Jailed abortionist to be released early

By Julie Foster and Michael P. Ackley

© 2000, WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.

After performing a botched abortion that killed a young woman, being
tried for murder, convicted of involuntary manslaughter and eventually
sentenced to six months in county jail, abortionist Bruce Steir is being
released more than two months early for good behavior.

Steir, 68, perforated the uterus of 27-year-old Sharon Hamptlon in
December 1996 while performing an abortion of her 20-week-old fetus in a
Riverside County, Calif., clinic. Hamptlon, who lived in neighboring
San Bernardino County, bled to death in front of her 3-year-old son
while being driven home by her mother after the procedure.

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"Dr. Bruce Steir, who is serving a sentence for manslaughter in a botched-abortion case, is scheduled to be released tomorrow.

Having been on probation with the medical board since 1988, Steir
surrendered his license to practice medicine four months after
Hamptlon's death.

Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Kennis Clark argued the
doctor knew he made a lethal mistake during the abortion but failed to
call emergency personnel because his medical license was already on
probation for previous allegations of negligence.

An attending nurse testified that during the procedure, Steir looked
shocked and said, "I think I pulled bowel," indicating he had perforated
Hamptlon's uterus and partially extracted a segment of intestine.
Instead of sending Hamptlon to a hospital -- mandatory in such cases --
Steir had the woman bundled into a car and sent home.

Steir was accused of "gross negligence" and a lack of "due caution"
for his actions. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on May 26
and was immediately taken into custody. After serving 114 days of his
185-day sentence, Steir will be released tomorrow due to good behavior,
according to the Riverside County jail. His early release is the result
of California's "good time/work time" statute, which prescribes a
formula for calculating revised release dates due to good behavior -- a
standard procedure applied to virtually all cases.

Groups opposed to legalized abortion are disturbed by Steir's early
release.

Cathy Brown, spokesperson for the

American Life League, said, "We're obviously completely outraged that he's being released early. We're completely outraged that he was only sentenced to 6 months ... and that he's responsible for the deaths of two people (Hamptlon and her fetus). Although we're outraged, we're not shocked, because we live in a country that has embraced the culture of death and we stand silent every day while over 4,000 children are murdered. So this is just another sign of how far we have strayed from morality, how far we have strayed from God and his truth."

"This is not an isolated case," Brown continued. "Women die all the time because of abortion and babies are killed every day. If we remain silent, if we don't stand up and become outraged at this type of violence, we will continue to slide down this slippery slope to our ultimate destruction."

Advocates of legalized abortion services acknowledge there are complications associated with abortion but say occurrences are rare. Eileen Schnitger is the director of education at the

Feminist Women's
Health Center, where Steir worked for 12 years. She claimed the abortionist's complication rate was extremely low.

"Perforation is a known complication for abortion. It's a .04 percent occurrence. It is a risk in any abortion," she said before Steir's sentencing in May. "It's a blind procedure. ... You're putting instruments inside where you can't see."

Asked for comment, Clark sighed and mused, "How many times do we have to chew this cud? ... I'm satisfied (Steir) was allowed to exercise the full panoply of his rights." She notes that during the appeals court review, "I even took the stand so they could examine my motives (regarding selective prosecution). It was litigated ad nauseam."

Clark said Steir's remark that he had "pulled bowel" was the key to the prosecution.

"If that statement had never been made, we never would have prosecuted that case," she said. "When you make a statement that you've done something bad and don't do anything to fix it, that's when you're in trouble. ... Because (Steir) had so many prior bad acts and lies in his background ... we know that he knew."

The prosecutor, who noted abortion was "a very dangerous business," said she has a personal friend who performs abortions, "and he is one of the nicest, most conscientious people I know."

"Doctors are afraid they're going to be prosecuted for murder when that would only occur under extraordinary circumstances," she added.

WorldNetDaily obtained more than 50 letters from family, friends and colleagues of Steir who wrote in support of the well-known abortionist, including the

California Medical Association. According to CMA's independent analysis of the case, the professional and lobbying organization concluded that Steir's actions "cannot be characterized as criminally negligent behavior, manslaughter, or any kind of criminal act."

"I was working with Dr. Steir in our Chico clinic when he received the news of Ms. Hamplin's (sic) death," wrote Penny Bertsch, clinic administrator for Women's Health Specialists, with several offices in northern California. "Dr. Steir was shocked and devastated by Ms. Hamplin's (sic) death and was near tears. He immediately expressed his empathy for Ms. Hamplin (sic) and her family and was concerned that his medical care could have somehow contributed to her death."

Bertsch's letter was addressed to Superior Court Judge Vilia Sherman, who recommended Steir be given five years of "formal probation" and "substantial custody."

"I am acutely aware of the seriousness of Dr. Steir's medical error," Bertsch continued, asking Sherman to "consider his many years of contribution to women' health when sentencing him."

Dr. Dennis Christensen of the Madison Abortion Clinic in Wisconsin wrote that "since [Steir] has relinquished his medical credentials, there is no way he can be considered a threat to the community Any other medical mishap that didn't involve abortion or intentional abuse would never have seen the inside of a criminal courtroom. I am convinced that Dr. Steir is being crucified on the tree of political ambition. ... The practice of medicine is an imperfect and often unpredictable undertaking which doesn't always follow a happy ending script and I believe justice would be best served with a minimal judicial penalty."

In an

interview with the publication Inland Empire, Steir said, "My incarceration proved nothing." He maintained he was guilty only of failing "to make the diagnosis of her (Hamptlon's) condition."

"I'm absolutely not sorry," he told the Inland Empire. "I'm sorry I ended up in jail. I'm sorry I had to surrender my license and I'm sorry a woman died. I would like not to have done that abortion that day."

Related stories:

Doctor jailed for botched abortion

Botched-abortion doctor pleads guilty

Michael P. Ackley is a veteran journalist and professor of journalism at California State University, Hayward.