Practitioner Now Faces Lawsuit, Woman Committed Suicide After Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 5, 2010
Trenton, NJ (LifeNews.com) — Abortion business owner and practitioner Steven Chase Brigham already faces legal troubles in three states over botched abortions and his avoidance of state health and safety laws. Now he faces a lawsuit from the family of a woman who committed suicide after suffering depression following an abortion.
Brigham faces a lawsuit from an aggrieved family, whose youngest daughter committed suicide after an abortion his performed on her and her baby.
Operation Rescue notified LifeNews.com today that George Zallie Sr. claims that neither Brigham nor his staff warned his daughter, Stacy, of the facts about abortion. A wealth of research data shows women who have abortions are have higher rates of depression, PTSD, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide ideation than women who keep their baby.
Zallie says that his daughter tried to commit suicide four times after her abortion by Brigham in July 2001, and she ultimately took her own live in October 2002.
"We lost our youngest child and our first grandchild," Zallie told reporters.
Studies have consistently shown that abortion makes it more likely that women will consider suicide.
A March 2004 report from the National Institutes of Health revealed that suicide is now the third leading cause of death among America’s young people. In fact, for teen girls and young women, the suicide rate has tripled over the past 25 years.
While suicide among women in the typical abortion age range is rising, suicide rates for Americans in general are dropping across the country.
Dr. David Reardon, director of the Elliot Institute, says abortion is partly to blame for the increase.
"Given the fact that more than half of all women having abortions are under the age of 25, and more than 20 percent of women having abortions are teenagers, the increased suicide rate among teens and young women is sadly not a surprise," Reardon said
An Elliot Institute study published in August 2003 edition of the Southern Medical Journal found that women who had abortions were seven times more likely to commit suicide than women who gave birth.
Zallie is currently being represented by pro-life attorney Harold Cassidy. This suit only adds to Brigham’s legal woes.
His New Jersey medical license was suspended in September, 2010, after it was discovered that he was illegally starting late-term abortions in New Jersey, then transporting the women to a secret Eklton, Maryland clinic for the completion of the abortions. Brigham is not licensed in Maryland.
A late-term patient suffered serious complications from a perforated uterus and injured bowel last in August, which helped uncover the illegal abortion operation. Two other associates of Brigham’s, Nicola Riley and George Shepard, Jr. have also had their Maryland medical licenses suspended.
Operation Rescue has filed a complaint with the Elkton State Attorney asking for criminal charges, and is also calling for criminal charges in New Jersey where open investigations continue.
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