Abortion Death Trial Begins

Jan. 22, 2001 -- Lawyers for Dr. John Biskind say the bleeding death of Lou Anne Herron after he performed a late-term abortion on the 33-year-old woman was tragic misfortune.

Prosecutors in Phoenix say it was criminal, and are set to make that case today as the doctor's manslaughter begins with opening statements.

It's one of the first times in the state when a doctor has been accused of a crime for the death of a patient, and a case that has sparked intense debate on abortion, with new laws passed to regulate clinics more closely.

The Maricopa County Attorney's office says the 75-year-old Phoenix obstetrician let Herron bleed to death with a perforated womb because he was too busy eating his lunch to check on her condition as she rested in a recovery room at his now-defunct A-Z Women's Clinic in April 1998.

They also allege that one of his assistants, Carol Stuart-Schadoff, 63, who also faces manslaughter charges, prohibited clinic staff from calling paramedics because she feared bad publicity. After several hours, nurses called 911 against her orders.

By the time they got to the clinic, Herron was dead.

Witnesses also claim Herron may have also been passed the 22-to 26-week limit for an abortion.

Biskind and Schadoff have pleaded innocent to the manslaughter charges. But prosecutors say other incidents point to a history of medical incompetence.

A Revoked License

Last year, Biskind got his license revoked in Arizona and Ohio after an investigation concluded he was responsible for the botched abortion of a 17-year-old patient in June 1998. The baby turned out to be full-term, well beyond Arizona's limit for abortion. Another woman suffered a tear on her uterus, according to prosecutors. But the jury in the current manslaughter trial will not hear this evidence because a judge deemed it not relevant.

Pro-life advocates have argued that this is the kind of tragedy waiting to happen in an industry lacking sufficient regulation.

"The whole situation is a real tragedy. It just goes to prove what we have been saying about this industry," said Shane Wikfors, executive director for the Phoenix chapter of the Right to Life Organization. "This is an industry that does not care for women in the sense that they are more interested in profit than the health of their patients."

Thanks in part to the mobilization of groups like Wiksfors', the state legislature passed a bill that would require medical licenses for clinics that perform more than six abortions a month. The law would also require an analysis of aborted fetuses if the procedure is performed in the 12th week or after.

Two abortion clinics challenged the law in court and its enforcement remains on hold until a judgment on the case is made later this year.

But while most family planning groups opposed the law, Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona has a hand in crafting the legislation saying women's health was more important than any political considerations.

"If we could say this is the one form of surgery where you were guaranteed to been seen in a licensed facility we would support it," said Bryan Howard, executive director of the Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona. "You wouldn't be able to say that about plastic surgery."

Relaxed License Standards

Arizona has one of the most relaxed licensing for out-patient surgeries in the country some say that if the new law is implemented, getting an abortion would be safer than getting a face lift.

"We just tried to keep our eyes on what law was going to best protect women's health," Howard said. "We couldn't be distracted by their (pro-life groups') motives."

Experts say botched abortions are rare and most abortions in the country are safe.

But the law may have given pro-life groups a new common cause.

Legislation that would require women who get abortions in Arizona to look at pictures of unborn fetuses and wait 24 hours before getting an abortion has been introduced every year in the state legislature and is expected to be re-introduced this year.

Both camps say even after the jury's decision, they have not heard the end of the Biskind case.