When Ayanna Byer scheduled an appointment at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains to take an abortion pill to end her pregnancy, there was no way for her to foresee the horrors ahead of her. Earlier this month, Byer, through the assistance of the attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom, brought a lawsuit to hold Planned Parenthood liable for the botched abortion that she did not consent to.
According to that complaint, when Byer arrived at the Planned Parenthood clinic, it was determined that her pregnancy was too far along to be terminated through the use of a pill, therefore a surgical abortion was recommended. Ms. Byer agreed upon the condition that she would receive IV anesthesia, for which she would be charged extra. Although the employees could not get the IV started, the doctor came to start the procedure anyway.
The complaint states:
At this time, Plaintiff immediately told the Planned Parenthood Doctor to stop and that she did not want to go through with the abortion procedure because she had not received any anesthetic. Plaintiff also informed Planned Parenthood Doctor and agents or employees of Planned Parenthood Defendants that she believed this to be a sign she should not go through with the abortion. The Planned Parenthood Doctor did not stop despite Plaintiff’s request, and assured Plaintiff the I.V. would be administered and the procedure would only take a few minutes.
At this time, the Planned Parenthood Doctor turned on the vacuum machines and told Plaintiff it was too late to stop.
Seven minutes later, due to Ms. Byer crying from pain, the procedure finally stopped. She received an apology and a prescription for a painkiller and antibiotics and was sent on her way. Planned Parenthood never followed up with her.
About two days later, Ms. Byer went to the hospital due to pain and bleeding, where it was found that part of the aborted baby was still inside her, resulting in an infection. She had to have emergency surgery.
Dr. Foley, who preformed Ms. Byer’s emergency surgery, accused Planned Parenthood of abandoning their patent:
It is not acceptable to refer your patients to the emergency department and assume the on-call doctor will take care of any complications and assume all the risk associated with the complications.
No practicing physician can maintain privileges to practice and perform surgery if they do not provide specific coverage for their patients in case of a complication. It is considered abandonment of your patient
The complaint alleges seven different claims for relief:
- Negligence – alleging that the abortion was negligently performed, causing pain, suffering, and medical expenses to Ms. Byer
- Battery – alleging that the medical procedure without consent caused harm
- Uninformed Consent – alleging that the procedure went on even though Ms. Byer did not consent to an abortion without anesthetics
- False Imprisonment – alleging that Ms. Byer was kept against her will
- Extreme and Outrageous Conduct Causing Emotional Distress – alleging that as a result of a botched surgical abortion that Ms. Byer did not want to have, Ms. Byer suffered from emotional distress
- Breach of Fiduciary Duty – alleging that the doctor and clinic negligently performed the abortion, negligently stopped the abortion, and did not follow up with the client
- Breach of Contract – alleging that Ms. Byer agreed only to a surgical abortion with anesthesia, and no anesthesia was given to her
Michael Norton, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, believes that taxpayer dollars should not be used to support this type of organization:
Is this the type of organization American taxpayers should be funding to the tune of $540 million per year?
