From Lime 5, a story of abortion malpractice:
“28-year-old “Linda” was hospitalized after Dr. X performed a second trimester abortion on her in June 1973. Dr. X had left a fetus of nearly 5 months gestation, missing a leg, an arm, part of the skull, and part of the torso, in Linda’s uterus. Linda died from a massive infection created by the retained fetal parts. Dr. X was put on trial for manslaughter in the case, during which the South Dakota Attorney General is quoted as saying, “You take a three inch leg off something, you have to know that there’s more in there than just the leg.” The defense argued that the state could not prove that Dr. X intended to harm Linda by leaving so much of the fetus inside her. The expert witness for the prosecution said that infection would result in every case where so much tissue was left behind, and the defense argued that infection is an accepted risk. Dr. X was acquitted. He was tried for another manslaughter following the 1985 abortion death of 18-year-old “Yvonne” and was again acquitted.”
Sources: American Medical News 8/29/77; Minneapolis Tribune 10/21/77; American Medical Association News 12/12/77, 1/23/78; South Dakota Death Certificate no. 140 85–2003853; Personal communication between Life Dynamics and South Dakota Deputy Attorney General
Mark Crutcher Lime 5: Exploited by Choice (Denton, Texas: Life Dynamics, Inc., 1996) 37
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