Albuquerque, New Mexico- Abortion Free New Mexico’s No Sidewalk Without the Savior volunteers documented the 4th abortion complication of 2023 at the University of New Mexico Center for Reproductive Health abortion center today, February 15, 2023. A woman was placed into an ambulance and taken to the emergency room during the lunch hour. This occurred just six days after the last abortion complication that was
recorded by volunteers. The steady rate of abortion injuries at this location raises red flags about who is causing these injuries on unsuspecting women, most of whom are traveling here from out of state. It has been well documented by Abortion Free New Mexico that the University of New Mexico participates in the Ryan Residency Training program whose main emphasis is to,
“ensure the availability of abortion care in hospitals and make sure that all obstetrician-gynecologists are skilled to provide abortion care.”
This training begins in the classroom and then continues at local abortion facilities. Is it the medical students, residents or fellows that are being trained to use women as guinea pigs to learn how to destroy human life that are maiming women in the process or is it the trainers themselves that are inflicting the harm?
Abortion Free New Mexico plans to file complaints with the appropriate authorities in hopes that a thorough investigation will be done and those responsible will be held accountable. It is imperative that our culture recognize that both pregnant mom and baby are patients worthy of protecting.
Abortion Free New Mexico Renews Our Call to Action!
“Abortion Free New Mexico is calling for the immediate closure of the UNM Center for Reproductive Health (UNMCRH) late-term abortion facility. It’s only February and we have now documented FOUR abortion related injuries at UNMCRH, so far this year! As these abortion complications pile up it’s clear that abortion is not healthcare. Women who enter abortion facilities are healthy and whole, carrying another human life in their womb. Far too often they leave broken physically, emotionally and spiritually because abortion kills their child, violently robbing them of the beautiful gift of life.
As a publicly funded institution, the University of New Mexico has tarnished its reputation and is losing the public trust by performing late-term abortions at the UNM Center of Reproductive Health (UNMCRH). Not only are viable babies being violently dismembered, but unsuspecting women are being injured during these abortion procedures at a staggering rate. Join us as we call upon the governing leadership at UNM to shut down this dangerous late-term abortion facility,”stated Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico.
Also be sure to clickHEREto contact your legislators! Send them a personal email alerting them to these abortion injuries taking place at UNM Center for Reproductive Health.
Albuquerque, New Mexico- On February 9, 2023 Abortion Free New Mexico volunteers recorded a woman being placed into an ambulance at the UNM Center for Reproductive Health (UNMCRH) abortion facility. This is the third abortion related injury that Abortion Free New Mexico has documented since 2023 began. The first abortion related complication occurred on January 13, when a reliable source inside the facility reported that a woman suffered a complication that resulted in some patients having to reschedule their abortion appointments.
A prayer volunteer with Abortion Free New Mexico’s, No Sidewalk Without the Savior Initiative, took the picture below, documenting an abortion injury that occurred on January 31, 2023. Every day of the week volunteers peacefully pray on the public sidewalks surrounding the UNMCRH abortion facility and are prepared to provide abortion seeking women with life affirming resources.
“Abortion Free New Mexico is calling for the immediate closure of the UNM Center for Reproductive Health (UNMCRH) late-term abortion facility.It’s only Februaryand we have already documented three abortion related injuries at UNMCRH, so far this year! As these abortion complications pile up it’s clear that abortion is not healthcare. Women who enter abortion facilities are healthy and whole, carrying another human life in their womb. Far too often they leave broken physically, emotionally and spiritually because abortion kills their child, violently robbing them of the beautiful gift of life.
As a publicly funded institution, the University of New Mexico has tarnished its reputation and is losing the public trust by performing late-term abortions at the UNM Center of Reproductive Health (UNMCRH). Not only are viable babies being violently dismembered, but unsuspecting women are being injured during these abortion procedures at a staggering rate.Join us as we call upon the governing leadership at UNM to shut down this dangerous late-term abortion facility,” stated Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico.
The UNM Center For Reproductive Health (UNMCRH) abortion facility performs late-term abortions up to 6 months (24 weeks) of pregnancy. Therefore, it is most likely that women are suffering abortion complications due to the unnatural and extremely invasive nature of abortion procedures. First trimester (0-13 weeks) surgical abortions are essentially a blind procedure requiring the abortionist to rely on feeling to remove a pre-born baby from their mother’s womb via violent suction. The second trimester (14-26 weeks) abortion procedure requires artificial dilation of the woman’s cervix due to the fact that the abortionist must use forceps to dismember the baby piece by piece, and can take up to two days to complete.
Some of the potential complications women face obtaining these procedures include retained fetal body parts, uterine rupture or perforation, cervix laceration, infection, heavy hemorrhaging, embolism, abnormal placentation, disseminated intravascular coagulation, seizures and more. All of these complications can be life threatening and cannot be managed in the outpatient setting that UNMCRH is currently operating in.
