A couple of years ago I suggested that if responsible obstetricians wanted to reduce medical negligence claims against them, they should stop condoning the "red light district" of their profession, the abortion industry, as a history of prior abortions increased the likelihood of uterine damage and premature deliveries resulting in disabled infants in subsequent "wanted" pregnancies. (News Weekly, July 27, 2002).My contention was tragically illustrated in the NSW Supreme Court on April 8, 2004 when Mr Justice Michael Grove ruled that the brain damage of a Sydney girl, Kristy Bruce, a result of her mother's uterine rupture - was probably caused by a previous abortion. Consequently the girl lost her claim against her mother's obstetrician, Dr Alan Kaye, for negligence.
Kristy, who is now 15, was born with cerebral palsy. She is confined to a wheelchair and cannot speak. Kristy's mother, Sharon Chevelle, gave birth to the girl at the Royal Hospital for Women, in Sydney's east, on March 21, 1989. Her family sued Dr Kaye for more than $750,000 for malpractice, claiming he miscalculated her mother's expected due date. As a result, the family claimed, Kristy was born between two-and-a-half and six weeks overdue, causing the placenta to deteriorate, a condition known as "placental insufficiency."
However, Mr Justice Grove rejected the claim, noting that the after-effect of the mother's abortion was a more likely cause for Kristy's injuries.
Although obstetrician Alan Kaye was exonerated in the decision, after more than three years of anxiety while the case ground through the courts, his love of the job he has done so well has diminished and he will probably retire early. The costs of the case are estimated at $2 million.
Justice Michael Grove praised Kaye's professionalism and the "integrity" of his records, and said it was his skill that enabled mother and baby to survive. But Kaye feels no elation, no happiness - only relief that his name has been cleared.
According to the Elliot Institute, USA - an organisation that studies complications from abortion - the procedure has been linked with cervical and uterine damage which can increase the risk of premature delivery, labor complications, and abnormal development of the placenta in subsequent pregnancies. Such complications are the leading causes of handicaps in newborns.
- Babette Francis is national and overseas coordinator of Endeavour Forum Inc
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