By Ricardo Pinedo
Cleveland, OH — Disturbing new details have surfaced regarding a life-threatening medical emergency that happened at the Preterm abortion facility in Cleveland, Ohio, on November 20, 2024.
What the records say
Operation Rescue first received a report of the emergency early this year and submitted a public records request with the City of Cleveland in March 2025. However, the City did not release the records of the 911 audio and Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) until July—more than three months later—raising questions about whether or not this information was being intentionally withheld from the public.
The 911 call, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), confirms that a 23-year-old woman suffered a critical medical emergency following a surgical abortion procedure. The staff member who called 911 first reported that the patient was “not breathing.” Later, she described the woman as “in and out of consciousness,” but reiterated that she was still not breathing.
According to the CAD transcript, the official chief complaint for the emergency was recorded as “cardiac or respiratory arrest/death.” Although Operation Rescue has been investigating this incident since July, the condition of this woman still remains unknown at the publication of this report. Operation Rescue has been unable to determine whether she survived.
“Our team is still waiting on other public records requests,” says Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “We pray this woman did survive – we know her child did not.”
An abortion mill with infamous history
This latest emergency adds to Preterm’s troubling record. The facility is already infamous for its history of serious abortion-related complications, including the tragic death of 22-year-old Lakisha Wilson in 2014, who lost her life after a botched abortion performed by Lisa Perriera. Perriera sent another woman to the ER in Cherry Hill, NJ, earlier this year.
“The fact that yet another woman suffered cardiac or respiratory arrest at Preterm should alarm every citizen,” says Newman. “Abortion is not safe, and it never has been. Preterm has a long history of endangering women and killing babies, yet it continues to operate with the blessing of state authorities. How many more women have to be wheeled out of this building on a stretcher before Ohio wakes up and shuts it down? This is not healthcare—it’s a human rights disaster.”
Protecting abortionists while ignoring victims
This emergency also comes at a pivotal time in Ohio. In late 2023, voters passed Issue 1, enshrining abortion access into the state constitution and overturning enforcement of the state’s heartbeat law, which would have protected babies from abortion once a detectable heartbeat was present. As a result, Ohio has some of the most permissive abortion laws in the Midwest, allowing abortion through viability with broad “health” exceptions anytime after.
Newman observes, “Pro-life advocates warned that removing legal protections for the unborn would only embolden facilities like Preterm, which has a well-documented history of abortion injuries and safety violations. The November 20 incident clearly demonstrates that those warnings were well founded.
“While Preterm continues to present itself as a ‘trusted’ abortion provider, records like this highlight the dangerous reality of abortion procedures and the lack of transparency surrounding them. Was the woman resuscitated or brought back after her death at the Preterm clinic? Sadly, we may never know. Furthermore, the city’s delay in releasing the 911 records underscores the need for accountability for an industry that kills babies—and mothers too.”
Operation Rescue vows to continue investigating this possible patient death and to press for greater oversight—and the abolishment—of the abortion industry in Cleveland and across the nation.
