A Los Angeles A gynecologist has given up his medical license for allegedly accusing a patient about Jesus and prescribed a Bible study after she revealed she had a abortion 34 years before.

The 63-year-old woman went to Dr. Lucien Cox in September 2021 for a routine exam, during which a nurse first asked a series of preliminary questions, including whether or not she had terminated a pregnancy. The woman said she had an elective abortion in 1987, according to a disciplinary file from the Medical Board of California.

When Cox, 75, entered the room, he pressed the woman for more details about the abortion and asked if she had “Jesus in her life,” the filing said. When the woman told Cox she was not religious, Cox reportedly asked if she wanted to “go to heaven and avoid the devil,” telling her that “the devil rules the world.” He then spent the next 15 minutes proselytizing before inviting her to attend his Bible study class, which Cox said provided “counseling for women suffering from abortion guilt,” according to the filing.

Cox, who has not been allowed to practice since Tuesday, then called his assistant back into the gym and administered a pelvic exam and a Pap smear, the filing said.

The woman complained to state authorities, who launched an investigation and found that a second patient of Cox’s had reported him to authorities in 2014 for “attempting to rectally examine her uterus without first warning her,” according to the filing . Stunned, the 42-year-old pushed Cox away, left the office and called police. Police investigated, but no criminal charges were filed, the filing said.

The filing cites Cox, who began practicing in 1979, for unprofessional conduct and gross negligence, citing “extreme deviations from the standard of care.” The medical board revoked Cox’s license, effective Nov. 5.

In a statement provided Wednesday to The IndependentCox’s attorney, Peter Osinoff, said his client “didn’t offer to teach her about Christianity” and denied making any comments “about the devil or going to heaven.” Cox is “deeply religious” and only “counseled the (miscarriage) patient about a Bible study program she might find helpful,” according to Osinoff.

“As always, an attendant was present during the exam, which was conducted without incident,” he said.

Had Cox gone to court before the medical board, “he would not have lost his license or been severely disciplined,” according to Osinoff, who said Cox “has never been the subject of any prior disciplinary action during his long career as a physician.”

“Rather than proceed to an expensive hearing, Dr. Cox decided to surrender his license because he had closed his practice and had been planning to retire from the practice of medicine for some time,” the statement concluded.

Cox also denied trying to examine the second patient’s uterus through the rectum, according to Osinoff, who said Cox “has provided excellent care to thousands of patients in the Los Angeles community.”