Marie Stopes' staff charged with manslaughter

A doctor and two nurses are being charged with manslaughter following a botched abortion at a Marie Stopes clinic in west London.

The abortion was conducted in 2012 on a 32-year-old African woman, who had travelled from Dublin. The woman was married with one child, a two-year-old daughter, and working in Ireland on a student visa. 

She had the abortion at 4.30pm on 21 January 2012, but during the operation suffered a tear to her uterine wall that left her bleeding. Afterward, she collapsed on the floor and was hyperventilating, but was nonetheless discharged at 8.30pm. She took a taxi to a friend’s house, but at some point along the way fell unconscious. 

An ambulance was called and CPR was performed, but at 10pm she was declared dead at Wrexham Park Hospital in Slough. The cause of death was a heart attack, believed to have been caused by excessive internal blood loss. 

The doctor, Adedayo Adedeji, 62, and nurses Gemma Pullen, 31, and Margaret Miller, 54, face charges of “manslaughter by gross negligence and failing to take reasonable care of other persons who may be affected by acts or omissions at work”.

It has now emerged that this is not the first incident at Marie Stopes’ Ealing abortion clinic. The clinic had previously employed Dr Phanuel Dartey, who in 2006 put a woman’s life in jeopardy by only partially completing an abortion. 

It emerged that Dr Dartey had faked his certificate from the Medical Protection Society. He was later struck off by a GMC disciplinary panel. 

Both this and the more recent incident shine a spotlight on the harsh realities of legalised abortion. Just because abortion is legal does not make it safe, nor do those performing abortions necessarily have their patients’ best interests at heart. 

Dr Adedeji and the nurses’ negligence in 2012 also highlights the double standard our society has toward unborn babies. The baby that was aborted had reached the age of viability. While doctors in UK neonatal units fight to save the lives of children of 22 weeks, Dr Adedji and others like him are legally permitted to take the lives of babies of the same age. 

Meanwhile, Marie Stopes is also under the spotlight for two of its doctors being caught on camera being prepared to offer abortions to women because their babies were female.

Dr Adedeji and nurses Pullen and Miller appeared before Ealing Magistrates' Court on 19 June, and are due to stand trial on 3 July 2015 at the Old Bailey. They are currently released on bail. No statement has been issued by Marie Stopes.

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Related Coverage:
Doctor and nurses in abortion clinic death manslaughter charges (BBC)
Abortion doctor charged after Dublin woman dies (Times)