By
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - A doctor was convicted of manslaughter yesterday in the death of a patient following a late-term abortion.
A former clinic administrator was found guilty of negligent homicide.
Dr. John Biskind and Carol Stuart-Schadoff had both been charged with manslaughter in the death of LouAnne Herron, who bled out after an abortion at the now-closed A-Z Women's Center in Phoenix on April 17, 1998. An autopsy found Herron's uterus had been ruptured by a medical instrument.
The verdict capped one of Arizona's first criminal cases against a doctor in a patient's death. Jurors deliberated briefly following closing arguments Thursday and resumed again yesterday morning. Sentencing for both is set for March 20.
"I am grateful that it came out the way it did," said prosecutor Paul Ahler.
Prosecutors said Biskind and Stuart-Schadoff caused Herron's death by ignoring sonograms showing how developed her pregnancy was and provided little care for the patient as she bled heavily.
Arizona law doesn't give a specific date after which a doctor can no longer terminate a pregnancy, but it prohibits aborting a fetus after it becomes viable enough to live outside the womb - usually 22 to 26 weeks.
The clinic advertised itself as the only place in Arizona performing abortions up to 24 weeks.
