Defendants deny malpractice in abortion suit

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By The Lincoln Journal Star

Planned Parenthood of Nebraska and Council Bluffs and one of its physicians are denying claims by a woman who said she had an emergency hysterectomy because of a botched abortion.

Lincoln attorney James Snowden, in a formal answer on behalf of Planned Parenthood and Dr. Meryl Severson, said the woman was well aware of the risks associated with the procedure before it was performed on her at the Lincoln clinic this summer.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, said she had the hysterectomy at a Lincoln hospital because her uterus was perforated during the abortion, performed at the clinic Aug. 17.

According to the lawsuit, filed in August by Lincoln attorney Jefferson Downing, the woman lost four liters of blood from the procedure, which, she said, caused her excruciating pain.

Snowden said in the answer that the woman, who had an earlier elective abortion, was provided information at the time about the risks and complications associated with the procedure.

The attorney also said she was “unusually anxious and had difficulty lying still” despite being given pain medication and a local anesthetic. Snowden said staff advised the woman of the importance of staying still.

In her lawsuit, the woman said staff refused to stop the procedure when she told them she was in pain. Snowden said in the answer that “it would have been medically inappropriate to prematurely terminate” the abortion, given the circumstances.

He acknowledged the woman sustained a perforated uterus, but he said the injury is a rare but recognized complication of abortions “despite great care by the physician performing the procedure.”