tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51461144224442116902024-03-19T03:06:47.330-07:00Rhonda O. Goldman lifeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.comBlogger500125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-18048988799527750112013-04-06T21:00:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.139-07:00Illegal Deaths, Before and After AntibioticsToday, our anniversaries are all of women who died from criminal abortions. Three died under the care of doctors, one under the care of a midwife.<br /><br />The earliest death is of 31-year-old widow <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Sarah+Hall" target="_blank"><b>Sarah Hall</b></a> at the Grand Central Hotel in Chicago in 1874. Sarah, who was one of many boarders at the hotel, had been keeping company with "a prominent merchant" when she took ill. She was cared for primarily by her aunt and cousin under the direction of a Dr. Reynolds, which was an arrangement typical for sick people at the time. Reynolds went into a panic at Sarah's death, according to witnesses. He did the embalming himself at the hotel and prepared to ship Sarah's body to her family in Connecticut. The hotel proprietor and other residents thought the whole thing was fishy and notified the authorities, who intercepted the shipment and convened a coroner's inquest, which revealed that an abortion had been the cause of death. I've been unable to determine if Reynolds was definitively identified as the perpetrator. <br /><br />Those involved in the 1880 death of <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Anna+Clemens" target="_blank"><b>Anna Clemens</b></a> did far more to arouse suspicions than did the people involved in Sarah's death. Rather than simply try to arrange a quiet burial, they dumped her body into the River Rough, just south of the village of Delray, Michigan, near Detroit. Anna's bloody cloak, with clumps of hair clinging to it, had caught on a spike on the bridge and thus prompted the search for her body. She was found dressed in black, bound and gagged. A stone had been tied to the clothesline which had been used to tie her hands behind her back. Anna had left her home on March 31, in good health and "excellent spirits." An investigation found that Anna and her fiance, businessman Thomas Merritt, had arranged an abortion to be done by Dr. W. G. Cox, who had been assisted by an elderly furniture repairman in dumping Anna's body. <br /><br />We have even scantier information on the 1906 death of <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Bessie+Braun" target="_blank"><b>Bessie Braun</b></a>, a 22-year-old homemaker and immigrant from Austria, who died April 6 at <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Michael+Reese+Hospital">Michael Reese Hospital</a>. The source says that she died at the scene of the crime, but that's highly unlikely since Michael Reese Hospital was a reputable hospital. Midwife <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Julia+Gibson">Julia Gibson</a> was arrested in the Bessie's death.<br /><br />Sarah, Anna, and Bessie died in the pre-modern era, before antibiotics were available and when medical care could just as easily kill a patient as cure her, so it's difficult to argue that the legal status of abortion played a role in their deaths. During the first two thirds of the 20th Century, while abortion was still illegal, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality, including mortality from abortion. Most researches attribute this plunge to improvements in public health and hygiene, the development of blood transfusion techniques, and the introduction of antibiotics. Learn more <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2006/02/abortion-in-1940s.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" /><br /><br />During the 1940s, while abortion was still illegal, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality from abortion. The death toll fell from 1,407 in 1940, to 744 in 1945, to 263 in 1950. Most researches attribute this plunge to the development of blood transfusion techniques and the introduction of antibiotics. Learn more <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2006/02/abortion-in-1940s.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br /><img alt="external image Abortion+Deaths+Since+1940.jpg" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktwRMXcGXwLOD0_Xgo2nWp8PLrSy9Fkl-d26BN6qfB0_cU6k0RdUmO83mDuYLOHwMDgiGrrc0TSSBGuvQByRYqdgmElOxcyhwOuPPOjcF0KXFLU-A7Eq3cIwFVVsrPKqYLv2H3eS96O2o/s400/Abortion+Deaths+Since+1940.jpg" title="external image Abortion+Deaths+Since+1940.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Catherine+Barnard" target="_blank"><b>Catherine Barnard</b></a> of Arvada, Colorado died in 1969. By this time, abortion mortality had resumed the downward trend it had followed for the previous century with the bewildering exception of the 1950s. Catherine had flown from her home to visit the Oklahoma City office of Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Virgil+Jobe">Virgil Roy Jobe</a>. A cab driver testified that he'd picked Catherine up at Jobe's office and to take her back to the airport, but she ended up instead at South Community Hospital. There, doctors found her gravely ill from a punctured uterus and small intestine. They told her prior to surgery that they needed to know what had happened to her, and she told them Jobe had perpetrated an abortion. Other evidence also pointed to Jobe, including two prescriptions written by Jobe in Catherine's purse. Around 40 women, identified as abortion patients from Jobe's records, were questioned about his practice, and offered immunity in exchange for their testimony. Jobe, who was later also charged with performing an abortion on a 17-year-old Oklahoma girl, was convicted in Catherine's death. His office assistant, Mrs. Dorothy Ellen Whitten, was also charged with murder for Catherine's death.