Abortion Practitioner Convicted of Manslaughter in
Abortion Death
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From: The Pro-Life Infonet <infonet@prolifeinfo.org>
Reply-To: Steven Ertelt <infonet@prolifeinfo.org>
Subject: Abortion Practitioner Convicted of Manslaughter in
Abortion
Death
Source: Associated Press; February 20, 2001
Phoenix, AZ -- An abortion practitioner was convicted of manslaughter
Tuesday in the death of a woman following a botched abortion and a
former
abortion facility administrator was found guilty of negligent homicide.
John Biskind, 75, and Carol Stuart-Schadoff, 63, were both charged with
manslaughter in the death of LouAnne Herron, who died three hours after
an
abortion at the now-closed A-Z Women's Center abortion facility in
Phoenix
in 1998. An autopsy found Herron's uterus had been ruptured by a medical
instrument.
``We don't usually prosecute doctors for bad medicine, but this case was
so bad we had to make a stand,'' prosecutor Paul Ahler said.
Prosecutors said Biskind and Stuart-Schadoff caused the death by
providing
little care for Herron as the 33-year-old woman bled heavily.
Prosecutors
also accused them of ignoring sonograms showing Herron had a pregnancy
too
advanced to have an abortion.
Sentencing was set for March 20.
Jurors disapproved of Biskind's decision to leave the abortion facility
as
Herron lay dying. ``We all agreed from the start of deliberations that
he
was guilty,'' said jury foreman Russell Craig, a 56-year-old retired
government worker.
Jurors also were struck by Stuart-Schadoff's disregard for a sonogram
showing the unborn child was more than 24 weeks old and her failure to
schedule a nurse during Herron's abortion.
Biskind had no comment. His attorney, Lawrence Kazan, said the jury made
a
crime out of a medical mistake. ``We're sorry the jury didn't see it our
way,'' Kazan said. ``We think at worst this was a case of medical
malpractice.''
Stuart-Schadoff's attorney, Cameron Morgan, said he wants a new trial.
``Obviously we disagree with the verdict,'' Morgan said.
The case led to a state law, now being wrangled in the courts, that
would
require a medical license for places performing more than six abortions
per month and analyses of unborn children aborted after 12 weeks. The
Legislature is also considering a bill requiring abortion practitioners
to
provide abortion information to women at least 24 hours before having an
abortion.
Arizona law does not give a specific date after which an abortion can no
longer be performed, but it prohibits aborting an unborn child after it
becomes viable, or able to live outside the womb.
The abortion facility advertised itself as the only place in Arizona
performing abortions up to 24 weeks.
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