Also be sure to clickHEREto contact your legislators! Send them a personal email alerting them to these abortion injuries taking place at UNM Center for Reproductive Health.
Click HERE to join Abortion Free New Mexico for one hour of public prayer out at UNMCRH!
“I am asking for the immediate closure of the UNM Center for Reproductive Health late-term abortion facility.
Abortion Free New Mexico has already documented EIGHT abortion related injuries at the UNM Center for Reproductive Health (UNMCRH) abortion facility, since 2022! In fact, on April 10,2024 Abortion Free New Mexico volunteers documented TWO separate women transported to the ER on the same day! As these abortion complications pile up it’s clear that abortion is not healthcare. Women who enter abortion facilities are healthy and whole, carrying another human life in their womb. Far too often they leave broken physically, emotionally and spiritually because abortion kills their child, violently robbing them of the beautiful gift of life.
As a publicly funded institution, the University of New Mexico has tarnished its reputation and is losing the public trust by performing late-term abortions at the UNM Center of Reproductive Health (UNMCRH). Not only are viable babies being violently dismembered, but unsuspecting women are being injured during these abortion procedures at a staggering rate.”
Abortion Free New Mexico’s No Sidewalk Without the Savior volunteers documented the 8th abortion injury at the University of New Mexico Center for Reproductive Health abortion center on April 10, 2024. In fact, on April 10th, TWO women were injured on the same day!
Operation Rescue assisted Abortion Free New Mexico with the initial investigation and exposure of this tragedy.
By Cheryl Sullenger, (Republished with the permission of Operation Rescue) Albuquerque, NM – Southwestern Women’s Options, a full-term abortion facility located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has settled a major medical malpractice/wrongful death suit for $900,000. According to the Albuquerque Journal, the settlement agreement was reached with the abortion facility last fall.
“Southwestern Women’s Option clinic, in settling its part of the lawsuit, sought a confidentiality provision to bar the parties from discussing the settlement. They are specifically not permitted to disparage the clinic or its doctors, according to the settlement agreement, which was filed as an exhibit in the lawsuit,” the newspaper reported.
Last month, the University of New Mexico agreed to pay the family of Keisha Atkins $365,000 to settle their part of the lawsuit that alleged UNM negligently referred Atkins to Southwestern Women’s Options where Atkins received a fatal multi-day abortion. That settlement resulted in a full dismissal of the wrongful death suit in April.
That brings the total payout to Atkins’ mother, Tina Atkins, and her sister, Nichole, to over $1.26 million. Southwestern Women’s Options’ owner, Curtis Boyd, reached the settlement during mediation in relation to allegations that “its subsequent treatment of Atkins fell below the standard of care and was negligent,” according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Atkins was 23 years old and six months pregnant when she sought an abortion at the UNM Center for Reproductive Health early 2017. That abortion facility determined that Atkins was too far along for a procedure there, so she was referred to Southwestern Women’s Options, which is one of the few abortion facilities in the U.S. that openly conducts abortions through all trimesters of pregnancy.
Once at SWO, Atkins underwent a multi-day late-term abortion. Before the process could be completed, Atkins was taken to UNM Medical Center where she died on February 4, 2017. The Albuquerque Journal reported that Tina Atkins described during a deposition meeting her daughter in the hospital that fateful day when Keisha was still alive and talking.
Keisha was combative, and ‘a little bit delirious,’ Atkins said. But she could still talk. “The first thing that came out of her mouth was, ‘Mom, I’m going to die.’”
An autopsy was done at the University of New Mexico that listed Atkins’ cause of death as “Pulmonary Thromboembolism due to Pregnancy.”
Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico, who was initially tipped to Atkins’ death, was among the first to receive a copy of the autopsy report. Suspicious that the cause of death blamed Atkins pregnancy instead of the abortion, Shaver asked Operation Rescue to review the autopsy results.
Operation Rescue’s staff, which is experienced in analyzing autopsy reports, found that the listed cause of death was untrue, and suspected that UNM was attempting to cover up the liability of UNM and SWO in Atkins’ death.
Operation Rescue discovered that the autopsy report itself noted that Atkins developed an infection during the multi-day abortion that turned septic. As a complication of the septicemia, she developed a clotting disorder. It was a blood clot found in her lung caused by the abortion process that eventually took her life – not her pregnancy. At the time, Curtis Boyd commented in the Albuquerque Journal attacking Operation Rescue’s discovery:
For those who oppose women’s reproductive justice to exploit this sad event by putting forward lies about abortion and the patient’s care is sickening. We trust the citizens of New Mexico to be compassionate and understanding of the needs of women and to see through this inflammatory attack on women’s reproductive rights and on us.”
In the end, the settlements vindicated Operation Rescue’s findings and proved that it was Boyd who was lying to cover up his clinic’s negligence in Atkins’ death.