<br /><br />Other than the legal repercussions for those involved, the deaths of Joyce and Catherine seem no different from the post-legalization deaths of women who underwent abortions at the hands of licensed physicians.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-25354233438886916632013-04-05T04:01:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.146-07:00Safe Legal Suicide and a Criminal DeathOn April 5, 2001, <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.soulcommunications.net/" rel="nofollow">Donetta Robben‘s</a> 22-year-old niece, "<a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Haley+Mason" target="_blank"><b>Haley Mason</b></a>," didn‘t show up for work. The police got the landlord and went to the young woman's apartment. They found her dead. Her family members were stunned when Haley's diary revealed that under the urging of her boyfriend, "Todd," she had gone for an abortion at the Bellevue, Nebraska practice of <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/weekly/aa110903a.htm">Dr. Leroy Carhart</a> in late October of 2000. Haley found the abortion stressful: the wait, the sounds, the crude and uncaring behavior of the doctor. Haley‘d been told to arrive at the clinic at 7:00 in the morning, but it was ten hours before she was finally on the table, ready for the abortion. Carhart walked in, clad in a dirty coat and glasses so smeared that Haley‘s friend, who had accompanied her, wondered how he could even see. After the abortion, Haley suffered continued bleeding which was a constant reminder of her unborn baby's death. Haley told few people about the abortion, and told none of them of her struggle to cope with the emotional pain. She kept telling herself that she‘d done the best thing. Todd came by at early hours, looking for sex. Haley submitted, but she had to get drunk to endure the sex, which only reminded her of the abortion. Haley no longer felt loved. She felt used. Hot baths and quick jogs provided temporary relief from the anguish, but it always returned. Finally, Haley could stand it no more. She washed down a bottle of aspirin and a bottle of Benadryl with a bottle of vodka, putting the three empty bottles next to the a photograph of her late mother and grandfather. She put her rosary around her neck, opened her journal to the day of the abortion, and lay on her bed for the rest she could no longer find in living.<br /><br />On the morning of April 5, 1927, Arhne Reynolds died at the office of Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Louis+Ginsburg">Louis Ginsburg</a> from an abortion performed on her there that day. Ginsburg was arrested on April 18, and indicted for felony murder on May 15. Arhne's abortion was typical of illegal abortions in that it was performed by a <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/illegalbydoctors.htm">physician</a>. Keep in mind that things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future. During the first two thirds of the 20th Century, <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2006/02/abortion-in-1940s.html" target="_blank">while abortion was still illegal</a>, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality, including mortality from abortion. Most researches attribute this plunge to improvements in public health and hygiene, the development of blood transfusion techniques, and the introduction of antibiotics. Learn more <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2006/02/abortion-in-1940s.html">here</a>. <br /><br /><table class="captionBox"><tbody><tr><td class="captionedImage"><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-23223585071695672732013-04-04T03:57:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.152-07:00True Priorities, an Abortion Ring, and Another Historic Chicago Death<a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Bradley" target="_blank"><b>Mary Bradley</b></a>, a 41-year-old mother of four, underwent a <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/legaldeaths.htm">safe, legal</a> 20-week abortion performed Dr. George Wayne Patterson in March of 1985. Because of severe bleeding, she was admitted to a hospital and had a total hysterectomy on March 28. Mary developed blood clotting and respiratory difficulties, and finally died on April 4, 1985. According to official documents, another Alabama woman, <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/bl86jcaldwell.htm">Janyth Caldwell</a>, died after an abortion performed by Patterson. Patterson himself also suffered an early death at somebody else's hands. He was gunned down outside a pornography theater in an apparent gangland slaying. The <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.feminist.org/research/cvsurveys/cv_main.html" rel="nofollow">Feminist Majority Foundation</a>, and <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://rwor.org/a/firstvol/890-899/892/clinics.htm" rel="nofollow">"Revolutionary Worker"</a> lament the gangland shooting of an abortionist, while ignoring the fact that he himself had evidently killed two women, underscores where the abortion lobby's priorities are. <br /><br />Operating on a tip, police, accompanied by an ambulance, broke into a private home at 2753 Sexton Place, in the Pelham section of the Bronx, on April 4, 1954. There they found <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Gertrude+Pinsky" target="_blank"><b>Gertrude Pinsky</b></a>, age 35, dead from septic poisoning from an illegal abortion. Police arrested Florence Cavalluzzo, a former practical nurse and resident of the home, and <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Hugo+Francese">Hugo Francese</a>, a physician who had lost his license in 1947 related to, as far as I can determine, drug charges. Later arrested were Jack M. Werner, owner of Werner Surgical Supplies, and Ignatius Cavalluzzo, Florence Cavalluzzo's son, along with Mrs. Elizabeth Blum, a convicted abortionist who was promptly picked up for violating her parole. To add to the creepiness of the situation, the home was owned by a butcher and his wife, James and Mary Amodeo, who evidently rented space for abortions at $25 a pop. Dr. Samuel E. Witt was charged with referring women to the ring, evidently run by Dr. Herbert S. Wolfe. Four doctors were charged with referring women and receiving a $30 kickback for each referral: Joseph F. Pacelli, Abraham Cohen, Kalman Molnar, and Poon Lim. Francese and Florence Cavalluzzo were convicted of first-degree manslaughter in Gertrude's death and sentenced to 12 1/2 to 15 years for first degree manslaughter . A police detective, Valentine J. Stewart, found at the home at the time of the raid, was acquitted. Stewart's son, police patrolman Joseph F. Stewart, was also implicated as a conspirator in the ring. <br /><br />On April 4, 1907, Mrs. <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Norma+Beck" target="_blank"><b>Norma Beck</b></a>, age 32, died at <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Lakeside+Hospital">Lakeside Hospital</a> in Chicago from septic peritonitis caused by a criminal abortion perpetrated at the office of <a class="wiki_link_new" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Dr.+Eahatchett">Thomas J Balhollchett</a> on March 24. Balhollchett was held by the coroner's jury and indicted, but there is no record that the case went to trial.<br /><br />Norma's abortion was usual in that it was <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/illegalbydoctors.htm">performed by a physician</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-23153031585825266082013-04-03T08:12:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.157-07:00A Doctor, a Midwife, and an Unknown Perp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSEWseIi5xdbJn0NuWoTRsAYSxPAj7sNiJt3C_herCP5OvZfPcsP6Bye-QWJNJt6KfzceTC7e6y6ZXLD9EBCfxKc6en9-JPtDWiPGPobqndrBE8pL-9Kxs0fftcmDVl54mVEgdsLBXkaZL/s1600/thacker.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSEWseIi5xdbJn0NuWoTRsAYSxPAj7sNiJt3C_herCP5OvZfPcsP6Bye-QWJNJt6KfzceTC7e6y6ZXLD9EBCfxKc6en9-JPtDWiPGPobqndrBE8pL-9Kxs0fftcmDVl54mVEgdsLBXkaZL/s200/thacker.png" width="136" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Ethel+Hestland" target="_blank"><b>Ethel Hestland</b></a>, age 30, died on April 3, 1932, in the Oklahoma City area from a criminal abortion. Her death certificate was signed by Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Richard+E.+Thacker">Richard E. Thacker</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Ethel+Hestland#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> Thacker (pictured) had been identified as responsible for a string of other abortion deaths, including <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Marie+Epperson">Marie Epperson</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Isobel+Ferguson">Isobel F. Ferguson</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Ruth+Hall">Ruth Hall</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Lennis+Mae+Roach">Lennis May Roach</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Nancy+Jo+Lee">Nancy Joe Lee</a>,and <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Robbie+Lou+Thompson">Robbie Lou Thompson</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva,helvetica;">On April 3, 1928, 30-year-old homemaker <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Stefania+Kwit" target="_blank"><b>Stefania Kwit</b></a> died from complications of a criminal abortion performed that day by <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/illegalbyparamedical.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">midwife</a> <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Pauline+Majerczyk">Pauline Majerczyk</a>. On May 3, Mauerczyk was held by the coroner for murder by abortion, and indicted for felony murder on May 15.</span> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On April 3, 1919, 22-year-old Mrs. <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Kizior" target="_blank"><b>Mary Kizior</b></a> died at Chicago's Jefferson Park Hospital from an abortion perpetrated by an unknown suspect.