Tragic stories of pregnancy complications have been making headlines in the last year, blaming pro-life laws in pro-life states for situations in which pregnant women were denied the care they needed. But a case out of New York — one of the most pro-abortion states in the nation — is further evidence that the problem isn’t pro-life laws, but negligent doctors.
Kathleen Szekely sent an email to the pro-life organization Secular Pro-Life detailing her story. Szekely is a registered nurse and wrote that what happened to her “illustrates the absurdity of stringing together assumed political relevance with real emergency practice.”
She explained, “In my case, a potentially fatal fallopian tube rupture was the result of an ectopic pregnancy. My pregnancy had been closely followed with serial labs and ultrasounds suspiciously showing no intrauterine sac [no amniotic sac was visible in the uterus] with an increasing HCG [pregnancy hormone]. After a week or so, a sudden onset of new symptoms was dismissed by my doctor. Even though he had access to my record, he told me that I was miscarrying. Hours later, I landed in the emergency room for lifesaving surgery. I lost enough blood that I needed to be transfused as well.”
New York law allows abortion through 24 weeks and after 24 weeks for health reasons. But, as defined by Doe v. Bolton, “health” reasons for abortion include mental health as well as financial, psychological, and familial health. New York’s Reproductive Health Act, which took effect in 2019, fails to define “health” at all, creating a large loophole for an abortionist’s interpretations of the word in the context of abortion.
One such ‘judgment’ call from abortionists led to the death of a 23-year-old abortion patient in 2017. Keisha Atkins died during a 24-week abortion (6 months) in pro-abortion New Mexico. Abortionist Shannon Carr had only spoken with her for about 20 minutes when she decided to justify a late abortion on a healthy, viable baby and healthy mother. She would go on to claim during a deposition regarding Atkins’ death that her assessment of Atkins’ mental health was “just… speculation of parenting at a young age as a single mom.” When asked how the pregnancy would cause irreversible harm to Atkins’ mental health, Carr said, “Financially not stable; depression; anxiety,” and admitted that it was “speculation as to any forward effects [of pregnancy] on her mental health.”
Though New York law states abortion is only allowed after 24 weeks for “health” reasons, these “health” reasons can encompass so many situations that the law essentially allows abortion for any reason right up to 40 weeks.
READ: Media tries to blame pro-life laws in cases of medical neglect
Szekely noted that the medical staff she had in New York “were most definitely abortion-minded.”
She explained, “‘Is this a pregnancy you care to keep?’ were first words on intake for bleeding in early pregnancy. This question came from a well-known practice in New York state, where abortion is abundant, despite the question having no relevance in decision making about my care.”
The first question she was asked at the hospital was whether or not she wanted her baby. Though her ultrasound showed no amniotic sac present in the uterus and labs showed the pregnancy hormone HCG, doctors did nothing to verify a dangerous ectopic pregnancy. The surgical procedure to treat an ectopic pregnancy is not an abortion, but even in a pro-abortion state, doctors ignored Szekely’s dangerous health condition and put her life at risk.
These situations are not related to political laws but are the direct result of medical neglect.
“So mishandling can happen no matter what the provider’s bias is,” Szekely said. “At no time did I think this doctor dismissed notorious symptoms because his organization was openly pro-abortion, the state has open access to abortion, or he himself may be indifferent to prenatal human life. His dismissal was a bad call, incompetence, period.”
