1910: Unnamed doctor's patient perishes

On August 31, 1910, Mrs. Ellen Shirah , age 34, died in Augustano Hospital in Chicago from an abortion that had been performed the previou...

Four more anniversaries

On August 29, 1918, 23-year-old Mabel Johnston died at Chicago's Cook County Hospital from an abortion perpetrated by Dr. Nathan Smedl...

Two criminal anniversaries

I have scant information on the first of today's abortion anniversaries. On August 28, 1926, 44-year-old Margaret Muscia died from a cr...

Rare anniversary: Safe, legal abortionist prosecuted for patient death

The 1980 death of 26-year-old Betty Jane Zellers Damato stands out among safe, legal abortion deaths in that the doctor responsible actua...

Four more tragic anniversaries

Today's anniversaries run the gamut. To learn more about any of these women, click on her name. The first and most mysterious is the dea...

Four anniversaries

Today's deaths are a confirmed illegal abortion by an unknown perpetrator, an unconfirmed illegal abortion, a pre-Roe legal abortion, an...

Two illegal deaths, one verified, one questionable

According to the National Organization for Women web site, Ruth Irene Friedl was a married, 27-year-old mother of two. NOW's site sa...

Three illegal anniversaries

On August 20, 1880, Miss M.A.M. Faulkner , a white woman formerly of Ottawa, Canada, died at the office of Dr. Thomas J. Cream during the ...

Six anniversaries

On August 19, 1908, 23-year-old Bertha Isserstadt died in Chicago from compliations of an abortion performed August 5. A woman named Margar...

Two safe, legal anniversaries

" Vicki " is one of the women Life Dynamics identifies on their " Blackmun Wall " as having been killed by a safe and le...

Five anniversaries

Today's anniversaries cover quite a time span. Click on each woman's name to read the details. Margaretta Velth died on August 16, ...