Dr. Bruce Steir had performed some 40,000 abortions in his 40-year medical career and never lost a patient — until Dec. 13, 1996.

On that night, Sharon Hamptlon, a 27-year-old Burger King employee died less than three hours after Steir aborted her fetus at A Lady’s Choice Women’s Medical Center in Riverside County, Calif.’s Moreno Valley.