Tuscaloosa Thread (12/06/21)

A woman from Shelby County has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the West Alabama Women’s Center (WAWC) in Tuscaloosa over an abortion that allegedly almost killed her and left her unable to become pregnant again last December. The five-count lawsuit was filed last month, on November 11th, in the circuit court of Tuscaloosa County. Judge Daniel F. Pruet, who was elected to his seat on the bench in 2020, will preside over the case.

“Predisposed to Suffer”

The suit centers on the plight of a Shelby County woman identified under the pseudonym “Jane Stone,” who reportedly first visited the WAWC on December 22, 2020, for a pre-admission evaluation for an abortion. “Jane Stone informed [a nurse] that she decided to have an abortion after prenatal genealogical testing revealed that her child was predisposed to suffer from lifelong health disorders, including Downs [sic] Syndrome,” according to the lawsuit. Stone also allegedly asked about the risks specific to the pregnancy termination procedure recommended to her, which is called Dilation & Evacuation. She was told that hemorrhaging was the primary complication that arose after the procedure, and a nurse allegedly explained that “a patient had died following a procedure performed at the clinic, but … the patient’s death was the result of drug use and not related to the procedure or complications of the procedure.” Stone underwent an ultrasound and scheduled her abortion for December 28th, 2020. Tamer Yvette Middleton, a Georgia physician who practices at the West Alabama Women’s Center, was set to perform the procedure.

The Process

(Editor’s note: the paragraphs below will describe an abortion procedure in detail and also outline how Jane Stone’s reportedly went wrong. Reader discretion is advised.) After setting the stage with this background information, the lawsuit explains the process of a Dilation and Evacuation procedure. According to the complaint, a D&E is the “preferred method” for performing late first-trimester and second-trimester abortions. Essentially, instruments are passed through the cervix and into the uterus, where the fetus is then vacuumed out of the body. The procedure requires advance preparation, called cervical priming, to allow the medical instruments to pass safely into the uterus. According to the lawsuit, this priming is usually done through medications such as Cytotec, which softens, thins and opens the cervix before the procedure. “In order to properly dilate the cervix pre-operatively, the woman must receive the agent at least three hours prior to her procedure,” the complaint read.

The Day of the Procedure

Continue reading “BREAKING NEWS: Woman Sues Tuscaloosa Abortion Clinic Over Allegedly Botched Abortion”