Late-Term Abortionist Leroy Carhart Sued for Malpractice After Women Suffer Life-Threatening Experiences

A Virginia woman is suing late-term abortionist, Dr. Leroy Carhart for negligence after she suffered horrifying and near-fatal injuries during an abortion procedure last year.

The case was filed on Sept. 23 on behalf of Ashley P. Norris, who underwent an abortion at Carhart's facility in Bethesda, Maryland in May 2020.

A complaint was also filed against Dr. Elizabeth Swallow, and AbortionClinics.org, also known as Clinics for Abortion and Reproductive Excellence. 

Court documents point out that Norris was 25 weeks pregnant and that it was a two-day process to complete her abortion procedure.  

Norris met with Carhart and Swallow on the first day and received an ultrasound examination. She was given oral medications and a "vaginal insertion of a seaweed extract known as 'laminaria' designed to cause cervical dilation."

On the second day, Norris was given additional oral medications to further dilate her uterus. 

The complaint states that while "the dilation of the plaintiff's uterus had not proceeded as expected," the doctors still placed her under anesthesia and proceeded with the abortion.

Norris awoke during the procedure due to experiencing severe pain but was given additional anesthesia. Then, she began to bleed heavily and her blood pressure dropped to a dangerously low level.

Fire and rescue personnel responded to the clinic and transported Norris to a local hospital where surgeons "retained fetal parts in the uterus." Her uterus and bowel were also torn, causing "excessive blood loss, anemia, and respiratory failure."

According to the legal filing, Norris is suing for permanent internal injuries, incurred medical expenses, mental anguish, and pain and suffering.

But this is not the first botched abortion performed by Carhart and his team. 

Operation Rescue reports that a woman named Haimamot Aragaw underwent an abortion with Carhart and his associate, Anh-Chi Dang Do during May 2020 - just nine days after Norris. 

Aragaw, who was 23 weeks pregnant, suffered from serious internal injuries including a torn uterus, massive bleeding, and damage to her appendix due to an incomplete abortion. The procedure reportedly left "most of her partially beheaded baby inside her abdominal cavity." 

In an attempt to save her life, doctors performed a full hysterectomy on Aragaw. She also filed a malpractice suit against Carhart and Do in July 2021. 

"The lawsuit alleges that Carhart, Do, and the abortion facility staff 'departed from the standard of care' – an understatement if there ever was one," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "In essence, the baby and the mother were both endured barbaric butchery, and the mother only survived by the unmerited grace of God." 

Carhart also operates an abortion facility in Bellevue, Nebraska. 

CBN News has previously reported that Carhart, 80, has a reputation for performing abortions on women all the way up to nine months of pregnancy and some may have been illegal.

He is known for offering a very comforting website for women who want to abort their fully formed, yet unborn babies. And he specifically focuses on those with defects or abnormalities but doesn't indicate that those are the only late-term babies he is willing to abort. 

CBN News reached out to Carhart's office for comment but did not hear back at the time of publication.

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