<br /><br />Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before <em>Roe vs. Wade</em> legalized abortion across America.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" /> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-86748458594703276402013-04-03T02:10:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.163-07:00Two Chicago Deaths from a Century AgoAt about 11 a.m. on April 2, 1909, 37-year-old homemaker <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Carrie+Pearson" target="_blank">Carrie Pearson</a> (or Person) died at Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago from septicemia caused by an abortion perpetrated by midwife <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Carolyne+Meyer">Carolyne Meyer</a> on March 18 at 447 Wells Street. Meyer was held by the coroner but acquitted. <br /><br />On April 2, 1912, 25-year-old homemaker Elizabeth M. Jorgeson died from an abortion perpetrated that day by <a class="wiki_link" data-mce-href="/Katie+Sauer" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Katie+Sauer">Katie Sauer</a>, whose profession is not given. Sauer was held by the Coroner's Jury and indicted by a Grand Jury on November 30. The case never went to trial.<br /><br />Abortions by midwives were very common in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By the 1950s, doctors had pretty much gotten a monopoly on criminal abortion, perpetrating around 90% of them. The remainder were mostly done by midwives or other people with medical training. Some were done by laypersons who had been trained by doctors and who had doctors providing equipment, medications, and discreet treatment for complications.<br /><img alt="external image Illegals.png" src="http://realchoice.0catch.com/images/Illegals.png" style="height: 263px; width: 538px;" title="external image Illegals.png" /><br />Keep in mind that things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future. For more on pre-legalization abortion, see <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/weekly/aa082901a.htm" rel="nofollow">The Bad Old Days of Abortion</a> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-77986881387265720402013-04-01T01:31:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.168-07:00Three Typical Early 20th Century DeathsOn March 29, 1921, Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Simeon+B.+Minden">Simeon B. Minden</a> performed an abortion in his office on 32-year-old Mrs. <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Catherine+Riga" target="_blank"><b>Catherine Riga</b></a>. Catherine died three days later at Lincoln Hospital. It took only two days for his trial, which ended in a conviction. Minden collapsed upon hearing the verdict. <br /><br />On April 1, 1911, 23-year-old Mrs. <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Anna+Murphy" target="_blank"><b>Annie Murphy</b></a> died from an abortion perpetrated by a midwife (or possibly obstetrician) named <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Carolina+Adams">Carolina Adams</a>. Adams was held by the Coroner's Jury but the case never went to trial.<br /><br /><br /><img align="left" alt="eastman.jpg" src="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/file/view/eastman.jpg/289927513/271x160/eastman.jpg" style="height: 160px; width: 271px;" title="eastman.jpg" />Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Charles+A+Eastman">Charles A Eastman</a> ran <b>a</b> sanitarium in Old Orchard, Maine. On the morning of April 1, 1904, a body was hastily shipped from his sanitarium (pictured), and a death certificate was filed in the town clerk's office by Eastman stating that the deceased was 26-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Edith+McIntyre" target="_blank"><b>Edith McIntyre</b></a>, a schoolteacher from Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The cause of the death was given as gastritis resulting from the taking of oxalic acid salts by the deceased sometime in February. This all seemed a tad fishy, so the case was quickly referred to county attorney George L Emery for investigation. Edith's body was exhumed for an autopsy, which revealed that she had died from a criminal abortion. Eastman, realizing that the authorities were on to him, fled his sanitarium by the time Emery got back to question him. Eastman was found guilty of manslaughter.<br /><br />Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across America.<br /><br /><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-59403120100917929092013-03-31T06:53:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.175-07:00Early 20th Century Chicago: Two Typical Abortion DeathsOn March 31, 1926, 24-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Louise+Maday" target="_blank"><b>Louise Maday</b></a> died at Chicago's <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/West+End+Hospital">West End Hospital</a> from complications of an abortion performed at an earlier date. <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/illegalbyparamedical.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Midwife</a> <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Amelia+Becker">Amelia Becker</a> was held by the coroner on April 27.