Injured Women Continue to Sue Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood bills itself as "the nation's most trusted provider of sexual and reproductive health care." However, some women are alleging that they have suffered major injuries at PPFA clinics and are suing the nation's largest abortion chain. (See also the sidebar on page nine.)

Last August, a 40-year-old Nebraska woman (identified as "Jane Doe") filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of Nebraska and Council Bluffs and Dr. Meryl Severson. She alleged that the abortionist operating on her at the Lincoln clinic botched the job, causing her to suffer a great deal of pain and requiring her to undergo an emergency hysterectomy at a nearby hospital (Lincoln Journal-Star, 9/1/07).

According to her lawsuit, on August 17 the woman was taken into the operating room where Severson began the abortion, even though an ultrasound indicated she had a tilted uterus. Almost immediately after the suction was turned on, the patient felt pressure in her uterus and complained of excruciating pain.

She told the staff to stop the abortion, the Lincoln Journal Star reported, but the abortionist said they couldn't. Three staffers held the woman down while Severson completed the abortion, the lawsuit claimed.

After passing out in the recovery area and suffering the first of three seizures, the woman was taken by Lincoln Fire and Rescue to the Bryan LGH Medical Center East, where a physician determined that the woman had experienced a "catastrophic perforation" of the uterus during the abortion. Doctors there performed an emergency hysterectomy because of the "extensive nature of the trauma," according to documents submitted with the lawsuit.

A doctor who signed a summary of the incident said, "Had she not received emergency care when she did, it is my professional opinion that the patient could have hemorrhaged to death," the newspaper reported.

Planned Parenthood of Nebraska told the Associated Press (AP) that the abortion had been performed "with great care" and a lawyer for the group said that the woman had already had an elective abortion and was counseled again about the medical risks (AP, 11/29/07).