The Thomas More Society renewed its call for stronger abortion clinic inspection and regulation in Illinois, in the wake of a $2 million wrongful death settlement by Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation with the family of Tonya Reaves, a woman killed by a botched abortion in 2012.
In February 2013, the Thomas More Society filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation (IDPR), requesting an investigation into the Chicago Loop Health Center of Planned Parenthood, which was responsible for Reaves’ botched abortion. No known action has been taken by the IDPR to follow up on the complaint.
In response to the settlement, Peter Breen, vice president and senior counsel of the Thomas More Society, says, “The fact that Planned Parenthood has been allowed to merely pay ‘hush money’ to the victim’s family without any further consequences is a slap in the face to every woman who walks through the doors of the nation’s largest abortion provider.”
After the botched abortion took place, Reaves was left to bleed for five and a half hours in the Planned Parenthood clinic without medical treatment. Furthermore, when Ms. Reaves was finally transferred to the hospital, it took several more hours for her to be treated properly, which indicates Planned Parenthood did not provide the hospital with sufficient information regarding Reaves’ condition. The autopsy after her death revealed that Reaves had suffered perforation of the uterus.
“Ms. Reaves’ tragic death demonstrates the dire need for increased inspection and regulation of Illinois abortion clinics,” Breen adds. “Abortion clinics in this state are not held to the same standards as other outpatient surgical facilities, despite the fact that the average clinic performs hundreds of invasive surgeries each year.”
Read the wrongful death settlement petition here. Read the court’s approval of the wrongful death settlement here.
