Eurice Agbagaa
Eurice, a 26-year-old immigrant from Ghana, went to Abram Zelikman for
a safe, legal abortion on January 7, 1989. Zelikman estimated the pregnancy as 11 to 12 12 weeks. He performed the abortion at about
1PM, then sent Eurice to the recovery room.
Over the next 2 1/2 hours, Eurice bled so heavily that the receptionist,
Yolanda Penalzer, became alarmed and asked Zelikman to do something. Zelikman
told her that the bleeding was normal and that she should put an ice bag
on the patient. He then left the facility, leaving Yolada to care for the
patients in recovery.
Yolanda continued to be concerned about Eurice's bleeding, and tried
repeatedly to reach Zelikman at his home, but couldn't contact him. Finally
she called an ambulance.
The ambulance crew found Yolanda performing CPR on Eurice, who was in
shock. They were able to restore her breathing and transport her to a hospital,
where an emergency hysterecomy was done. It was determined that Eurice had actually been at least 19 weeks pregnant. Eurice had a perforated uterus
and severed abdominal artery. |
Unintended Late Abortions
Eurice isn't the only woman who ended up having an abortion far later in the pregnancy than she intended. |
|
Eurice survived the surgery and was put on life support, but remained
in a coma until her death in the early morning of January 15.
Sources: New York Post 1/10/89; New
York Daily News 1/12/89, 1/16/89; Associated Press 1/16/89, 2/3/89
Abortion Deaths
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