It’s only through her death certificate that we could confirm that the abortion caused Erwin’s death on July 4, 2016. The heavily-redacted autopsy report hid any mention of how she died from a blood clot and perforated uterus following her abortion. The Kalamazoo Gazette filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and this time Calhoun County’s FOIA coordinator released the autopsy report with the relevant details included.
Erwin’s blood clot was caused by a 4-centimeter tear in her uterus following her abortion and IUD placement. The tear went entirely through the uterus. The medical examiner also found 250 cubic centimeters of blood near her uterus, indicating that Erwin was bleeding internally.
An important addition to this evidence are the hospital records released by Erwin’s family. Bronson Battle Creek Hospital found that the abortion was incomplete, meaning parts of her baby or the placenta was still in her womb (the medical examiner made no specific mention of this in the autopsy report). The hospital did not find the perforated uterus, and also did not find a clot. Erwin was sent home with prescriptions for pain killers and told to follow-up with Planned Parenthood or a doctor in three days following the Fourth of July weekend. Erwin didn’t make it, dying about 24 hours after leaving the hospital.
Here it’s worth remembering that abortion is plainly not between a woman and her doctor. In most cases no lasting relationship is formed between an abortionist and the woman. Often the first meeting is when the abortionist walks into the operating room. What sort of meaningful follow-up really exists when the patient is typically just a faceless name on a piece of paper?
To recap, we now know that Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo botched the abortion, leaving Irwin with a 4-centimeter perforation and remains of her child inside of her. Her serious complications were not apparent or detected two days later at a hospital, and she died from blood clots in her lungs.
It's always important to remember that left in the wake of this abortion are Erwin's family, including her very young son.
How will Planned Parenthood be held accountable for their actions? There’s more of this story to come.