We are glad that the Keisha Atkins wrongful death case is now closed and that her family will receive a large settlement. I know that no amount of money will compensate them for the death of their loved one, but I pray it will bring closure to the family,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “These agreements confirm a fatal level of negligence that wrongly cost a woman her life. Southwestern Women’s Options and the UNM Center for Reproductive Choice should be closed by the state to protect the public from any continued negligence. Given the leftist nature of the current state government, I know that seems unlikely, but it was also unlikely that anyone would ever discover the truth about Atkins’ death that UNM’s autopsy tried to cover up. Yet we did uncover that truth, which eventually led to this $1.26 million payout, so anything is possible,” Newman concluded.
The case was handled by Abortion on Trial. More information about this case is available on their website.
Tara Shaver, spokeswoman for Abortion Free New Mexico issued the following statement:
“Abortion Free New Mexico is thankful for the collaboration with Operation Rescue who assisted us with the initial investigation and exposure of this tragedy. Our hope is that the family of Keisha Atkins can find closure and peace and that her death will help serve to deter other women from choosing abortion. This $1.26 million dollar settlement should set a precedent that late-term abortions pose serious life threatening risks to women and that UNM should refrain from their participation in referring and providing abortion services. New Mexico tax dollars are funding these risky procedures through medicaid and now the tax payers are footing the bill for the abortion deaths of women.
When will this insanity end?
Abortion Free New Mexico continues to be on the front lines ministering to vulnerable women targeted by the New Mexico abortion cartel, and also works tirelessly researching, investigating, and ultimately exposing the tragic consequences of an unregulated up to the day of birth abortion industry that is totally out of control in our state.”
Albuquerque, New Mexico– Thank you for making all of our efforts here in the beautiful state of New Mexico possible and we would like to welcome our new subscribers! When we arrived in 2010 as pro-life missionaries, we never imagined how the Lord would move to awaken hearts and minds to life. Nor did we think that so much could be accomplished to build a culture of life and preserve the lives of the most vulnerable in our communities: Babies in the Womb. We are humbled to serve and are excited to share with you our next steps. This month we were busy lighting up the darkness, being active politically by encouraging New Mexico’s statewide 2022 candidates to sign our pro-life pledge and standing up for our freedoms.
As you will see we have a powerful movie screening coming up as well as a new prayer initiative launching on April 1st. In the absence of pro-life laws, being strategic and being unified is key. Every step forward helps us reach our goal of an Abortion Free state. God bless you all.
Your monthly and one time donations enable us to do this life saving work full-time. Click hereif you would like to donate securely online. We use Cornerstone Payment Systems as a Christian alternative to Paypal. Also, now offering an e-check option.
Upcoming Event: Save The Date
Please Join us for a free screening of the movie Voiceless on March 12th from 2-5pm at Transformation Epicenter (click here for Google Map directions). We will have dessert, a silent auction, powerful personal testimonies and learn about local pregnancy resources. Proceeds benefit No Sidewalk Without the Savior.
The trailer to this powerful movie can be viewed here
Announcing, “No Sidewalk Without The Savior”
We are committed to continue our work to make New Mexico Abortion Free, as we increase our efforts in Albuquerque by establishing a stronger pro-life presence in our city. “No Sidewalk Without The Savior” is one way we can accomplish this and is currently being organized, by our amazing volunteers, as a month to month prayer initiative-launching on April 1st. The goal is to have two people praying every hour that the UNM Center for Reproductive Health is open, because we believe in the power of prayer to change hearts and minds. Have you ever thought about what the very last line of defense is for the baby in the womb who is scheduled to die? It lies with those who faithfully stand on the sidewalks ready and armed with love and resources.
If you would like to be a a part of this prayerful presence, for just one hour, please sign up here.
If you are not able to give of your time, please sponsor someone who can by making a donation here for our latest sidewalk prayer initiative.
IN THE NEWS THIS MONTH:
Support the People’s Convoy Overpass Meetup hosted by Abortion Free New Mexico brought nearly 200 people out to greet the trucker convoy on their way to Washington D.C. We The People stood united for freedom.
“It’s time to restore our nation’s constitution and to mandate freedom. Abortion Free New Mexico stands in solidarity with the People’s Convoy and supports their peaceful and unified transcontinental movement,” stated Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico
This month Abortion Free New Mexico collaborated with New Mexico Peacekeepers in chalking at the University of New Mexico- UNM to urge the students to be “Wolves Not Sheep” (UNM mascot is a lobo wolf) and wrote messages of truth about health freedom.
This month we were able to have a table at the Republican Party of Bernalillo County “Ignite the Fire Rally” at Legacy Church in Albuquerque and educate about how we are working to build a culture of life in our state.
