Documents Shed Light On Woman's Death After Abortion
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Documents about the abortion performed for a West Side woman - and her subsequent death - reveal some new details about her final hours last Friday.
As WBBM Newsradio's Steve Miller reports, the abortion was last Friday morning, according to documents in the case of 24-year-old Tonya Reaves.
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Reaves had the abortion – formally called a "D and E" or dilation and evacuation procedure - at Planned Parenthood at 18 S. Michigan Ave. at 11 a.m., according to documents.
After the procedure, she was suffering bleeding, and a Fire Department ambulance took her to Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 4:30 p.m.
Then at 5:30 p.m., doctors performed an ultrasound, and another dilation and evacuation procedure – basically, another abortion - this time at Northwestern.
But after that, there were then more problems, and pain. That warranted a new ultrasound, and a perforation was discovered.
At 10:12 p.m., Reaves was taken back to surgery - and "an uncontrollable bleed was discovered," documents say.
Reaves was pronounced dead just in the operating room just over an hour later, at 11:20 p.m.
"It happened so fast. She was just fine one day and then the next day she was gone. We're just trying to figure out what happened... what happened," Toni Reaves said.
In a written statement this past Saturday, Planned Parenthood of Illinois chief executive officer Carole Brite said "We were shocked and saddened upon learning of a tragic development at a nearby hospital. Our hearts go out to the loved ones of this patient.
"While legal abortion services in the United States have a very high safety record, a tragedy such as this is devastating to loved ones and we offer our deepest sympathies. Planned Parenthood of Illinois cares deeply about the health and safety of each and every patient. We do not publicly discuss private patient matters and we follow HIPAA laws that forbid the disclosure of patient information."
