SUMMARY: Lakisha Wilson, age 22, died March 28, 2014 from complications of an abortion performed at Preterm Clinic, Cleveland, OH.

Lakisha Wilson
Operation Rescue obtained the autopsy report of 22-year-old Lakisha LaShawn Wilson. Lakisha went to Preterm Abortion Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio on March 21, 2014. She was 19.4 weeks pregnant. Further investigation by Operation Rescue reveals further details on the pathetic excuse for treatment Lakisha received at the clinic, as well as how the substandard conditions in the clinic contributed to Lakisha’s death.

After the safe, legal abortion, her heart rate began slowing dangerously. Clinic staff administered drugs, performed CPR, and used an automated external defibrillator (AED) to try to restore Lakisha’s heart to where it could keep her alive.

She had began bleeding heavily due to uterine atony (her uterus wasn’t contracting and stopping her from bleeding from where the placenta had been attached). The later in pregnancy an abortion is done, the higher the risk of uterine atony and its associated bleeding.

The procedure rooms at Preterm are on the third floor of the building. When emergency medical services arrived, the elevator was malfunctioning. They were delayed in getting the gurney to Lakisha due to this problem. When they entered the room, they found Lakisha still on the abortion table with her legs in the stirrups. Only an oral airway device, such as EMTs use, had been inserted. Nobody had inserted a proper breathing tube into Lakisha’s trachea. Dr. Lisa Perriera, who had performed the abortion, was trying to resuscitate Lakisha with a pediatric-sized Ambu-Bag and mask. The IV for administering medications had been torn loose somehow by clinic staff.

EMS began working to revive Lakisha, who had no pulse and was not breathing. The medics were able to get her heart going but were hampered in their further resuscitation efforts because the elevator was too small to properly accommodate the gurney; Lakisha had to be taken into the elevator in a seated position that did not provide adequate access to her airway.

Once she was in the ambulance, EMS workers were able to properly intubate her for transport to the hospital. Upon arrival, Lakisha received care for over an hour in the emergency room before she was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, where she remained in a coma until her death on March 28.

The Centers for Disease Control has said that with modern diagnostics and care, there is no legitimate reason for a woman to bleed to death after an abortion. Lakisha’s hemorrhage left her brain without oxygen, ultimately causing her death.

On April 2, a surveyor from the Department of Health and Human Services faulted Preterm in Lakisha’s death, noting the following failures:

• Failure to call 911 in a timely manner
• Failure to train staff in standard emergency protocol
• Failure to train staff in emergency transfer procedures
• Failure to ensure that the person calling 911 and all of the relevant facts readily available

Other survey documents, however, find no faults and indicate that the training and responses were appropriate. I am still trying to resolve this discrepancy.

Sources:

• Autopsy report and attachments
• EMS documents
• Surveyor notes worksheet