This month our family attended the Republican Party of New Mexico Pre-Primary Convention as delegates. We were proud to support the many candidates who signed our pro-life pledge.
REMINDER: Faith to Action Friday (March 4th), 1st Friday of the month (10AM-11AM) Location: UNM Center for Reproductive Health (2301 Yale Blvd. SE. in Albuquerque.) Use street parking on Renard.
Thank you for your continued prayers, support and for standing with us in this battle for LIFE.
Albuquerque, NM– This is the latest installment documenting the abortion landscape in New Mexico and a continuation of Abortion Free New Mexico’s exposure of the radical abortion agenda at the University of New Mexico.
In Abortion Free New Mexico’s latest undercover project that has taken viewers inside the notorious Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO) late term abortion facility, the investigation has also uncovered that the University of New Mexico (UNM), a publicly funded institution, is willing to collude with late term abortionists to deliver dead babies at UNM Hospital once a deadly injection is administered by abortionists at SWO.
The price tag of a late term abortion at Southwestern Women’s Options is a staggering $17,000, but in a SHOCKING revelation, SWO employee Susana Estorga, states that for $5,000 they would be willing to offer the fetal injection ALONE and then send the woman away to deliver the baby 2-3 days later elsewhere.
The fetal injection administered by SWO abortionists kills the baby in the womb by slowly stopping their heart over 4-6 grueling hours.
If a woman opts to obtain the fetal injection at Southwestern Women’s Options, SWO has an expectation that other OB-GYN’s will oversee the completion of the labor and delivery of the stillborn child. However, most OB-GYN’s will not participate in abortions, especially at religious hospitals, like Presbyterian in Albuquerque, so SWO is apparently relying upon the University of New Mexico’s entrenched abortion agenda and utilizes an arrangement to ensure that “injection only” patients can labor and deliver their dead babies at UNM Hospital.
In an undercover phone call placed to the Women’s and Children’s Health Care Clinic at UNM Hospital, Tara Shaver with Abortion Free New Mexico also confirmed the fact that, Lily Bayat a UNM Fellow at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center would deliver the dead baby at UNM Hospital after Southwestern Women’s Options administered the lethal injection.
Lily Bayat holds positions at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences center in the Divisions of Family Planning and the Department of Obstetrics & Gynocology. In addition, Bayat receives an annual salary by the University New Mexico of $57,747 as a, “Visiting Instructor”.
(Second year Fellow- UNM Abortionist Lily Bayat, MD)
“Abortion Free New Mexico has exposed just how deep the collusion is between the University of New Mexico and Southwestern Women’s Options to ensure that late term abortions continue up to the day of birth. Hospitals are meant to be places where the sick go for healing, but the abortion industry is utilizing them for their own sordid death agenda.” Tara Shaver, Spokeswoman for Abortion Free New Mexico.
GLARING CONTRADICTIONS
The Albuquerque Journal published an article on December 20, 2015 titled, UNMHSC halts training at private abortion clinic in it the ABQ Journal reported that, “UNMHSC officials said last week that they will no longer send medical fellows or residents to Boyd’s clinic, which is located in Downtown Albuquerque.”
However, UNM’s website contradicts that report and still clearly states, as of publishing time of this article, October 31, 2017…
“Fellows are trained in abortion and contraception care, using evidence-based medical and surgical methods. Training occurs primarily at the UNM Center for Reproductive Health, the Albuquerque Planned Parenthood Surgical Center, and Southwestern Women’s Options (Dr. Curtis Boyd). Later second and third trimester abortions are performed at UNM Hospital and at SWO.”
In addition, Southwestern Women’s Options is currently listed as a UNM Clinical Training Site.
Despite these glaring contradictions that show a continued relationship between UNM and SWO, Abortion Free New Mexico has conclusively confirmed that a current Fellow at the University of New Mexico, Lily Bayak, is willing to work with Southwestern Women’s Options patients to complete a late term abortion at UNM Hospital once the fetal injection is administered to kill the pre-born baby.
Fr. Stephen Imbarrato: The Protest Priest with Priests for Life issued the following statement,
“The collaboration between Southwestern Women’s Options, UNM Center for Reproductive Health abortion facility, and UNM Hospital shows that UNMHSC headed by Dr Paul Roth is the heart of the New Mexico Abortion Industry.
As a taxpayer, I am appalled that tax money pays for this unnecessary bloodshed! What is worse is the knowledge that Dr. Paul Roth’s right hand man, Ryan Cangiolosi is the head of the New Mexico Republican Party! This is the “statewide conspiracy of complacency and complicity” that we have been speaking about for a decade now!”
ACTION ITEM: Abortion Free New Mexico is asking that you contact the University of New Mexico Regents and respectfully ask them to STOP ALLOWING ABORTIONISTS AT UNM HOSPITAL TO PROMOTE AND PERFORM LATE TERM ABORTIONS AT THE EXPENSE OF NEW MEXICO TAX DOLLARS. In addition, respectfully ask them to PERMENANTLY cut all ties with Planned Parenthood of New Mexico and Southwestern Women’s Options.
