Doctor Gets Prison in Bungled Abortion

A doctor who botched an abortion, causing a woman to bleed to death, was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison for murder.

Dr. David Benjamin, 58, was found guilty Aug. 8. Authorities could cite only one other U.S. case in which a doctor was convicted of murder for botched work. Benjamin was convicted in the 1993 death of Guadalupe Negron, 33, who bled to death from a three-inch rip in her uterus.

The defense claimed she caused the tear by sitting up during the abortion. The state had revoked Benjamin’s license for gross incompetence and negligence for abortions performed on five women in 1990. In three cases, the women suffered a ripped uterus.

Benjamin was allowed to continue practicing while appealing the revocation. He is appealing the murder conviction.