Practitioner Faces Revised Lawsuit For Forcing Michigan Woman to Have Abortion

Practitioner Faces Revised Lawsuit For Forcing Michigan Woman to Have Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 31, 2010


Flint, MI (LifeNews.com) -- A Michigan abortion practitioner faces a revised civil lawsuit from a patient who says she was forced to have an abortion even after she changed her mind on the operating table immediately before the abortion was about to begin. Caitlin Bruce, 20, had the abortion at the Feminine Health Care Clinic run by Albert Hodari.

Bruce filed a lawsuit previously, but her attorney submitted new paperwork last week at the Genesee County Circuit Court, according to ConnectMidMichigan.

She said, “He was inserting the speculum, and I told him I'm nervous. I just told him stop please. I'm really nervous and I don't want to do this anymore.”

Hodari reportedly had a nurse hold Bruce down so he could finish the abortion of her child.

Hodari responded to the news service, saying “When she said stop, it was too late… I told her I would stop, but when I take my instrument there was blood and tissue on it from pregnancy, so I couldn't stop.”

However, obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Mona Hardas told the Michigan news outlet that Hodari handled the situation poorly. She said Hodari could have taken Bruce to a local hospital for a second opinion rather than forcing her to have the abortion.

“Even if someone has signed a consent form, if someone wants you to stop you have to stop. I am shocked. I can't believe this is still happening in this day and age," she said.

Hodari responded to those comments, defending his record as an abortion practitioner.

“I am there because I want to help woman have safe abortions. Look at my records. I have done more abortions and longer than any doctor in Michigan," he said.

However, Hodari has also killed women in failed abortions and, last June, he was fined $10,000 by a state board in connection with a woman's botched abortion death.

One of Hodari's staff did an abortion on Regina Johnson who, afterwards, suffered respiratory and cardiac arrest.

Staff at Hodari's abortion center allegedly failed to help her or call for an ambulance and she was deprived of oxygen for an extended time. She died a short time later at Hodari's Womancare clinic in Lathrup Village.
Johnson's death is one of several women to have died over the years under Hodari's care.

The September 17, 2003 abortion saw Milton Nathanson, then employed by Hodari, do an abortion on Johnson. She died the next day from "anoxic encephalopahy due to cardiac arrest" resulting from the abortion, according to official reports.

In addition to Hodari and Nathanson, anesthesiologist Barry Thompson and the abortion clinic's nurse, Cathy Litchig were also implicated in Johnson's death.

The Michigan Attorney General imposed the fine on Hodari on March 4, 2009.

Hodari also faces another lawsuit related to a woman who suffered a botched abortion at one of his Detroit-area abortion centers. The suit says he subjected a woman to an unnecessary abortion procedure after failing to diagnose an ectopic pregnancy.

According to information Operation Rescue provided to LifeNews.com, Marcia Lanqua, 33, went to Hodari’s Womancare of Southfield abortion clinic on May 6, 2009, for an abortion.

She had been refused an abortion by another clinic in Deerfield because an ultrasound performed on her did not reveal an intrauterine pregnancy, which is an indication of the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy.

The pro-life group says Lanqua’s lawsuit indicates that Hodari lacked the skill to diagnose the ectopic pregnancy and instead he negligently did an unnecessary uterine abortion on her.

"Lanqua was admitted to a hospital nine days later where her fallopian tube was removed. Lanqua asserts that she may not have lost her fallopian tube if Hodari had properly identified and treated her ectopic pregnancy," the group said about the lawsuit.

“Operation Rescue is working publicly and behind the scenes to make sure that Hodari is properly brought to justice. We will make sure that the appropriate authorities overseeing Hodari’s license are notified of Mrs. Lanqua’s suit and that it is added to his file,” said OR president Troy Newman.

Also, members of Citizens for a Pro-life Society discovered the remains of aborted babies in Womencare clinic trash dumpsters as well as bio-hazard waste and hundreds of patient records.

Hodari was investigated by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and received a warning from that office.

He was also prosecuted by the Oakland County District Attorney's Office for violating Michigan statutes regarding the improper disposition of patient records. Hodari pled “no contest “ to the first of 12 counts and is currently on probation in that case.

A complaint filed by Miller's group with the Michigan Bureau of Health Professions regarding the patient records issue is currently under review by the Attorney General.

At least two other women have also died from failed abortions at Hodari's abortion centers and many more have been injured.

Tamia Russell was only 15 years old in January of 2004 when her 26-year-old boyfriend paid Hodari $2,000 in cash to abort her baby at over 26 weeks gestation. She died less than 24 hours after obtaining an abortion at Womancare of Southfield/Lathrup Village.

Her guardian was unaware she was pregnant, and had no knowledge of the abortion - until it was too late.

Chivon Williams received a suction abortion by Hodari at an unknown clinic. An hour and forty minutes later, she was discharged even though she was complaining of pain in her stomach and chest. Soon after she arrived at her home, she "became unresponsive." At 5:17, on the same day as the abortion, she was pronounced dead.

http://www.lifenews.com/state5143.html