NM Board Set To Rule In Case Of Late-term Abortion

New Mexico medical regulators are poised to rule next week on a case involving a physician who performs late-term abortions at a private clinic in Albuquerque and is accused of gross negligence in a late-term abortion during 2011.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that an attorney for the New Mexico Medical Board maintains Dr. Shelley Sella breached the standard of practice in treating a 26-year-old New York woman who had a uterine rupture during the third day of the procedure to abort a 35-week-old fetus with severe brain abnormalities.

She recovered, but may not be able to carry a future pregnancy to full term.

Sella's attorneys say the allegations of gross negligence are nothing more than a political tactic by a national anti-abortion group that wants to end legal abortions.