An Inclusive Litany

9/2/98

Deborah Gaines sued Boston's Preterm Health Services clinic, four years after John Salvi III attacked the clinic in a brutal shootout that left two people dead. Gaines, who witnessed the attack while she was waiting for an appointment to have an abortion, did not reschedule the procedure and instead gave birth to a daughter, Vivian, seven months later. Her suit alleges that due to the post-traumatic stress she suffered, Gaines was unable to return to a clinic setting, gave birth against her original intentions, and thus deserves compensation from the clinic for the cost of raising her daughter, who has learning disabilities and is hyperactive. Gaines says she had to quit her job and put her three other children into day care to take care of her daughter's special needs, and she says she sought the abortion while on welfare at a time when she wanted to take the GED and get her life back together. Gaines alleges that the clinic should have had better security following similar attacks upon abortion clinics. But alas, the two guards on duty at the time have also sued the clinic, alleging emotional trauma.