(Dec.
8, 2009) A Michigan woman who says that an abortionist held her down on the
operating table and forcibly aborted her fetus after she changed her mind has
filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages.Caitlin Bruce, of Genesee County, was 18 years old and six weeks pregnant when she went to the Feminine Health Care Clinic in 2008 in Flint for an abortion. While getting an ultrasound, the clinic worker showed her the image and said, "This is your baby. This is the heart flicker," Bruce then says she changed her mind.
She claims that Dr. Abraham Hodari did the procedure anyway, according to WJRT-TV. "He told his assistant, 'Hold her down.' They had my arm pinned," Bruce told the TV station.
Tried to Scream, "Stop"
"His weight was all on my chest and then he took his hand and he had it so tight on my mouth that it was muffled. I was trying to scream, 'Stop!'"
In court documents, the abortionist claims that he had started the procedure before she changed her mind. "The surgical instrument was inside her uterus and she was already bleeding when she verbalized any misgivings."
The case, in which Bruce is claiming $25,000 in damages, is the latest incident involving women who feel they have been coerced into having an abortion by others, whether they be boyfriends, parents, or overly-persuasive or forceful clinic workers. Since 1980, mental health providers have begun treating an increasing number of women who are suffering mental and emotional difficulties as a result of induced abortions, and the experience of feeling pressured into an abortion is common, according to the Elliot Institute.
No woman should be coerced into having an abortion. It is important for women to make a free choice. The best way to make a free choice is to make sure that you have complete, accurate information about abortion procedures and their short and long-term effects. It is also important to discuss your decision in a calm, unpressured atmosphere with an unbiased professional.
Women in Berwyn, Cicero, Stickney, N. Riverside, Forest Park, Maywood and other nearby suburbs in the western Chicago, IL area who need more information about abortion procedures and the short and long-term effects should call WomanCare Services, at 708-795-6000.
See also
"Lawsuit: Teen alleges Flint doctor forced her to have abortion after she changed her mind," Flint Journal, Nov. 20, 2009.