Report by Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President of Operation Rescue
Albuquerque, NM – Tara Shaver opened the mysterious letter that arrived in the mail. She could hardly believe what she was reading.
It was an anonymous tip that informed her a woman named Keisha Atkins had died from a late-term abortion on February 4, 2017.
Shaver and her husband, Bud, who lead Abortion Free New Mexico, have spent years laboring in the pro-life trenches in Albuquerque exposing the largest late-term abortion facility in the United States, Southwestern Women’s Options, and its connections to the publicly-funded University of New Mexico.
Due to their experience and training, once serving as interns for Operation Rescue, they immediately jumped into action. They filed a public records request for Atkins’ autopsy and established a valuable line of communications with her family. They discovered that Atkins’ abortion had been done at Southwestern Women’s Options, which made perfect sense since it alone in New Mexico specializes in late-term abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
They consulted with Operation Rescue over the meaning of the autopsy report. Such reports are written in technical medical jargon that is sometimes difficult for anyone without a medical background to decode. However, this correspondent has been reading autopsies concerning abortion-related deaths for decades.
It did not take long to realize that as everything was not as it seemed.
At first glance, the cause and manner of death of this initially healthy 23-year old woman was made it appear that abortion was not even a factor in Atkins’s death. The cause of death was “Pulmonary thromboembolism due to pregnancy.” Her manner of death was natural.
In other words, the autopsy findings that a blood clot formed as a result of her healthy pregnancy and coincidentally at the moment of the abortion, it traveled to her lungs and killed her.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Once Operation Rescue and Abortion Free New Mexico announced Atkin’s death and released the public autopsy report, the Albuquerque Journal jumped all over it, declaring in their headlines, “Autopsy rules out abortion as cause of death.”
The newspaper cited the opinion of the UNM Office of the Medical Investigator that it was Atkins’ pregnancy that killed her, not the four-day late-term abortion process that Operation Rescue believes was mismanaged by eighty-year old abortionist, Curtis Boyd, and fumbled by UNM hospital where she died.
But as William Shakespeare once said, “Truth will out.”
No matter how much UNM may have tried to obfuscate what happened to Keisha Atkins, the truth seeps through in the pages of the autopsy report in descriptions of her physical condition and the complications she experienced in what must have been an excruciatingly panic-filled and painful death.
“Somehow, these people want us to believe that Atkins developed blood clots as a result of her pregnancy, and through no one’s fault, a blood clot just coincidentally moved to her lung and killed her in the middle of a late-term abortion, which, of course, played no part in her death,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “That’s ludicrous in light of the rest of the autopsy report findings.”
Here is what happened to Keisha Atkins, according to the autopsy report, information provided by her family, and documented information obtained through research by Operation Rescue.
Atkins reported to Southwestern Women’s Options, the nation’s largest late-term abortion facility, on January 31, 2017, to begin a four-day late-term abortion. She was at least six months pregnant, and may have been even farther along according to the tipster that contacted Tara Shaver.
Sometime during the ensuing days, something went wrong and Atkins developed a bacterial infection.
Possible sources for such infections during late-term abortions include:
Complications from the repeated insertion and removal of laminaria cervical dilators;
The fact that the baby in the womb is killed on Day 1 of the procedure and the woman must carry her dead fetus for days before completing the abortion;
Unsanitary conditions and/or practices by abortion facility staff.
On February 3, four days after her abortion process began, Adkins reported to Southwestern Women’s Options for the completion of her abortion. She was showing signs of a dangerous, systemic infection known as sepsis. She also displayed difficulty breathing as she was being prepared for labor. (Read more about how late-term abortions are done.)
Because of the seriousness of her condition, an ambulance was called at 12:04 p.m., but was later cancelled by the clinic, according to a 911 Computer Aided Dispatch transcript obtained by Operation Rescue. At some later point in the day, Atkins was transported by unknown means to UNM Hospital.
Once at the hospital, Atkins was tested for blood clots with negative results. The autopsy report made an effort to explain the rare false-negative test with one statistic that shows false negatives occur in as high as 10.7% of cases. (In other words, no one was at fault.)
Atkins continued to suffer shortness of breath and below base-line oxygen levels despite supplemental oxygen. She also experienced abdominal cramping pain, an elevated heart rate, and reduced ventricular function in her heart.
Additional tests of her placental tissue showed the presence of a bacterial infection. Post-mortem tests of her uterus also showed evidence of the infection.
Why is this significant to understanding the truth behind Atkins’ death?
DIC is a clotting disorder that begins with the rapid formation of small blood clots that block small blood vessels. As the clotting becomes more aggressive, it essentially strips the rest of the blood supply of the clotting factor. This typically results in hemorrhaging of the body cavity and various organs, including the brain.
