Self-Administered Chemical Abortion Kills Woman and Child

Twenty-three year old, Claudeth Aviles and her unborn baby have died in the Philippines from a chemical abortion. Relatives of Aviles found her in a pool of blood, in her home, her dead baby still lodged in her vagina. Her relatives tried to transport her to a local hospital but she had lost too much blood and was declared dead by the time she arrived.

The doctor at the hospital who attended to Aviles told the police that she used Cytotec to abort her baby. An undisolved portion of the Cytotec tablet was still in her vagina opening near where her baby was lodged.

Police say she had been separated from her husband for two years but had recently become pregnant by another man and decided to have a chemical abortion.

Cytotec, which can only be obtained by prescription, is designed to prevent stomach ulcers in people who are taking medication for rheumatism or arthritis. Searle, the manufacturer of Cytotec, has warned against pregnant women using the drug because it can kill the woman and her baby or cause infertility.

Ninety-Eight percent of all abortions in the Philippines are done chemically. One of the most common drugs used is Cytotec, which in recent years has been smuggled into the country and sold on the black market.

03/02/05