<br /><br />On March 31, 1914, 24-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Frances+Fergus" target="_blank"><b>Frances Fergus</b></a> died at Chicago's German Evangelical Deaconess Hospital from peritonitis caused by an abortion. Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/James+R.+Struble">James R. Struble</a> was implicated but released after the coroner's jury inquest. Two years later Struble was implicated in the abortion death of <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Augusta+Bloom">Augusta Bloom</a>. <br /><br /> These deaths are typical of abortion deaths in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the bulk were committed in about equal amounts by doctors and midwives. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-86840341306967795172013-03-29T02:19:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.180-07:00Chicago, 1912 and 1924On March 29, 1924, 30-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Etta+Marcus" target="_blank"><b>Etta Marcus</b></a> died at Chicago's <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Frances+Willard+Hospital">Francis Willard Hospital</a> (pictured) from complications of a criminal abortion performed that day. The coroner concluded that Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/William+J.+Wick">William J. Wick</a> had performed the fatal abortion at his office. However, on April 10, Wick was acquitted. The source document does not identify the reason Wick was named as the abortionist, nor why he was acquitted.<br /><br />On March 29, 1912, 36-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Abrams" target="_blank"><b>Mary Abrams</b></a> died from an abortion perpetrated by <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+D.+Lunnemeyer">Mary D. Lunnemeyer</a> that day. Lunnemeyer's profession is identified only as "abortion provider", so it's likely that she was a lay abortionist. She was arrested March 29 and held to a Grand Jury, but the case never went to trial.<br /><br />Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before <em>Roe vs. Wade</em> legalized abortion across America<br /><br /><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" /> <br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-65569689154456203892013-03-28T00:44:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.185-07:00Safe and Legal in 1986 Leaves Woman DeadVery little is available concerning the abortion death of 29-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Gail+Wright" target="_blank"><b>Gail Wright</b></a>. She was 20 weeks pregnant. After the abortion, she developed a severe infection that began to attack her lungs. She died of adult respiratory distress syndrome on March 26, 1986, leaving behind a husband.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-52578355813359588432013-03-27T09:01:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.190-07:00Typical and Atypical, and Why One Must Be IgnoredOn March 27, 1940, 20-year-old homemaker <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Ann+Page+%281940%29" target="_blank"><b>Mary Ann Page</b></a> of Alton, Illinois, died from a botched criminal abortion. The coroner's jury identified the perpetrator as 69-year-old Dr. <a data-mce-href="/C.E.+Trovillion" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/C.E.+Trovillion">C.E. Trovillion</a>, also of Alton, former managing officer of Illinois state hospitals.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_QP4WUhfwRh4ONOv4t7VuBUuF25AtU7OCGbfgdrd8SguDMNGcCo0csVRoTjnFVIfKYDLKS0VUL6iu7wq0FANIS7F7Q6_GFR7xaS51hqrLZEvVFyf_hhBcIAnSLOd9PO9LgOALv__sFGMe/s1600/Illegals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_QP4WUhfwRh4ONOv4t7VuBUuF25AtU7OCGbfgdrd8SguDMNGcCo0csVRoTjnFVIfKYDLKS0VUL6iu7wq0FANIS7F7Q6_GFR7xaS51hqrLZEvVFyf_hhBcIAnSLOd9PO9LgOALv__sFGMe/s320/Illegals.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Mary Ann's abortion, perpetrated by a physician, was typical of criminal abortions. <a href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/weekly/aa022600a.htm">Mary Claderone</a> (then Medical Director of Planned Parenthood) and Nancy Howell Lee (a pro choice researcher) both investigated the practice of criminal abortion in the pre-legalization era. Calderone estimated that 90% of all abortions were being done by physicians, 8% were self-induced and 2% were induced by someone else. Lee estimated that 89% of illegal abortions were done by physicians, an additional 5% by nurses or others with some medical training, and 6% by non-medical persons or the woman herself.<br /><br />However, "A woman went to a doctor for an abortion, then died from complications" isn't going to rally the troops. Something more dramatic is called for. And in the days before penicillin and blood transfusions, there were enough deaths that sooner or later some woman's tragedy would produce a useful and comely corpse for public display.