Woman wins wrongful death suit against doctors on behalf of terminated fetus after claiming she was too high to consent to abortion

A wrongful death case in New Mexico has become the first of its kind to see monetary damages awarded to the estate of an aborted baby. The case centered around accusations of a lack of informed consent for the mother of the baby, who had been 26 weeks pregnant at the time of the abortion.

Per Live Action, the estate of the 26-week-old baby received a $200,000 settlement. The wrongful death lawsuit had been filed against abortion doctors Emily Cohen, Curtis Boyd, and Carmen Landau, the latter of whom died in 2022.

The suit alleged that on December 8, 2020, Jazel Wabbington went to Boyd “to seek medical assistance for a possible 26-week abortion.” She had been under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the visit.

During the visit, “Defendants attempted to get informed consent from Plaintiff, Jazel Wabbington,” who the suit said “could not legally give informed consent as she was intoxicated.” She had told the counselor of her use of meth during the visit.

Wabbington had signed an informed consent which “attempted to release liability for emotional distress.” The lawsuit noted, “Prospective releases of liability for medical negligence are void against public policy.”

She also signed a document stating that she wanted the baby’s remains released to Riverside Funeral Home, however, the baby’s remains were instead “placed in a medical waste container and destroyed.”

The suit stated that under New Mexico’s Wrongful Death Statute, the 26-week-old baby is a person. It stated that the baby’s life was “illegally terminated” due to a lack of informed consent, and that “the failure of informed consent resulted in an injury to Jazel Wabbington.”

The suit also accused the doctors and the clinic they worked at, Southwestern Women's Options, of unfair trade practices by “attempting to persuade patients not to sue for malpractice,” “disclaiming any liability for emotional distress against public policy,” “attempting to prevent women and patients from suing for emotional distress,” “attempting to persuade patients to release malpractice liability in contradiction with well settled law of New Mexico,” and “offering funeral services for aborted babies without any intent to transfer the aborted babies to the funeral home.”

Attorney Michael Siebel told Live Action News, which obtained the suit and settlement through an Inspection of Public Records Act request, “This is the first time that an abortionist has ever been sued for the wrongful death of a baby. There have been numerous cases for injuries to the mother, but in this case both the mother and the baby’s estate sued. This case recognized the baby to have an estate, and receive compensation for wrongful death, as a 'person' under New Mexico law.”

Siebel added, “This settlement recasts the informed consent debate to give a powerful tool to collect damages against an abortionist. In addition, it confirms the existing standard of care for women facing substance abuse disorders. But, most importantly, it was the first ever case where the dead aborted child, identified as a 'person' in the court record, was able to collect damages against the abortion industry.”