Woman Gets Apology From Hospital That Did Abortion Without Consent

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 23, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 23,
2007

Harlow, England (LifeNews.com) — A British woman who was awarded $55,000 this summer after a British hospital did an abortion on her and killed her unborn child without her consent has received an official apology. Teresa Cooper went to Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow when she worried that antibiotics she took to combat an E.coli infection could have hurt her baby.

According to the lawsuit she filed against the hospital, Cooper said doctors there failed to give her information on the health of her baby before doing the abortion.

Cooper, a 40 year-old mother of three, signed an informed consent form for the abortion but two days later watched a pro-life video that changed her mind about going through with it.

When she finally arrived at the hospital for the scheduled abortion, Cooper said she only wanted to have it if doctors determined the drugs she took for the infection had damaged her baby.

Instead, she was taken immediately into surgery and the abortion was done, killing the baby.

Cooper has now received an official apology from the hospital.

"The failure to properly counsel you about your pregnancy, confirm consent and see you preoperatively despite your concern led to unnecessary distress, pain and suffering," the letter sent to her says, according to a Harlow Herald report.

"It is accepted the care you received fell below the standard you were entitled to expect and we are truly sorry this occurred," it added.

David Kerry, the woman’s attorney, spoke with the newspaper about the apology and what happened.

"It was as if she was on a conveyor belt, which was impossible to stop," he said.

"It was obvious that she was in great distress, but she didn’t see a doctor in spite of her requests to do so. She was not respected as an individual, with the tragic result that she lost her baby totally unnecessarily," he added.

Princess Alexandra hospital admitted after the suit was filed that it erred and did the abortion without giving Cooper an adequate chance of considering all her options and without all the information she requested. It settled with Cooper out of court and awarded her the monetary damages.

Cooper talked about the experience with the London Daily Mail newspaper and said the situation had "opened all the wounds of my childhood."

She said her father was an alcoholic and her mother suffered from mental health issues and that she was sexually abused in the British childcare system.

"When you’ve gone through the care system and the only thing you’ve ever been good at is having your children and someone takes that away from you, that is really bad for someone like me," Cooper told the Daily Mail.

The hospital is training its staff to make sure Cooper’s situation isn’t repeated.