Shaw had performed an abortion on Mills at his Granite City, Illinois abortion business without first performing a pregnancy test. He never told Mills she was not pregnant.
Mills suffered from severe post-abortion stress syndrome and battled with depression after thinking she had aborted her baby. Eventually, Mills became suicidal at the thought of what she had done.
Later, Mills learned she was not pregnant, but had suffered from an undiagnosed blighted ovum, which lulled her into a false sense of pregnancy.
When Mills told her story, Shaw filed a $1million lawsuit against her, despite Mills having obtained medical documents and a statement from a specialist attesting to her condition and the false abortion. Shaw also saw a five year gag order to prevent Mills from discussing her situation.
Mills is greatly relieved by the court's decision and wants other women to know what happened to her at the Hope Clinic abortion facility.
“I hope no other woman will ever have to go through the mental torment of thinking they killed their child,” Mills said. “Not until I found I was not pregnant at the time of the abortion did I have peace of mind and Dr. Shaw knew when the abortion was performed there was no baby, but he did not tell me.
"I have lived with the guilt until I found out the truth and it has taken a tremendous emotional toll on my life and my family," Mills added.
Mills says she knows know she shouldn't have pursued an abortion, even though she was unaware she wasn't pregnant.
“I thought at the time abortion was the answer,” Mills admitted. “I now beg women to please not make a decision in haste that you will have to live with the rest of their lives. You cannot imagine what this does to you later on.”
Father Frank Pavone, the national director of Priests for Life, a Catholic pro-life group, applauded Mills' courage.
"Thank God for the willingness of Melanie Mills to uncover what we know are two common abuses: abortionists doing abortions on people who are not pregnant, and abortionists intimidating women into silence about the malpractice that occurs in legal abortion clinics," Pavone responded.
"We call on women's rights groups to denounce abortionists who exploit women in this way," Pavone added.
