Sixteen-year-old Erica Kay Richardson of Cheltenham, Maryland, was brought to Dr. Gene Crawford by her aunt on March 1, 1989 for a safe, legal abortion. Erica's aunt had gone to Crawford because Washington Center Hospital considered Erica's pregnancy to be too advanced for an abortion to be performed safely.
The abortion was being kept a secret from Erica's mother.
Erica's aunt reported that Crawford left the girl unattended and bleeding for four hours after her abortion, then at 11PM carried her to the car and instructed her aunt to take her home and put her to bed.
Erica's aunt, a nurse, instead took the girl to Bowie Hospital Center, where she was admitted already in respiratory arrest.
Erica died of an air embolism shortly after midnight on March 2. Her uterus and cervix had been punctured during the 19-week abortion.
Erica's mother, Ryvette Richardson-Smith, filed a claim with the Health Claims Arbitration Board against Crawford. The maximum Ryvette could be given for the death of her daughter was only $10,000 due to arbitration rules.
Sources:
- "Obstetrician sued in teen's fatal abortion," Salisbury (MD) Daily Times, May 24, 1990
- Prince George's (MD) Journal 5/30/90
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