension and bradycardia in women undergoing surgery. While a number of things could have happened, sedation complications are among the most plausible of explanations,” said Newman.
Death from sedation complications during abortions has plenty of precedent. Bhutanese immigrant Karnamaya Mongar died in 2009 from an overdose of Demerol given her by unqualified workers at Kermit Gosnell’s West Philadelphia “House of Horrors” abortion mill. Laura Hope Smith died in 2007 after being over-sedated by Massachusetts abortionist Rapin Osathanondh at an office that lacked basic emergency equipment and drugs that could have saved her life. Osathanondh also was convicted and served jail time for Involuntary Manslaughter in Smith’s death.
As for Wilson’s baby, questions also linger. What was the baby’s gestational age and what kind of abortion procedure was used? Who has custody of the baby’s remains? Or were they treated as “medical waste” and destroyed?
“We will have to wait for the full autopsy before we will know more details, but in the meantime we do know that if she had not walked into the Preterm abortion clinic, she and her baby would still be alive today,” said Newman. “That means these two precious souls died needlessly and someone needs to be held accountable for that and the abortion mill should be closed for good. Otherwise, it’s likely that the same tragedy will be repeated again and again.”
Background:
Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Statement, May 30, 2014 ABORTION DEATH: 911 Records Show Cleveland Abortion Patient “Not Breathing At All” ODH Inspectors At Preterm While Pro-Life Leaders Held Press Conference Concerning Abortion Death (Includes Video) Buffett Foundation Tied to Cleveland Abortion Clinic Where Woman Died Pattern of Botched Abortions Surfaces At Cleveland Abortion Clinic Where Patient Died
