Abortion: Sherri's Baby was Deformed

The Abortion: Sherri's Baby Was Deformed

Stockholm, Aug. 18 (UPI).—Mrs. Sherri Finkbine successfully underwent a legal abortion in a Swedish hospital today. Doctors said afterward that an examination showed the unborn child would have been born deformed, as the parents had feared.

Mrs. Finkbine, 30, was reported tired and weak but in "quite satisfactory" condition after the 45-minute operation that marked the successful end of a month-long battle by the Phoenix, Ariz., housewife and her school-teacher husband to win a legal abortion.

"We are both very thankful now that its all over," said Robert Finkbine, 31.

They had feared that Mrs. Finkbine, 13 weeks pregnant, would have given birth to a deformed child because she took the sedative thalidomide early in her pregnancy.

Shortly after the operation at Caroline hospital, Finkbine revealed that doctors had said the unborn infant showed clear signs of damage and that the baby would have had deformities. 

Better This Way

"The last thing we wanted was a deformed baby," Finkbine said. 

"It was better to have an abortion, both for Sherri's mental health and for the baby itself.

"Now we know beyond any doubt that we were right in insisting on abortion."

The couple had traveled to Sweden to seek the operation, leaving their four children behind in Phoenix after an Arizona court turned down their request for a legal operation.

The Swedish State Medical Board yesterday granted Mrs. Finkbine's appeal for the operation. The approval was made on grounds her mental health would be affected if the operation were not performed.

"No Complications"

Sources at Caroline Hospital said the 45-minute operation went "normally" and Mrs. Finkbine was in satisfactory conditions. The name of the doctor who performed the abortion was not disclosed.

"There were no complicataions," the doctors said.

Looking tired but relieved, Finkbine said he hoped the world-wide publicity their case had received might result in some good.

"Perhaps," he said, "it will make some contribution to strickter control of drugs."

While visiting England last year, Finkbine bought a bottle of pills containing thalidomide, from which Sherri took about 30 tablets. 

The drug was responsible for birth defects in at least 5,000 babies born in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas. Only a few cases have been reported in the United States.

Plan Visit to Paris

A medical source said Mrs. Finkbine's convalescence would be as long as that required after a normal birth. She is expected to be discharged from the hospital toward the end of the week.

Finkbine said he and his wife then plan to go home via Paris. "This has been a trying time for my wife and I am sure she needs some distraction."