Mississippi Abortion Practitioner Who Botched Abortions Suspended 
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by Maria Vitale Gallagher
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
March 21, 2005
Jackson, MS (LifeNews.com) — A Mississippi abortion practitioner whose patients suffered damaging and even deadly complications has been suspended indefinitely by the state medical board. The suspension of Dr. Malachy Dehenre came after he testified that he did not like performing some 35,000 abortions but did so because he needed the work.
“I ask your forgiveness,” said the 54-year-old Dehenre. "I don’t want to be an outcast. I want to be among the medical community."
Dehenre has been under temporary suspension since August. He had performed abortions at the New Woman Medical Center in Jackson and the facility closed following his suspension.
In December, an Alabama medical board found Dehenre guilty of gross malpractice in four abortions. In one case, a woman died 18 hours after having an abortion. The women involved in the other three cases had to have hysterectomies to stop massive hemorrhaging from uterine perforations.
During his testimony, Dehenre stated, "I found work in Jackson, and it happened to be an abortion clinic in which an obstetrician was needed. I needed money to pay expenses and education for my children. It was supposed to be temporary, but it turned out to be longer. I was in a position I didn’t want to be in, but I needed work."
In the case involving a death, Dehenre admitted he should have met the patient at the hospital or relayed medical information to the doctor who treated her.
"We hope to hear from you at a later date when you get things straight in Alabama," Mississippi board president Dr. Dewitt G. Crawford of Louisville told Dehenre.
Dehenre will have to regain his license in Alabama before he can seek reinstatement in Mississippi. The Alabama suspension will last at least one year.
Pat Cartrette, executive director of Pro-Life Mississippi, told the press, "I am pleased that the board made the right decision. … What they did will keep women safe in Mississippi."
In a statement issued last year, Pro-Life Mississippi said Dehenre “is now being held accountable for the injuries and death to women at abortion clinics and we thank God that both women and their unborn babies are now safe from this abortionist.”
Related web sites:
Pro-Life Mississippi – https://www.prolifemississippi.org
