Woman in Abortion Furor Improving
A woman who underwent an abortion while in a coma in a desperate attempt to improve her chances of recovering from a car accident is now able to talk and recognizes family members, a published report said Friday.
Nancy Klein, 32, whose family fought all the way to the Supreme Court to gain permission for the abortion, is doing “amazingly well” and is slowly regaining her memory, the New York Times quoted family members and doctors as saying.
A pregnant Klein lapsed into a coma after suffering brain damage in a car accident on Long Island on Dec. 13, 1988.
Doctors determined an abortion would greatly improve her chances of recovery. But abortion foes fought to gain guardianship over her in a bid to stop the operation.
Anti-abortion activists took the matter all the way to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, which sided with Klein’s husband, Martin, and ruled doctors could perform the operation. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
After the Feb. 11, 1989, abortion, Nancy Klein was transferred to the Center for Head Injuries at the Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Rehabilitation Institute in Edison, N.J.
“She’s doing amazingly well,” said Caroline McCagg, medical director of the center. “She’s made slow, constant progress. It’s incredible.”
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