The father of a teenage girl who was killed by the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug that she received from a Planned Parenthood clinic has started a new effort to inform women about the risks and dangers associated with it.
This week is the 11th anniversary of the approval of the abortion drug during the waning days of the Clinton administration.
In August 2003, Holly Patterson, then 17, discovered she had become pregnant with her boyfriend, seven years her senior. On September 10, shortly after her 18th birthday, the couple went to a Planned Parenthood clinic to inquire about an abortion of her seven-week-old unborn child. There, she received the first of two drugs in the mifepristone abortion protocol.
At the Planned Parenthood facility, Holly received an abortion drug regimen not approved by the FDA consisting of 200-mg mifepristone orally — which blocks the hormone progesteromontene that is required to maintain a pregnancy. At home, 24 hours later, on September 11, she followed the clinics instructions to vaginally insert 800-mcg of misoprostol to induce labor contractions and expel the body of the dead baby.
On September 13, Holly repeatedly called the Planned Parenthood clinic hotline to complain of severe cramping. She was told her symptoms were normal and to take the clinic prescribed Tylenol-Codeine painkiller. Later, Holly called the clinic’s hotline again and was told to go to a local hospital’s emergency room if the pain continued.
The next day, Holly continued to experience extreme cramping and bleeding, and visited the emergency room of Valley Care Medical Center in Pleasanton. She told the doctor about her drug-induced abortion and she was sent home after an injection of narcotics getting a prescription for more painkillers.
The severity of the pain continued. Holly was weak, vomiting, and unable to walk. She was re-admitted to Valley Care Medical Center on September 17 and died later that afternoon with her father, Monty Patterson, who had just learned of the pregnancy, at her side.
“Holly died on the seventh day after starting the mifepristone/misoprostol medical abortion regimen and on the same day she was scheduled to return to Planned Parenthood for a follow up visit to make sure her abortion had been completed,” Patterson said.
In October, the Alameda, California coroner’s office issued a report concluding that Holly Patterson died from Septic Shock, due to endomyometritis (uterus related blood infection),due to a therapeutic, drug induced abortion. Months later, reports showed Holly tested positive for Clostridium sordellii toxic shock syndrome following medical abortion. Hers was the first case of a Clostridium sordellii toxic shock infection after medical abortion reported in the United States — later shown to be brought on because Planned Parenthood violated FDA protocols by telling Holly and other patients to take the abortion drug vaginally.
Since her death in 2003, there have been 10 reported deaths from sepsis (serious infection involving the blood) and 9 of these were from Clostridium sordellii. Dozens of women worldwide have died from the abortion drug as well, according to FDA reports and the European maker of the drug. The FDA also indicates more than 2,200 women in the United States alone have been injured by the abortion drug — with some requiring hospitalization,emergency surgeries and complete blood transfusions.
Following Holly’s death, Monte Patterson has endeavored to draw more attention to how the abortion drug hurts women.
“Despite the drug’s controversies, while weaving its way through the abortion-related political hazards, medical abortion has made its impact on women. Particularly, the tragic consequences it has had on the lives of many women and their families,” he said. “Women are relying upon what they believe is factual information along with a supportive network of providers assuring them of the drug’s safety and effectiveness. That wasn’t the case for Holly Patterson and many others like her who participated in their own medical
abortion procedure.”
Patterson says it is “critical that a patient is fully informed of the procedures, administration, and health risks involved with a medical abortion.
To further that goal, Patterson has launched the website Abortionpillrisks.org along with what may be the world’s first video on “Medical Abortion with Mifepristone and Misoprostol” that he put together to “help other women learn about the risk and the facts of the medical abortion pill.”
“No woman should have to risk her life or her health because she lacks factual and accurate medical abortion information,” he said. “The website, Abortionpillrisks.org – Just the Facts, is a way for women and families to learn about the risks of medical abortion and to be able to share their experience and story with others.”