In addition to bacterial infections, other causes of DIC can include retention of a dead fetus and surgery – both of which were documented in Atkins’ autopsy report.
Supposedly operating under a false-negative test for blood clots, UNM Hospital staff conducted a surgical Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) dismemberment abortion to remove the dead baby.
During the D&E procedure, Atkins suffered a fatal heart attack due to a blood clot in her lungs. Resuscitation efforts were so aggressive that her ribs were broken, yet they proved unsuccessful.
She also received “multiple blood product transfusions,” – a standard treatment for DIC – but to no avail.
Atkins was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m. on February 4, 2017.
Atkins’ autopsy revealed “acute coagulopathy” as well as hemorrhaging in the brain (left adrenal gland), inside the abdominal cavity, and from the uterus. She also had a massive build-up of serous fluid around her lungs.
How do we know she hemorrhaged from the uterus when that is not specifically mentioned in the report? There was a curious notation in the initial description of Atkins’s body that stood out.
The UNM coroner’s determination that Atkins died from “Pulminary thromboembolism due to pregnancy” is suspect, at best.
These are a few of the symptoms described or strongly inferred in Atkins’ autopsy report thatthe coroner’s opinion does not account for
Uterine hemorrhaging;
Hemorrhaging in the brain;
Blood found in the abdominal cavity;
A large amount of serous fluid found around the lungs, (over 40 ounces);
Bruising of the extremities (another symptom of DIC).
The UNM cause of death also does not account for the multiple transfusions of blood products she was given at the UNM hospital.
These symptoms do not make sense in light of a random blood clot in the lungs. However, they do make sense in light of the clotting and hemorrhaging that exemplifies DIC.
It more likely that during Atkins’ four-day abortion process — during which she retained the body of her dead baby — a bacterial infection turned septic and initiated a fatal cascade of symptoms associated with Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation.
It is Operation Rescue’s opinion, based the facts found in the autopsy report, that the UNM cause of death determination is simply not the truth.
The abortion facilities involved in patient deaths first try to conceal the fact that a patient died. If that doesn’t work, the abortion businesses immediately attempt to deny any culpability for their patient’s death.
What is the easiest way to do that? Whitewash the truth by blaming the woman and/or her pregnancy.
The leftist mainstream media is usually a willing co-conspirator in the cover up, and the response to the Atkins death was no exception.
Once Operation Rescue and Abortion Free New Mexico announced Atkin’s death and released the autopsy report – a public record — the Albuquerque Journal jumped all over it, declaring in their headlines, “Autopsy rules out abortion as cause of death.”
The newspaper cited the opinion of the UNM Office of the Medical Investigator that it was Atkins’ pregnancy that killed her, not the four-day late-term abortion process that Operation Rescue believes was mismanaged her eighty-year old abortionist, Curtis Boyd, and fumbled by UNM hospital where she died.
UNM’s own autopsy report described in detail compelling evidence that it was complications from the abortion process that killed Keisha Atkins – not her pregnancy.
There can be no doubt that if Keisha Atkins had not endured the process of a four-day late-term abortion, she would be alive today.
So why the attempt to obfuscate the true cause of death?
UNM and Southwestern Women’s Options are partners in the trade in aborted baby remains. SWO is the sole supplier of aborted baby tissue and organs to UNM. Both are under criminal investigation by the Attorney General’s office based on a complaint filed by Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico and criminal referrals issued by the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives.
This gives them UNM and SWO motive to nefariously ascribe the death of Keisha Atkins to her pregnancy in order to prevent another abortion-related scandal in the middle of a criminal investigation into their alleged participation in the illegal baby body parts trade.
This may also be why there was no notation of the weight of the dismembered remains of Atkins’ baby in the autopsy report. While the baby’s remains were present during the autopsy, revealing the weight might also reveal the truth about how far along Atkins’ pregnancy really was.
On a side note, some have expressed misplaced concern that the autopsy report was made public, and that its release may have compromised Atkins’ privacy, or more absurdly, her legal rights as a dead person. In reality, there is no legal issue with making a public document available to the public.
In fact, its release is actually a public service. The people have a right to know what is going on at SWO and UNM, especially because they are both recipients of public funds. They have a right to know that not everything is as it appears in the left-wing Albuquerque Journal.
When abortion is involved, concealing the truth that seeps through in these public documents only serves to aid the abortionists and their associates, who are desperately trying to diffuse any controversy around Atkins death.
Tara Shaver’s anonymous tipster apparently had a sense that something was very wrong in the way Keisha Atkins’ death occurred and how it was handled after the fact. And that person’s instincts were right.
If this information can prevent others from suffering Atkins’ fate, it is morally imperative to make sure the public – as well as the authorities investigating UNM and SWO — knows about it.