<br /><br />Whoever <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Clara+Duvall" target="_blank"><b>Clara Jane Bell Duvall</b></a> was in life -- elegant society matron or desperate slum mother -- in death she has become a sort of patron saint of the abortion lobby. <img align="right" alt="external image claraBellDuvall.gif" height="200" src="http://www.aclupa.org/images/claraBellDuvall.gif" title="external image claraBellDuvall.gif" width="150" />Clara was a 32-year-old married mother of five, aged 6 months to 12 years. According to the <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.now.org/issues/abortion/120904women-who-died.html" rel="nofollow">National Organization for Women</a> web site, she and her family were living with her parents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania due to financial problems. NOW says that Clara attempted a self-induced abortion with a knitting needle. Though she was seriously ill and in severe pain, NOW says, Clara's doctor delayed hospitalizing her for several weeks. Her death, at a Pittsburgh's Mercy Hospital on March 27, 1929, was attributed to pneumonia. There are discrepancies between NOW's story and the story Clara's daughter (using the name "Marilyn") relayed to prochoice writer Patricia Miller. Furthermore, the entire knitting-needle abortion story is third-hand, something the dying Clara reportedly confessed to her 10-year-old daughter who later in life relayed it to a sister who relayed it to Miller. We have no real evidence -- and no matter what the truth is, Clara was beautiful and young, her death was a devastating tragedy, and the narrative is politically useful. The story will stand.<br /><br />The tale of Clara Duvall's abortion death, one that nobody can do anything to verify, is a useful one to the abortion lobby, and thus it's her death, and not the far more common deaths of women like Mary Ann Page, that will be put forth to the public as typical criminal abortion deaths. It's narrative, not facts, that matters.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-28382296180130223042013-03-26T04:32:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.195-07:00Safe and Legal in 1986<a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Gail+Wright" target="_blank"><b>Gail Wright</b></a> was 29 years old when she underwent a legal abortion. She was 20 weeks pregnant.<br />After her abortion, she developed <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/infectiondeaths.htm" rel="nofollow">sepsis</a>. She died of adult respiratory distress syndrome on March 26, 1986, leaving behind a husband.<br /><br />I haven't enough information about Gail's care to make a judgment about whether her death was just a sad complication or due to malpractice.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-90855837454301536932013-03-25T07:25:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.291-07:00From the 19th to the 21st Centuries, Quackery Remains Lethal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmq4u8J1Xg7r7nTnopK4GJ6sDCQe6ZFMhsDRcRaq6gXUaODj5tqzIiy5MlYls7h-BIgzbWdpRgmrlsCJfsNbVi2d-iAhzu-2krhzTF0pOmyfyNBlx5zSeVqn7Zv21x505PGnkkYDSZXDsT/s1600/FPA.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmq4u8J1Xg7r7nTnopK4GJ6sDCQe6ZFMhsDRcRaq6gXUaODj5tqzIiy5MlYls7h-BIgzbWdpRgmrlsCJfsNbVi2d-iAhzu-2krhzTF0pOmyfyNBlx5zSeVqn7Zv21x505PGnkkYDSZXDsT/s200/FPA.png" width="200" /></a></div>On March 25, 2000, 22-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Maria+Rodriguez" target="_blank"><b>Maria Rodriguez</b></a> went to Steve Lichtenberg's Albany Medical Surgical Center for a late second trimester abortion. At about 9:00 a.m., Maria was showing signs of shock from hemorrhage. Lichtenberg had failed to notice that he had ruptured Maria's uterus. Rather than transport her to a properly equipped hospital, Lichtenberg tried to treat his patient's deteriorating condition in his clinic, without determining the cause of the problem. It wasn't until an hour and a half after Maria suffered her life-threatening injury that it occurred to somebody to call 911 and have Maria taken to a properly equipped hospital. By then, Maria had lost so much blood that there was nothing that doctors could do to save her. N.B. At a National Abortion Federation Risk Management Seminar in the 1990s, Michael Burnhill of the Alan Guttmacher Institute scolded Lichtenberg for "playing Russian roulette" with patients' lives by performing risky abortions in an outpatient setting and treating serious complications on site in his procedure room rather than transporting them to a hospital. Evidently Lichtenberg chose not to listen to Burnhill's warning. Other women to die from abortions at FPA facilities include <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Denise+Holmes">Denise Holmes</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Patricia+Chacon">Patricia Chacon</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Pena">Mary Pena</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Josefina+Garcia">Josefina Garcia</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Laniece+Dorsey">Lanice Dorsey</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Joyce+Ortenzio">Joyce Ortenzio</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Tami+Suematsu">Tami Suematsu</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Deanna+Bell">Deanna Bell</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Susan+Levy">Susan Levy</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Christine+Mora">Christina Mora</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Ta+Tanisha+Wesson">Ta Tanisha Wesson</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Nakia+Jorden">Nakia Jorden</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Maria+Leho">Maria Leho</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Kimberly+Neil">Kimberly Neil</a>, and <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Chanelle+Bryant">Chanelle Bryant</a>. Clearly, trusting to abortion practitioners and their organizations, such as the National Abortion Federation, will not keep women safe from quackery. