News

DETROIT, April 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A press conference is scheduled for Friday, April 9, to discuss the negligence of a Womancare abortionist in the death of fifteen year-old Tamiah Russell, who died in January, two days after a second-trimester abortion. The abortion was performed on her at Womancare abortion center in the Detroit suburb of Lathrup Village. Dr. Alberto Hodari performed the abortion. Her unborn child was six-months gestation.

Very little media attention has been drawn to the tragedy of this girl’s death. The abortion was performed without parental consent—contrary to Michigan law. The father of the aborted baby is 24 years old. No charges have been filed against the father of the unborn child—even though Tamiah Russell was a victim, not only of a botched abortion, but of statutory rape.

Timiah’s family is outraged over the abortion and blames abortionist Hodari for Tamiah’s death. This is the second woman to die from consequencs to an abortion at the Womancare abortion center. The family has contacted attorney Geoffrey Feiger to initiate a lawsuit against the abortion clinic.

An autopsy was performed on Tamiah January 9th by Dr. Leigh Hlavaty. Ann Norton, a Michigan pro-life activist, contacted Dr. Hlavaty to inquire about the autopsy results. The girl died from “uterine infraction with sepsis due to a second trimester abortion,” he said. Hlavaty told Ann, Norton, who is also a nurse, that the “girl’s death was normal.” The doctor explained: “I rule it normal because these complications are expected with this type of abortion.”

No less than 23 law suits have been filed against Womancare since the late 1980s. These cases were researched by pro-life activists in the late 1990s and turned over to Kathleen Wilbur at the Michigan Department of Health’s Allegations and Complaints Department. Pro-lifers repeatedly pressed for an investigation, but no investigation ever occurred regarding the medical practices of Womancare.

“Maybe now something will be done,” states Monica Migliorino Miller, Ph.D, director of Citizens for a Pro-life Society. “Woman are dying from the so-called ‘safe and legal’ abortion. Indeed, a woman died at the Albany abortion center in Chicago on March 27th.”

The girl’s mother and legal guardian will present statements to the media on Good Friday, April 9, at 11:00AM, on the sidewalk in front of Womancare Abortion Clinic, 28505 Southfield Rd. Lathrup Village, Michigan.

The lawsuits filed against the clinic will be made public at the press conference as well as statistics on physical complications to women in legal abortion. Members of Tamiah Russell’s family will be present for questions.  For more information, contact [email protected]