Tonya Reaves, 24, died last Friday in Chicago after sustaining injuries and excessive bleeding after an abortion at one of the Planned Parenthood clinics in downtown Chicago. An autopsy was completed this past Saturday, and the results listed Ms. Reaves’s cause of death to be from a hemorrhage, with a cervical dilation and evacuation, as well as an intrauterine pregnancy, as contributing causes. Her death was ruled an “accident” by the Cook County medical examiner.
The family is seeking answers to the cause of her death. Her twin sister, Toni, was quoted by the CBS local affiliate, “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.”
In a written statement, Planned Parenthood of Illinois CEO Carole Brite wrote:
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 . . . a tragedy such as this is devastating to loved ones and we offer our deepest condolences. 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.
Clearly, Ms. Brite’s statement was reviewed by her legal counsel because the tragic event took place not at the Planned Parenthood abortion mill, but at a “nearby hospital.” Even more sadly, the Illinois legislature (where former state senator Obama voted “present” 129 times) has repeatedly failed to pass legislation that would require abortion clinics to meet the same medical standards as surgical centers, rather than the lower standards of a physician’s office where surgeries are not performed. The abortion lobby, along with its allies at the American Civil Liberties Union and others, have opposed all of those bills under consideration, even though the measures, as we have seen from the events of last Friday, actually could protect the lives and health of women.
Ms. Reaves was engaged to be married, and is survived by a one-year-old son, Alvin. Peace to the memory of Ms. Reaves and her baby, and may God bring comfort to her family during these tragic days.
Tradgedy comes every single day to 50% of those served by Planned Parenthood clinics: the children who they abort. That “tragedy” is purposeful, planned murder of the innocent children in wombs.
I pray a greedy attorney gets to represent the family of Tonya.
An aggressive lawyer may go much farther in providing for the future needs of little Alvin.
While this will certainly give fuel to a lot of antiabortion zealots, one has to remember that the chance of dying from complications of pregnancy or childbirth are thousands of times higher than dying from a legal abortion. Before Roe vs Wade thousands of women died every year from illegal abortions. All surgery carries risk of death or serious injury, even having a tooth pulled could result in complications and death. Outlawing abortion is not the answer here.