Last Friday night, 24-year-old Tonya Reaves died of hemorrhage after undergoing an abortion at a Chicago-area Planned Parenthood clinic. She was engaged to be married and the mother of a one-year-old boy.
The abortion procedure known as Dilation and Evacuation, which occurs when the pregnancy has advanced past the first trimester, involves the opening of the cervix, dismembering the preborn baby and removing him or her. Operation Rescue and Pro-Life Nation head Troy Newman claims the hemorrhage was likely the result of an error on the part of the abortionist and a delay in seeking emergency help.
This tragic loss only further demonstrates the need for abortion physician and clinic regulations, reported abortion information, and clinic investigations. An article in the Chicago Tribune in June 2011 found that in 2009 almost 4,000 reports of abortion complications involving Illinois patients were missing the required description. Numerous complications including hemorrhage, torn uterus, cardiac shock, coma, and even death, as seen in the case of Ms. Reaves, have gone unreported in Illinois.
In addition, the Pennsylvania legislature recently enacted a minimum standards law for abortion clinics in response to substandard conditions found in its clinics. The state’s 13 Planned Parenthood clinics did not meet the requirements, and are being given 6 months to comply.
In response to this tragedy, SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser stated that “left unregulated, the abortion industry clearly cannot be trusted to look out for the true interests of women” . Congress must “exercise clear and regular oversight of businesses like Planned Parenthood that receive hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding and have such dramatic impact on the lives of women and unborn children”.
Abortion is a dangerous surgery. It must be performed, monitored, and scrutinized like any other dangerous surgery. Women deserve to know all the facts before making such a decision. It’s heartbreaking that women such as Tonya have had to lose their lives to reveal the truth about abortion’s risks.
My heart goes out to the family of Tonya Reaves.
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