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>*****</b> </div><br />Hardcore supporters of legalized abortion sing the praises of Dr. <a href="http://realchoice.blogspot.kr/2010/03/1962-too-trivial-to-hold-against-such.html" target="_blank">William Jennings Bryan Henrie</a>. He earned their praise, of course, for his willingness to perpetrate abortions, evidently out of the goodness of his heart. But they're forgetting someone. There's one name you won't find in these hagiographic articles: <b><a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Jolene+Griffith" target="_blank">Jolene Griffith</a></b>. On March 3, 1962, kindly Dr. Henrie performed an abortion on Jolene at his clinic in Grove, Oklahoma. Jolene developed an infection, and, according to her survivors, Griffith abandoned her and provided no care to treat the infection. On March 10, Jolene was admitted to a hospital in Tulsa. She died there on March 25, leaving behind a husband and three minor children. Henire was convinced, and served 25 months of a 4-year sentence. Upon his release, he went right back to doing abortions, much to the applause of people to whom Jolene's life isn't even worth a paragraph beyond mentioning the trouble it caused Henrie. So much for the focus on women's lives.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>*****</b></div><br />On March 25, 1916, <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Angela+Raia" target="_blank"><b>Angela Raia</b></a> of Paynter Avenue, Astoria, died, evidently from the results of an abortion. Her husband Ignazio sued two doctors, Harlan E. Linehan and Dennis McAuliffe, for $400, asserting that their negligence had caused Angela's death.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>***** </b></div><br />In the spring of 1933, Edward Dettman's 21-year-old girlfriend, <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Colbert" target="_blank"><b>Mary Colbert</b></a>, told him that she'd missed her period and asked him, "What can be done?" Later, during the inquest over her death, he said that he'd responded, "I don't know, that was up to her." He had, he said, offered to marry her, but she'd refused, saying she didn't want to marry "in disgrace." Her aunt, on the other hand, said that Mary told her that she didn't want to marry anybody at all at that point in her life.Once Mary elected to seek an abortion, Edward took her to Dr. Emil Gleitsman. Afterward, Mary took ill and confided in her aunts. One recalled having asked her, "Mamie, why did you not tell me, and I would get a good doctor." Mary died on March 25. Gleitsman was also implicated in the 1928 abortion death of 22-year-old <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Lucille+van+Iderstine">Lucille van Iderstine</a> and in the fatal abortion on <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Jeanette+Reder">Jeanette Reder</a> in 1930.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>***** </b></div><br />The Weekly Age Herald of Birmingham, Alabama, tells the sad tale of the 1889 death of the young <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Delia+Mae+Bell" target="_blank"><b>Delia Mae Bell</b></a>:<br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">"At 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon a hearse and a carriage drove up to the main stairway of the Jackson block.... A few men and boys gathered to see what it was there for. Some of the rented rooms on the third floor brought down a casket and placed it in the hearse, and some weeping women got into one of the carriages. Then the simple procession moved slowly toward Oak Hill. There was something peculiarly pathetic about it all. Yet those who gave it a hasty glance did not appreciate the painful story that lay behind it all -- did not know how in that unostentatious casket lay the frail figure of a mere child, whose wrecked life was brought to a close in the throes of maternity, and in all probability the victim of the most heinous of murders.</span><br /><br /><br />When Delia had violently ill on a Sunday morning, the neighbors were suspicious. Three different doctors were called in to attend to her. "All the aids known to medical science were tried without avail, and about 3 o'clock in the afternoon it was decided to resort to an operation." Morris believed, based on his observations during his time there, that Delia's mother knew that she was pregnant, but her grandmother didn't. "There were hurrying feet in the hallways, and then came a hush over the place. The girl was dead." This was Monday, March 25. The doctors notified the coroner and turned over a bottle to him that had contained an abortifacient traced to a saloon keeper named George A. Foule of East Birmingham.