Planned Parenthood pays $2 million for wrongful death, press ignores
UPDATE 2/11, 9:40a: Thomas More Society, on behalf of Pro-Life Action League, filed a formal complaint with the Illinois Dept. of Professional Regulation requesting an investigation of Planned Parenthood.
2/10, 3:17p: Late last week came the news that Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation have agreed to pay $2 million in a wrongful death settlement to the surviving young son of a woman who died after an abortion at a Chicago Planned Parenthood in 2012.
On July 20, 2012, 24-year-old Tonya Reaves, pictured right, died after a late-term abortion at Planned Parenthood’s Loop Health Center from uncontrolled bleeding, according to court documents.
Other reports have implicated a 5+ hour delay by the Michigan Avenue PP in getting Reaves to Northwestern and more delays in getting treatment there. At the hospital Reaves was allegedly found to be suffering from an incomplete abortion and perforated uterus.
Reaves’ son is now 3 years old and will receive $1,479,571.39 after attorneys get their cut. Payment will be dispensed to him beginning when he is 18 as follows (click to enlarge):
(An attorney friend explained in an email that the delay in payments to Reaves’s son “is so he can make the decision how to spend it as an adult, which is not that unusual with large sums. Too many times it is spent by guardians and nothing left for child.”)
At any rate, this is huge news, no? Were this a settlement to a family whose loved one died because a hospital refused her an abortion, it would be broadcast everywhere.
And the plot thickens in this case because abortion clinics in Illinois are completely unregulated. What a tie-in to all the legislation being proposed, passed, and sued in the states requiring that abortion clinics be regulated and inspected! What a counterpoint to pro-abortion protests that these regs are unwarranted!
Oh, but wait. This story thwarts the pro-abortion agenda in so many ways, doesn’t it. Any news organization reporting on it would look too fair and balanced.
Never mind. Carry on with your cutsie condom fundraisers and Vine videos, Planned Parenthood.

Great post. http://freedomfightersofamerica.blogspot .com thanks you for all you do.
The sad thing is that PP has so much money that paying this settlement will cause them no tangible financial harm whatsoever.
…but it will teach Northwestern a lesson and I bet the hospital administration will think twice before any more associations with PP.
“…but it will teach Northwestern a lesson and I bet the hospital administration will think twice before any more associations with PP.”
Not sure what you mean by this, Thomas. Are you saying that they won’t treat patients that PP has injured because of this lawsuit? Or just that they won’t have any formal partnerships with PP, even though I don’t think this was relevant to this lawsuit> I think a more likely scenario is that they will try to deliver better care to their patients, including ones from PP, so that they will not be liable in any future lawsuits.
It’s not like it will bring back his mother, but I’m glad that little boy will at the very least be financially cared for when he’s going to college and becoming a young adult. It’s hard to make it without parents, so I hope the money helps him a little. And I’m glad PP had to pay and was found accountable, though as JDC said it’s probably a drop in the bucket to them.
I hope the family is happy with this settlement. I wish there was some money going to the family now, and each year hence, so they can raise him with access to great opportunities.
None of these organizations may be in existence when the surviving son reaches 18.
I hope some portion of money has been ordered to be placed in an endowment now. But legal wrangling can deter payout of judgments for years.
We’d better close down the entire medical establishment because, mistakes.
Only a fraction of cases involving deaths and payouts from any field of medicine ever reach the media, why would this one be any different.
Obama: “Thank God for Planned Parenthood.”
The Reeves family: “….”
http://www.nrastore.com/nrastore/ProductDetail.aspx?c=15&p=BK%2002286
Sandy Hook: “….”
Did you mean the Reaves family JoAnna?
Reaves, not Reeves, my bad.
The sad thing is that PP has so much money that paying this settlement will cause them no tangible financial harm whatsoever.
Both PP and Northwestern probably have malpractice insurance.
I hope some portion of money has been ordered to be placed in an endowment now.
Read the court document. The settlement establishes that the defendants will pay now for an annuity that will be distributed when the plaintiff turns 18. The document said that the annuity was to be purchased with two cash payments, one of $755,000 and the other of $725,000, so I guess that means that PP and Northwestern are dividing the costs more or less evenly.
Tonya was absolutely beautiful. What a horrifying way to die. :(
Praying for her surviving son. That he learns how his mommy and sibling died and stands against the industry that kills for profit.
I was 24 when I had my abortion. I was never told one of the risks was death. Wonder if Tonya was told that?
Reality: We’d better close down the entire medical establishment because, mistakes. Only a fraction of cases involving deaths and payouts from any field of medicine ever reach the media, why would this one be any different.
Medical mistakes are the third-leading cause of death in the US for patients, behind heart disease and cancer.
“What women need for Valentine’s Day … Safe and legal abortion”
Is that photo real?! We all need an abortion on February 14?! And they say no one likes abortion. Some heart it apparently.
“Medical mistakes are the third-leading cause of death in the US for patients, behind heart disease and cancer.”
Which is why it’s important for doctor’s to be held accountable when they make mistakes/are negligent, and cause someone’s death.
LifeJoy, Yes, tragically, that screenshot is real. Follow the last link in my post to “Vine videos.”
Press ignores.
Just like those that are proabortion.
Always redirect the conversation to stats and numbers and/or the “safety” of abortion and ignore the pain of a grieving family. OR that the world lost a precious one of a kind woman to that which you support.
Never show a crack of humanity or compassion in your ramblings. Never.
The Thomas More Society knows that most if not all of its complaints will not be acted on because they contradict the statements about Ms. Reaves’s care that were made by the family in their lawsuit. And we know that TMS knows that its assertions do not match the family’s assertions because TMS posted the family’s lawsuit on its own website. In other words, the Thomas More Society knows that the pro-life media are so indifferent to accurate reporting that they literally will not lift a finger to check a story that meets the pro-life agenda.
The real “War on Women”. PP it’s not just Dead Babies R Us, unfortunately for Tonya she ended up paying with her life.
Reality “mistakes” are NOT when you let a woman with a perforated uterus bleed out for 5 1/2 hours at Planned Barrenhood because you don’t want to call an ambulance to take her to a top-notch medical center that was only minutes away so you won’t “look bad” and then the patient ends up dead. Take it from someone who actually worked in REAL healthcare not Dead Babies R Us care they would have NEVER settled out of court for 2 mil if it was just a “mistake”. I can guarantee PP and Northwestern Medical Center have some of the top lawyers in the entire nation and the attorneys told them “pay it, settle this out of court and get it over with”. It is called negligence and malpractice for a good reason they don’t pay unless they don’t have a prayer. They want the Tonya Reaves family and her story to go away as quickly as possible. And yes the main stream media and press won’t be reporting on this story maybe on the back section of the newspaper so no one will notice.
Thanks, Jill. It seems like satire to me.
Check out tweet fest #whatwomenneed to get a more intelligent perspective on “What Women Need for Valentine’s Day” (& why I love pro-lifers).
I just shared this article on my facebook page. If we all shared this on FB, twitter, etc….a Lot more people will see this !
Read this and get things right “pro lifers” before you keep on exploiting this tragic death. Truth har always been harmful to your cause.
http://www.salon.com/2012/07/26/tonya_reaves_death_right_wing_abortion_exploitation/