Shelby Moran30s, lingeringdeath, illinois, 1990s, prostaglandin, inadequateresuscitationSUMMARY: Shelby Moran languished in a nursing home for over 20 years after suffering catastrophic brain damage during an abortion performed in January of 1978 by John Barton at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, IL. Shelby died on September 16, 1999 at the age of 60.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of Shelby Jean Anderson Moran, then a 39-year-old mother of five, alleged that she was given Prostaglandin F2 Alpha for a safe, legal abortion at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in January of 1978. She was about four months pregnant.

Immediately after the drug was injected, Shelby experienced grossly abnormal elevation of her blood pressure. The abortionist, Dr. John J. Barton, thought that the elevation would be transient, and left the facility.

Half an hour later, Shelby went into cardiopulmonary arrest. She suffered brain damage due to lack of oxygen, causing dementia and speech aphasia.

Shelby, who had previously managed the Oak Lawn Elks Club, was no longer able to care for herself, much less her five children. She required 24-hour care in a nursing home. After a ten-year legal battle, Shelby’s family was awarded $9.5 million on her behalf.

Shelby remained in a care facility, unable to look after her own needs, until her death at Hazel Crest on September 16, 1999.

Other women who languished for years in a coma or vegetative state before dying from delayed abortion complications include:

• Venus Ortiz, who spent five years in a nursing home before dying in December of 1998
• Suzanne Logan, who languished, mute and paralyzed, for three years until her death in December of 1992
• “Gabriella Alonso,” who spent six years in a coma until her death in the summer of 2002
• Christi Stile, who spent nearly 22 years in a vegetative state until her death in March of 2015

Sources:

• “Brain-damaged woman awarded $9.5 million,” Chicago Sun-Times, Apr. 15, 1989
• “Award granted in abortion case,” Easton (MD) Star-Democrat, Apr. 17, 1989
• Cook County Circuit Court, Law Division, Case No. 80-L-1539
• Illinois Appellate Court Nos. 1-89-2165, 1-89-2244, 1-89-2359
• Social Security Death Index

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

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