An Italian hospital was fined Monday for a failed abortion which resulted in a woman having an unwanted child.
The operation was performed at Gela in Sicily in 1999 on a 40-year-old housewife who said she was struggling to cope with her two boys because of her poor health.
At the time, all the hospital's obstetrical surgeons were conscientious objectors so the abortion was carried out by a surgeon from outside Gela Hospital.
After the op the housewife was shown a medical chart indicating that the procedure was a success.
She did not have post-op checks.
A few weeks later she had tell-tale pains and went to a private doctor who congratulated her, happily telling her she was five months pregnant. Her third child, another boy, is now nine years old.
The woman and her 45-year-old husband, a factory worker, sued Gela Hospital but a local court accepted the hospital's contention that ''abortions can sometimes fail''.
On Monday the appeals court in this Sicilian city reversed the verdict.
The hospital has said it will appeal to the country's highest appeals court, the Court of Cassation.
