Isabel Roe1980s, 20s, hemorrhagedeath, infectionSUMMARY: “Isabel,” age 22, died in 1981 after an abortion.

Abortion advocates often criticize prolife activists for not having ever-so-scientific sources, instead relying on lawsuits and news articles. Well, today I’ll bring you a case from the Centers for Disease Control — not exactly a hotbed of prolife activism. Life Dynamics calls this woman “Isabel” on their “Blackmun Wall,” so I’ll refer to her as “Isabel” as well.

The CDC Abortion Surveillance Annual Summary for 1981 describes the death of this 22-year-old mother of one. She was believed to be 12 weeks pregnant when she went to a doctor’s office for an abortion.

The doctor told the CDC that Isabel was “uncooperative” during the abortion, so he recommended hospitalization to complete the procedure. Isabel and her mother requested that he medicate her further and try again. The doctor reported that Isabel “began to buck and began severe violent gyrating movements,” so he suspected a perforation and suggested hospitalization. He said Isabel and her mother refused. He said that he monitored her for three hours, and that her vital signs were stable so he sent her home.

The doctor said he called repeatedly to check on Isabel and that her mother reported she was “comfortable, resting well, feeling fine.” He said that she did not keep her follow up appointment.

Four days after the abortion, the doctor said, the mother called at 4AM, saying that Isabel was “not looking well.” The doctor said he went to the home, found Isabel sitting up, lethargic but responsive. He summoned an ambulance. Isabel became unresponsive during the trip to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

According to the CDC, the death “was attributed to uterine perforation, intra-abdominal hemorrhage, and peritonitis.” No autopsy was performed. The CDC attributed the death to the possiblity that Isabel was more than 12 weeks pregnant, the lack of cooperation of Isabel and her mother in refusing hospitalization, and the doctor continuing the procedure in his office despite the patient’s lack of cooperation.

I would add that I personally am somewhat skeptical of the doctor’s recall of events. If Isabel was “bucking and gyrating,” and she and her mother requested more medication, might the doctor not have been providing adequate anesthesia? And if the anesthesia was inadequate, and if the pregnancy might well have been more advanced than 12 weeks, what other inadequacies might there have been in his care of the patient?

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1. 1900s
2. 1910-1919
3. 1920s
4. 1930s
5. 1940s
6. 1950s
7. 1960s
8. 1970s
9. 1980s
10. 1990s
11. 19th century
12. 2000-2009
13. 20s
14. 30s
15. 40s
16. NAF
17. abortifacient
18. abortion
19. abortion mill
20. abortion mortality
21. abortionists
22. abortionists — female
23. abortionists — male
24. alabama
25. anesthesia
26. arizona
27. black women
28. botched abortion
29. california
30. chicago
31. colorado
32. connecticut
33. cover-up
34. death
35. deaths
36. deception
37. delay in transport
38. delay in treatment
39. district of columbia
40. dumped body
41. ectopic
42. embolism
43. falsifying forms
44. fetal indications
45. florida
46. former criminal abortionist
47. george tiller
48. georgia
49. hemorrhage death
50. hospitals
51. illegal – doctor
52. illegal – midwife
53. illegal – nurse
54. illegal – paramedical
55. illegal – post roe
56. illegal – unknown
57. illegal – untrained
58. illegal abortion
59. illinois
60. inadequate documents
61. inadequate equipment
62. inadequate resuscitation
63. incomplete abortion
64. indiana
65. infection
66. kansas
67. legal abortion
68. llinois
69. louisiana
70. maryland
71. massachusetts
72. maternal indications
73. maternal mortality
74. michigan
75. mills
76. missouri
77. mortality
78. national abortion federation
79. new jersey
80. new mexico
81. new york
82. north carolina
83. ohio
84. oklahoma
85. pennsylvania
86. planned parenthood
87. pre-roe legal
88. previous misconduct
89. prostaglandin
90. quackery
91. questionable stories
92. ru-486
93. rupture
94. saline
95. secret abortion
96. self-induced
97. suicide
98. teens
99. texas
100. wisconsin