Suit for Wrongful Birth?

[bigh0rt]

BOSTON --A Boston woman who gave birth after a failed abortion has filed a lawsuit against two doctors and Planned Parenthood seeking the costs of raising her child.

Raper claimed in the three-page medical malpractice suit that she found out she was pregnant in March 2004 and decided to have an abortion for financial reasons.

Dr. Allison Bryant, a physician working for Planned Parenthood at the time, performed the procedure on April 9, 2004, but it "was not done properly, causing the plaintiff to remain pregnant," according to the complaint.

Raper then went to see Dr. Benjamin Eleonu at Boston Medical Center in July 2004, and he failed to detect the pregnancy even though she was 20 weeks pregnant at the time, the lawsuit alleges.

It was only when Raper went to the New England Medical Center emergency room for treatment of pelvic pain in late September that year that she found out she was pregnant, the suit said.

She gave birth to a daughter on Dec. 7, 2004.

She is seeking damages, including child-rearing costs.

Raper and her lawyer, Barry C. Reed Jr., refused comment when contacted by The Boston Globe.

A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood said the organization does not comment on pending litigation.

Neither doctor responded to requests for comment.

Raper alleges in the suit that Planned Parenthood and Bryant were negligent for failing to end her pregnancy and that Eleonu was negligent for failing to see she was still pregnant.

The state's high court ruled in 1990 that parents can sue physicians for child-rearing expenses, but limited those claims to cases in which children require extraordinary expenses because of medical problems, medical malpractice lawyer Andrew C. Meyer Jr. said.

Raper's suit has no mentions of medical problems involving her now 2-year-old daughter.

As with all medical malpractice suits in Massachusetts, Raper's complaint will have to be screened by a tribunal consisting of a Superior Court judge, a lawyer, and a doctor to determine whether it has merit to go to trial.

[DatYellowGuy]

That's stupid. Why didn't she just give her kid up for adoption if she couldn't afford to raise one. I'm guessing she kept the child just so she could file a lawsuit and even though it doesn't say how much she is suing for I'm guessing it exceeds 1 million dollars. However, I don't understand how a doctor could miss a 20 week pregnancy unless the failed abortion made the pregnancy undetectable but then again I don't know anything about stuff like that.

[bigh0rt]

Two glaring things that stick out to me...

1) Her name is Raper.

2) How did she not realize she was still pregnant?

Beyond that, I think she has every right to do exactly what she's doing. If I could get a good answer to question two, I'd say she's well within her rights.

[cyanide]

2) How did she not realize she was still pregnant?

She's obviously obese if the doctor couldn't tell she's pregnant, and unless she was lying, she has problems with her monthly periods.

I think she's just lucky to live in a state where abortion is legal, but I think it's stupid that "I didn't know I was pregnant" would be a valid excuse.