something to think about
Woman sues doctors after failed abortion
Found at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070307/ap_on_re_us/abortion_lawsuit;_ylt=AnFeXsDknHgj6GjX7ZiKtOvMWM0F
originally printed in the Boston Globe
BOSTON - A Boston woman who gave birth after a failed abortion has filed a lawsuit against two doctors and Planned Parenthood seeking the costs of raising her child.
The complaint was filed by Jennifer Raper, 45, last week in Suffolk Superior Court and still must be screened by a special panel before it can proceed to trial.
Raper claimed in the three-page medical malpractice suit that she found out she was pregnant in March 2004 and decided to have an abortion for financial reasons.
Dr. Allison Bryant, a physician working for Planned Parenthood at the time, performed the procedure on April 9, 2004, but it "was not done properly, causing the plaintiff to remain pregnant," according to the complaint.
Raper then went to see Dr. Benjamin Eleonu at Boston Medical Center in July 2004, and he failed to detect the pregnancy even though she was 20 weeks pregnant at the time, the lawsuit alleges.
It was only when Raper went to the New England Medical Center emergency room for treatment of pelvic pain in late September that year that she found out she was pregnant, the suit said.
She gave birth to a daughter on Dec. 7, 2004.
She is seeking damages, including child-rearing costs.
Raper and her lawyer, Barry C. Reed Jr., refused comment when contacted by The Boston Globe.
A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood said the organization does not comment on pending litigation.
Neither doctor responded to requests for comment.
Raper alleges in the suit that Planned Parenthood and Bryant were negligent for failing to end her pregnancy and that Eleonu was negligent for failing to see she was still pregnant.
The state's high court ruled in 1990 that parents can sue physicians for child-rearing expenses, but limited those claims to cases in which children require extraordinary expenses because of medical problems, medical malpractice lawyer Andrew C. Meyer Jr. said.
Raper's suit has no mentions of medical problems involving her now 2-year-old daughter.
As with all medical malpractice suits in Massachusetts, Raper's complaint will have to be screened by a tribunal consisting of a Superior Court judge, a lawyer, and a doctor to determine whether it has merit to go to trial.
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And here my musings begin.
Here's a thought... how does a woman go seven months... SEVEN FRICKING MONTHS! and not realize she's still pregnant? That's a serious case of denial.
But aside of that. I'm not sure whose side I'm on here. First of all - she got pregnant... someone wasn't using protection! So right there, it's her fault... or rather, her and her partner's fault.
HOWEVER - a botched abortion certainly sounds like malpractice initially... but you can't sue for a failed transplant or any other treatment that fails. An abortion is a procedure you have to select - it's not something you HAVE to do. So... I'm not sure she has legal grounds here. Hmm.
I'm still musing over this. Thoughts?