On September 9, 1991, after learning that she was pregnant for the sixth time, distraught single mother Myrna George, 19, visited Dr. Gordon Boyd. The Terrace gynecologist agreed to grant her a therapeutic abortion. A day later she was admitted to Mills Memorial Hospital for surgery. Four days after that, Miss George was dead.

Two weeks ago Terrace coroner James Lynch concluded that Miss George's death was a homicide and he recommended that all women seeking an abortion in B.C. be warned, in writing, of all possible complications involved in the procedure.

Last week, though, despite "qualified" support for the recommendation from NDP Health Minister Elizabeth Cull, it was by no means certain that the recommendation would be acted upon. And that uncertainty troubled Miss George's mother. Maureen George says her daughter would not have gone through with the abortion if she had been informed of the dangers and given time to discuss them with her family.

Mrs. George says her daughter led a hard life. The oldest of three native children, Myma was a sociable person who "spoke her mind" and loved travelling by car through the rough countryside around her Terrace home. She struggled with alcohol abuse but was slowly turning her life around and planned to attend college one day. She was forced to drop out of high school in Grade I I after her first pregnancy. She carried that pregnancy and a subsequent one to term. But the mother of two (three- year-old Alyssa and one- year-old Tristan) later underwent one miscarriage and two therapeutic abortions before the procedure that claimed her life.

An ultrasound examination on August 31 indicated she was 13 weeks pregnant. Her mother guesses 16 weeks was more accurate, but regardless, when Myma visited Dr. Boyd, she was well into the second trimester of her pregnancy.

Myrna requested the abortion because she was fearful about her use of alcohol and painkillers early in her pregancy. She was also worried aout her ability to look after a third child. Maureen George learned of the abortion by accident, through Myrna's aunt who happened to be in Mills Hospital that day. Myrna's abortion began at 12:25 p.m. and was completed an hour later. But she was suffering low blood pressure and a high pulse, indicators of blood loss. When Mrs. George arrived later, her daughter was in agony and receiving blood intravenously.

By 6:20 p.m., Myrna's condition had deteriorated and an anesthetist phoned Dr. Boyd. The doctor arrived at 7 p.m., but left an hour later. At 9:45 p.m. the anesthetist called him again to request a reassessment. This time, Dr. Boyd signed a consent for surgery. Myrna was taken to the operating room at 11:20 p.m. and when her abdomen was opened there was a discharge of three litres of blood - she had been hemorrhaging all afternoon. Myrna never regained consciousness. She was flown to St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver on September 14 and died 45 minutes after her arrival.

Coroner Lynch wrote that "the most significant factor in the outcome was the delay in the recognition of post-operative hemorrhage."

On CBC Radio in Prince Rupert last week, Ms. Cull supported the recommedation that prospective abortion patients be informed of the risks. But she said B.C. doctors are already required to tell patients of the risks in any procedure, and patients must sign a medical consent form before an operation. She noted that a task force on abortion and contraception will consider the recommended written warning. And she suggested the task force also look at informing women of "the consequences of continuing the pregnancy."

A spokesman for the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Vancouver says any surgery, even a tooth extraction, has the potential for "a zillion" complications. Listing them all on paper would only alarm patients.

Meanwhile, Joy Thompson, spokesman for the B.C. Coalition for Abortion Clinics, says that "pre-abortion" counselling in hospitals is much less detailed than in Vancouver's two abortion clinics, where "all the risks are spelled out" to women. She insists that death or illness from an abortion is "extremely rare and unuely," and that the procedure is of much less risk to mothers than childbirth. The main risk is "post-partem emotion," says Ms. Thompson. Unless women confront the feelings of guilt and shame" experienced after an abortion, these feelings can lead to sickness."

On the pro-life side of the medical debate, Dr. Will Johnston, president of the B.C. chapter of Canadian Physicians for Life, says the best "pre-abortion" counselling would be for women to see photos of how recognizable human fetuses are. The result, he says, would be "public outrage" against abortion.