Here is a collection of stories where women were refused a legal abortion and suffered serious injury or injustice as a result, including death in some cases. Doctors and hospitals are rarely punished or convicted for these wrongdoings.
Media coverage about serious consequences of belief-based care denial usually only happens when a woman dies, or a woman or her family sues. Here are their stories we could find, but these must be the tip of the iceberg. We know nothing about the vast majority of belief-based denials, or what happens to the victims.
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Severina (2004) – Brazil
Woman forced to carry doomed pregnancy to near-term because of CO and legal restrictions Severina is a farmer from the small city of Chã Grande in Brazil, married with a 4-year old son, with few resources. On October 20, 2004, she was four months pregnant with an anencephalic fetus, and had just been admitted to […]
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Meghan (2004) – USA
Delayed treatment of incomplete miscarriage leads to dangerous blood transfusion In 2004, Eagen-Torkko was about seven weeks pregnant when she had an incomplete miscarriage. She worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Providence Hospital in Everett, Washington (State) and her insurance covered her only at that hospital, a Catholic facility. As a nurse, Eagen-Torkko […]
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Katherine Stewart (2003) – USA
Catholic hospital gambles with pregnant woman’s life by waiting till she goes into shock before providing treatment In Katherine’s own words: “In December 2003, I was pregnant and elated at the expectation of having a second child. Then one afternoon I began to bleed heavily. Leaving my husband at home to care for our toddler, […]
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Rosa (2003) – Nicaragua
9 Year-Old Rape Victim Denied Legal Abortion for Weeks Rosa was 8 when she was raped in November 2002 by a neighbour. She was living with her parents in a farming town in the central highlands of Costa Rica because her parents had illegally crossed the border to harvest sugarcane and coffee. She became pregnant, […]
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R.R. (2003) – Poland
Woman with likely fetal anomaly denied prenatal examination and abortion Center for Reproductive Rights, 2008 A pregnant woman (“R.R.”) was repeatedly refused diagnostic care after a routine sonogram detected a cyst on the fetus’s neck. Genetic tests were repeatedly stalled, preventing her from obtaining timely information on the health of the fetus and hindering her […]
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K.L. (2001) – Peru
Teenager with anencephalic fetus denied abortion, forced to give birth and suffer K.L., a 17-year-old, was pregnant with an anencephalic fetus, which severely compromised her life by endangering her physical and psychological health. Although Peruvian abortion law permits abortion when the life or health of the woman is in danger, K.L. was denied an abortion by […]
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Alicja Tysiąc (2000) – Poland
Upon becoming pregnant in 2000, Alicja Tysiąc was denied an abortion to protect her physical health, despite her severe visual impairment. Numerous doctors concluded that the pregnancy and delivery posed a serious health risk, and some recommended sterilization after the birth due to the risk that pregnancy would have on her eyesight. But they refused […]
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Paulina (2000) – Mexico
13-year old Mexican Rape Victim Denied Abortion Due to CO Paulina Ramírez Jacinta was 13 years old when she was raped in 1999 and subsequently denied a legal abortion. She was subjected to repeated interference by state officials, doctors, and priests, who all tried to persuade her out of having an abortion. Paulina finally got […]
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Laurie B Roberts(1996) – USA
From Bearing Faith: The Limits of Catholic Health Care for Women of Color Miscarrying woman almost dies after being denied termination at Catholic hospital Laurie Bertram Roberts was twelve weeks pregnant when, fearing that she was experiencing a miscarriage, she rushed to the only hospital in her community, a Catholic facility. After examining her, the […]
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Kathleen Hutchins (1998) – USA
Woman at risk of death with doomed pregnancy was refused abortion at Catholic-controlled hospital and forced to travel 80 miles In 1998, Kathleen Hutchins was working at the drive-thru window at Dunkin’ Donuts. She was fourteen weeks pregnant when her water broke. Her ob/gyn, Dr. Wayne Goldner, told her that her chances of carrying the […]
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Susan (1995) – USA
Pregnant woman at risk of fatal bleeding was refused treatment by religious nurse In 1995, Susan Johnson (a pseudonym) arrived at a New Jersey hospital emergency department eighteen weeks pregnant, standing in a pool of blood. An ultrasound revealed that she suffered from a complete placenta previa, a condition that could become fatal to both […]
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Sophie (1994) – USA
Woman at risk of death refused abortion in Catholic hospital by a lawyer In 1994, 19-year-old Sophie Smith (a pseudonym) of Nebraska was admitted to the emergency room of a Catholic hospital with a blood clot in her lung. Tests revealed she was about 10 weeks pregnant, and the clotting problem resulted from a rare […]
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Heidi (late 1980’s) – USA
Miscarrying woman nearly bleeds to death after being refused abortion at Catholic hospital In the late 1980s in Detroit, Democratic Senator Gary Peters and his then wife, Heidi, were pregnant with their second child, a baby they very much wanted. Heidi was four months along when her water broke, leaving the fetus without amniotic fluid—a […]