Operation Rescue urges the New Mexico Medical Board and the Attorney General’s office to aggressively investigate Keisha Atkins’ death, and bring those responsible for it and its cover-up to justice.
Keisha Maria Atkins, 23, died on February 4, 2017 — four days into a late-term abortion process at Southwestern Women’s Options abortion facility in Albuquerque, NM.
Report by Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President of Operation Rescue
Albuquerque, NM – A woman has died as the result of a late-term abortion process initiated at Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO), in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is the largest abortion facility in the U.S. that openly specializes in abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
Abortion Free New Mexico obtained the autopsy report for Keisha Marie Atkins, 23, who died on February 4, 2017, after being transported from SWO to UNM Hospital. Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico has also been in communication with members of Atkins’ family.
Operation Rescue is assisting Abortion Free New Mexico with an investigation of this tragedy.
This abortion-related death is particularly troubling in light of a criminal investigation that is currently underway by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office into Southwestern Women’s Options and UNM. UNM has aggressively worked to increase second and third trimester abortions at SWO, which, in turn, is UNM’s largest provider of aborted baby tissue and organs. A U.S. House investigation found this arrangement violates state and federal law, despite stonewalling and obfuscation on the part of UNM and SWO.
Atkins reported to SWO on January 31, 2017, for a four day late-term abortion procedure that was to be done by eighty-year old abortion facility owner Curtis Boyd. It is believed that Atkins was six months pregnant or more.
Four days later, on February 3, 2017, Atkins returned to SWO for the completion of the abortion where she displayed labored breathing and signs of sepsis, a systemic, life-threatening infection.
At 12:04 p.m. on February 3, an ambulance was called to transport Atkins to the hospital, but was later cancelled, raising questions of how and when Atkins actually received emergency medical help.
Once at the UNM Medical Center, Atkins’ condition deteriorated rapidly, prompting UNM staff to perform an emergency D&E abortion procedure to remove her baby through dismemberment.
During the procedure, Atkins suffered cardiac arrest. Efforts to revive her were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m. on February 4, 2017.
An autopsy was conducted at the UNM Health Sciences Center by the UNM Office of the Medical Investigator, which also serves as the Bernadillo County Coroner. The OMI determined that Atkins cause of death was “pulmonary thromboembolism due to pregnancy,” in other words, blood clots in the lungs.
However, a careful review of the autopsy findings indicates that this cause of death is a whitewash meant to blame Atkins’ pregnancy for her death instead of what appears to be a mismanaged late-term abortion procedure.
“UNM is a biased promoter of abortion that is attempting to shift blame onto Atkins’ pregnancy, instead of the abortion, where the blame rightfully belongs,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “Keisha Atkins and her family deserve the truth, not a cover-up. But with UNM and SWO, covering up their misdeeds has become standard operating procedure.”
There is evidence that Atkins suffered from sepsis, a bacterial infection caused by the four-day abortion process, which brought about symptoms consistent with Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC). Atkins suffered hemorrhaging in her brain, a buildup of fluid around her lungs, and other symptoms of DIC that the autopsy ignored.
Pro-life leaders believe there is a way to keep other women from suffering Atkins’ fate.
“We call on the New Mexico Attorney General to step up their criminal investigation, and we call on the State Medical Board to take a hard, honest look at Keisha Atkins’ death,” Newman said. “Curtis Boyd should be stopped from practicing, and the dangerous Southwestern Women’s Options should be shut down for good.”
“Coverups are as heinous as the crimes, and the crimes of the abortion cartel in New Mexico have been covered up for too many years. It is time for Hector Balderas to do his job or resign. It is time for the UNM Regents to do their jobs or resign. It is time for the New Mexico Medical Board to fully investigate Keisha’s death without bias,” said Fr. Stephen Imbarrato, The Protest Priest.
“We join the family of Keisha Atkins as they grieve her death from serious complications during a late term abortion at Southwestern Women’s Options. She was a 23-year old vibrant woman with her whole life ahead of her that was tragically cut short,” stated Tara Shaver of Abortion Free New Mexico. “For years we have worked to expose the barbaric nature of late term abortion in New Mexico and sought to bring accountability to the unregulated and unaccountable Abortion Cartel. Now more than ever, we need leadership in our city and state to take a bold stand and the necessary steps to prevent the needless deaths of women and their children through late term abortion.”
Albuquerque, NM — During a meeting with pro-life activists on Monday, March 6, 2017, representatives from the New Mexico Attorney General’s office confirmed that the University of New Mexico and Southwestern Women’s Options, the largest late-term abortion facility in the United States, are under investigation for violations of state law.
Tania Maestas, Deputy Attorney General, informed Tara Shaver, Senior Policy Advisor for ProtestABQ, and ProtestABQ’s senior attorney, Angelo Artuso, that a complaint filed by Shaver in 2015, is under investigation by the criminal division of the New Mexico Attorney General’s office.
