Court Rules Woman Can Sue Abortion Clinic for Wrongful-Death

CHICAGO -- An Illinois appeals court says a woman whose 13-year-old daughter died while having an abortion can sue the Chicago clinic where it happened. Dianne Adams filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in 1994. A jury ruled in favor of the clinic five years later, but that decision was reversed in 2000 by an appellate court that said a judge wrongly blocked some evidence from being heard. Claim 'too much anesthesia' The suit was refiled in 2004, but clinic attorneys asked the court to dismiss it because so much time had elapsed. Though the family's attorneys blamed the delays on court docketing errors, a judge agreed to throw out the case. That decision was appealed by the girl's mom, and Thursday's appellate court decision reinstates the suit, finding there indeed were clerical errors.

The Wheels Of Justice Grind Slowly Indeed
Diane Adams will be able to sue the people who killed her daughter in a botched abortion in 1992. Deanna Bell was 13 years old when staff at FPA's Albany Medical Surgical Clinic in Chicago gave her a massive overdose of Brevitol, then according to their own records, stood around doing nothing after she stopped breathing. The clinic in question was and remains a member of the National Abortion Federation. Posted by Editor at June 10, 2005 02:58 PM