Fatal Abortions by "Provider," Naturopath, and Ob/Gyn

On October 19, 1910, Pelagia Usorowski, age 32, died in a Chicago residence from an abortion that had been performed on October 13. Rosalie Tomajoski, whose occupation is given only as "abortion provider", was indicted by a grand jury for felony murder in Pelagia's death. I've been unable to identify Tomajoski's profession or even to verify the spelling of either woman's name.

Sylvia Redman, who had a license to practice naturopathy, signed a written confession on October 20, 1954 regarding the death of Betty Ladel. Redman said that Betty came to her on October 8, saying that she thought she was pregnant. Her period was about a week late. Redman said Betty asked her "if I could help her get rid of the baby. ...." Redman said that she used a speculum and syringe to shoot some air into Betty's uterus, though she wasn't really sure if Betty was pregnant. She told Betty to return every other day. Each time Betty returned, Redman shot a little more air into her uterus. Finally, on October 19, Betty again went to Redman, who took her upstairs, "laid her on a table used for females," and pushed five syringes full of air into Betty's uterus and asked Betty if she could feel it. Betty said that she could, a little. "And she looked up at me and said I feel choky, and then she passed out." Redman tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her and had a downstairs neighbor call an ambulance. She tossed the abortion instruments into the trash while Betty was being taken to the hospital, but when questioned by police she produced them. Betty was pronounced dead at the hospital.An autopsy verified that she had indeed been pregnant, and blamed her death on the introduction of air into her uterus to produce abortion. The six or seven week old embryo was intact and undamaged. Betty had died from an air embolism. Redman was convicted of murder by attempted abortion, and was sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary for four years.

Nineteen-year-old Christina Goesswein was almost 23 weeks pregnant when she went to the office of Dr. Braz Bortot to get a safe and legal abortion. Dr. Bortot referred her to Dr. Moshe Hachamovitch in Bronx, New York for the multi-day outpatient process. Christina grew successively more and more ill after the second step. Her boyfriend called Hachamovitch's emergency number early on the morning of October 19, 1990, to report how ill she was. The employee told Christina's boyfriend to bring her to meet Hachamovitch at his office, which they did some time between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. Christina expelled the fetus, then lost consciousness and stopped breathing. Hachamovitch tried to resuscitate her and called an ambulance, but she was pronounced dead from amniotic fluid embolism (amniotic fluid in her bloodstream) shortly after arriving at the hospital  Hachamovitch's handling of Christina's care was so slipshod and alarming that the medical board suspended his license.You can click on Christina's name to learn more. Five other abortion patients are known to have died either under Hachamovitch's direct care or under the care of an employe at one of his clinics: Tanya Williamson, Luz Rodriguez, Jammie Garcia, and Lisa Bardsley, and Lou Anne Herron.