Among the tragedies at Moshe Hachamovitch's A - Z abortion facility in Arizona there was a miracle that started with a screw-up.
An unnamed 17-year-old girl went to A - Z, seeking a late second-trimester abortion. She was self-referred after a positive home pregnancy test. The date was June 29, 1998.
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| John Biskind |
The Associated Press story leaves it unclear whether Biskind noticed his mistake and chose to deliver the baby live, or whether she simply came out whole and breathing. Either way, she turned out to be very much alive, not dead as intended despite the fractured skull and two deep facial lacerations she had suffered during the attempt on her life.
Local prolifers dubbed the baby "Phoenix".
After her unintended birth, Phoenix was transferred to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. She weighed in at 6 pounds, two ounces. She was actually closer to full term -- 37 weeks of gestation. Police spokesman Sgt. Mike Torres told the Associated Press that a Texas couple were to adopt her.
Dr. John Mattox of Good Samaritan told the AP that given the differences in size and lie of fetuses of 23 weeks and 37 weeks, the mistake ought not to have happened. Dr. Carolyn Gerster of Arizona Right to Life noted that a 24 week fetus typically weighs only about 2 pounds, a third the size of Phoenix. She said, "With an ultrasound, there shouldn't be that kind of discrepancy." Even abortionist Dr. Brian Finkel agreed, saying that "Missing a 37-week gestation and confusing it with a 23-week pregnancy is unacceptable."
The AP reported that Biskind had gotten letters of concern from the medical board in 1989 for misdiagnosis and in 1990 for improper prescribing. He was censured in 1996 for "gross neglect/conduct harmful to patients or the public." What the AP failed to report was that 1990 letter of concern was for attempting to abort a term-infant he had diagnosed as only 10 weeks of gestation, and he was censured again in 1995 due to the death of an abortion patient, Lisa Bardsley.
Biskind's license was finally revoked in 1998, in the wake of his conviction in the death of Lou Ann Herron. Evidently the medical board doesn't consider you a threat to the public as an abortionist until you're convicted of manslaughter.
A - Z was finally closed July 21, 1998, after its lease was revoked by the landlord and a judge ordered the release of records to a grand jury investigating "possible criminal activity," NRL News cites from the Arizona Republic. Hachamovitch reportedly also closed his two other Phoenix-area facilities.
Watch Happy Birthday, Phoenix Doe on YouTube.
Sources: "Infant Injured In Abort Attempt", Associated Press, 1998; "Full-Term Baby Survives Abortion Attempt", National Right to Life News, 1998
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