Shaver’s complaint involved Southwestern Women’s Options consent forms from 2012 and 2015, which women are obligated to sign prior to abortions. Those forms state that the remains of babies aborted at Southwestern Women’s Options may be used in medical research.
In addition, Maestas informed Shaver and Artuso that the criminal referrals of UNM and Southwestern Women’s Options made by the U.S. House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives to New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas last year, are also under investigation.
The House Select Investigative Panel presented Balderas with evidence to back up their findings, which included several key points. (Read more about this.)
1. Taxpayers partially fund both UNM and the Southwestern Women’s Options late-term abortion business.
2. Two UNM abortionists created a radically pro-abortion climate at the “resistant” university and created a cultural shift that now aggressively promotes abortion.
3. The primary goal of UNM’s partnership with Southwestern Women’s Options was to increase the volume of second trimester abortions, in order to provide the UNM Health Sciences Center with an ample supply of aborted infant remains for “research” and other purposes.
4. Southwestern Women’s Options is the sole provider of “aborted infant tissue” to the UNM Health Sciences Center (UNMHSC).
5. Whole brains from aborted babies were admittedly used for dissection by “summer camp” students.
6. UNM’s training agreement with Southwestern Women’s Options violated UNM’s own policies and procedures on such contracts.
7. UNM granted faculty status to Southwestern Women’s Options abortionists that included employee benefits that provided professional and financial benefit. These benefits may qualify as “valuable consideration,” which would put them in violation of State and Federal law.
8. The Select Investigative Panel agreed with Shaver’s conclusions that New Mexico’s Spradling Act was violated.
“This is a matter of urgency as aborted baby remains are still being harvested and transferred between the facilities for experimental research. Each day that passes poses a risk to the public and sends the message to the New Mexico abortion cartel that they have free reign to do as they please,” said Shaver. “We are grateful for the confirmation from the New Mexico Attorney General’s office that the complaint and referral before them is being taken seriously and we urge them to work quickly to resolve this very important matter.”
“We urge the New Mexico Attorney General’s office to move with all possible speed to bring those involved in criminal conduct at UNM and Southwestern Women’s Options to justice,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman, who also provided information during the Select Panel’s Investigation. “The longer the investigation drags on, the more UNM and the Southwestern Women’s Options abortion business will continue to break the law and exploit women, all at taxpayers’ expense.”
Hispanics Targeted for Death by Abortion According to 2013 New Mexico Vital Statistics
By Tara Shaver
Albuquerque, NM- The New Mexico Vital Statistics has released its annual Selected Health Statistics Report that includes data on abortions performed in the state. This data shows that abortions in New Mexico increased 8% from 3,134 in 2012 to 3,408 abortions in 2013.
The report shows that minority Hispanic women are disproportionately targeted by the abortion cartel, accounting for 53% of all abortions in the state while Hispanics account for only 42.1% of the population.
In addition, abortions rose amongst Hispanic women by 9% from 1,643 in 2012 to 1,798 in 2013. This represented a larger percentage than the overall statewide trend.
Pro-abortion organizations like Planned Parenthood, Young Women United and even the University of New Mexico have exploited this demographic in the worst possible way by targeting them for elimination by abortion.
As documented in previous reports, the University of New Mexico has a sordid reputation of targeting Hispanics for elimination by abortion thanks to UNM’s Eve Espey, Professor and Chair of the Department of OB-GYN, and Medical Director at UNM’s off-site abortion facility, the UNM Center for Reproductive Health.
Espey has also worked on the faculty of the Health Sciences Global Health Program (GHP), which collaborates with the United Nation’s World Health Organization (WHO) on education, service and research. Espey’s focus with the GHP was family planning and abortion in Mexico and Central America.
Espey performs abortions up to 22 weeks and is Medical Director at the UNM Center for Reproductive Health abortion facility. Eve Espey is not modest when it comes to promoting a radical pro-abortion agenda at UNM, she is the main catalyst for this agenda according to her medical students.
As an avid promoter of abortion expansion in New Mexico and worldwide, Eve Espey received the 2014 Margaret Sanger award at the New Mexico Planned Parenthood’s 50 year celebration. Sanger was the founder of Planned Parenthood, whose beginnings were deeply rooted in a racist, eugenics agenda, as evidenced by her own writings.
Sanger once stated, “Eugenics is … the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems.” (The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda. Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.)
“Hispanic women are being lulled to their cultural extinction by following the ‘Abortion Pied Piper’ in New Mexico to the demise of their progeny. Unfortunately, pro-abortion groups in the state are doing a better job of marketing death to these women than they are in actually helping women through their pregnancies,” stated Bud Shaver.
It is up to those of us who support life-affirming alternatives to abortion to see that this deadly trend is reversed.
