Abortion Death in Massachusetts

The Cape Cod Times has a story about the tragic death of a Laura Hope Smith, a 22-year-old woman in Massachusetts who died from an abortion:

On the day she died, Laura Smith went to the women's health clinic with her friend Karen Trott of Dennisport, for the first of two appointments that day, Trott said.

Smith received an initial treatment, to prepare for the abortion that would take place later in the afternoon. She was not allowed to drive, so the two women spent the day together, with Trott driving, running errands and talking, Trott said.

"I couldn't eat all day long because she couldn't eat."

At around 4 p.m. Smith and Trott returned to the clinic and waited for Smith to be called into the office.

Trott left for a short time at around 5 p.m., thinking the procedure would be done in about 15 minutes. When she returned she waited and waited, becoming increasingly upset, she said.

"And then all of a sudden (an assistant) comes out and says she's not breathing," Trott said. "And I was like, what do you mean she's not breathing?"

Rescuers from the Hyannis Fire Department were sent to 68 Camp St. at 5:49 p.m. on Sept. 13, performed CPR on an unnamed patient and transferred the person to Cape Cod Hospital, according to a fire official. He could not reveal the name of the patient because of medical privacy laws.

Trott drove to the hospital as well and asked to see Smith but wasn't allowed to do so. When she asked about Smith's status, she was told, "It doesn't look good."

In national figures from the Centers for Disease Control, there were 846,000 legal abortions and nine abortion-related deaths in 2002.