Can I Sue an Illinois Doctor for a Botched Abortion?

 Posted on August 11, 2022 in Maternal Injuries

Abortion has always had a painful stigma for the women who seek it, even when their own lives are at risk. Due to recent political events, this threat may have increased, making it hard for women to talk about having an abortion and to seek the help and emotional support they need. When an abortion goes wrong and a woman is injured, this lack of support can leave a woman feeling like she has nowhere to turn for help. 

Tragically, this lead leads to a lack of resources about what a woman can do after a injury resulting from a terminated pregnancy. Whether the pregnancy was terminated for medical or elective reasons does not matter; a doctor still has the same duty to provide a patient with the standard of medical care. Abortion clinics and doctors’ offices that provide abortions are subject to the same malpractice laws that any other doctor is subject to. If you were injured during an abortion, you are not alone. You may be able to take legal action to recover compensation for your suffering. 

What is Medical Malpractice? 

While the vast majority of doctors are responsible practitioners who work with great care, doctors are still just people who can struggle with addiction, fatigue, sloppy worksmanship, and more. When a doctor or other medical professional causes a patient harm through the doctor’s laziness, mistaken choices, or other incompetent actions, that can constitute medical malpractice. 

For a medical malpractice case to be successful in Illinois, a patient must demonstrate that the following is true: 

• The doctor owed a duty of care to the patient (i.e., they had a doctor-patient relationship)
• The doctor breached this duty of care through negligence, carelessness, sloppy work, etc.
• The breach of care caused the patient injury, and
• That injury caused the patient damages 

So, for example, a woman who had an abortion that went poorly despite a doctor’s best efforts to protect the patient’s well-being would likely not have a cause for a medical malpractice lawsuit, even if the emotional and physical consequences to the woman were great. But when a woman has an abortion in which she suffers a serious but avoidable injury to the womb that results in life-threatening bleeding, she may have a legitimate case for malpractice. 

Contact a Chicago Abortion Injury Attorney

The pain and trauma a woman already feels going through an abortion can be made so much worse by a careless doctor who injures a patient with an incomplete or sloppy procedure. To take action against a healthcare provider who is responsible for abortion malpractice, contact the Cook County abortion injury lawyers with Birth Injury Law Alliance, Ltd. today. Call us for a free, confidential consultation at 312-462-4200. We offer a judgement-free space where you can get the help you need. 

Source: 

https://scdhec.gov/risks-abortion