Victims of “CO” – Introduction

Here is a collection of stories where women were refused a legal abortion and suffered serious injury or injustice as a result, including death in some cases. Doctors and hospitals are rarely punished or convicted for these wrongdoings.

Media coverage about serious consequences of the refusal to treat under CO usually only happens when a woman dies, or a woman or her family sues. Here are their stories we could find, but these must be the tip of the iceberg. We know nothing about the vast majority of refusals to treat under CO, or what happens to the victims.