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>*****</b></div> <br />In January of 1848, 20-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Ann+Gallager" target="_blank"><b>Ann Gallager</b></a> of Boston approached a married friend, Catherine Beath, with the news that she was pregnant. Ann asked Catherine to go with her to Dr. John Stevens to arrange an abortion. "The doctor refused, saying that he was an old man and did not do such things." Ann offered him $50, Catherine said, but Stevens insisted that "he would not do it for all the world." Ann was angry, and went home to try to abort the baby herself. She tried pouring boiling water over tobacco leaves and breathing the steam. She tried drinking some rum in which she had soaked rusty nails. Finally, she tried a knitting needle, which Catherine took away from her. Eventually, as these attempts were not working, she went to another doctor, asking for some abortifacient pills, who told her that she was going to kill herself with her attempts to abort. As March wore on, Ann took ill. She gave a sworn statement that on March 15, Stevens had done the abortion on her with instruments, though whether she was telling the truth or was just getting revenge on the doctor for refusing to do an abortion will never be known. Two days later she expelled the dead baby, a boy. Ann's condition continued to deteriorate until her death on March 25. It's a shame that neither of the doctors that Ann consulted with were able to dissuade her from killing her baby, and in the end taking her own life as well. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-28652240417481004172013-03-24T15:47:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.389-07:00Three Criminal Deaths, and Lessons for PreventionOn March 21, 1947, <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Ilene+Eagen" target="_blank"><b>Ilene Eagen</b></a>, age 24, was brought to Mankato, Minnesota, to the <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/illegalbyparamedical.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">dental office</a> of <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/W.+A.+Groebner">W. A. Groebner</a> for an abortion. Court records indicate that Ilene was pressured into the abortion by her paramour, Raymond Older, who refused to marry her and threatened her with bodily harm if she refused an abortion. After the abortion, Ilene became violently ill and lost consciousness. Older took Ilene to his service station in Granada, Minnesota and kept her there, allowing Ilene to languish without medical care. She died March 24, leaving a seven-year-old daughter motherless. Older tried to escape civil liability on the grounds that despite his refusal to marry her, and the threats, Ilene had consented to the abortion and that therefore she was responsible for her own sickness and subsequent death. Since there will always be sleezebag men -- both abusers willing to force abortions and quacks willing to perpetrate them -- we must create better outreach for battered women, along with superior methods for helping them to stay safe as they escape abuse. Making abortion more accessible will only serve to help the abusers.<br /><br />On March 24, 1915, 31-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Frances+Kulczyk" target="_blank"><b>Frances Kulczyk</b></a> died at her Chicago home from an abortion performed by an unknown perpetrator. Frances, who kept house and worked as a scrub woman, was the widow of Walter Kulzyk,who had worked as a molder in a foundry. With Frances' death, the three children, all under the age of 10, were left orphans. To prevent such tragedies, communities should make sure that the work of their pregnancy centers are better known -- and prochoice organizations should stop demonizing them and scaring women away from those who would provide ongoing help and support. Women would not feel the desperation and despair that drives them to abortion if they were assured that they would not face their challenges alone.<br /><br />On March 24, 1905, 28-year-old Ida <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Alice+Bloom" target="_blank"><b>Alice Bloom</b></a>, a Swedish immigrant working as a domestic servant, died suddenly in Chicago from septic peritonitis caused by an apparent criminal abortion perpetrated on or about March 15. Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Julius+N.+Goltz">Julius N. Goltz</a> as arrested as a principal, and James McDonald as an accessory. Both men were held without bail by a coroner's jury. Alice's abortion was typical of pre-legalization abortions in that it was <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/illegalbydoctors.htm" rel="nofollow">performed by a physician</a>. Since there will always be quacks willing to perpetrate abortions, and family and friends willing to participate in arranging them, we need to make sure laws are written in such a way that those who help women to seek prompt medical care afterward will not be discouraged from doing so for fear of prosecution.<br /><br />During the first two thirds of the 20th Century, while abortion was still illegal, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality, including mortality from abortion. Most researches attribute this plunge to improvements in public health and hygiene, the development of blood transfusion techniques, and the introduction of antibiotics. Preventing abortion deaths needs to be a multidisciplinary effort --<br /><ul><li>Continued improvement in, and access to, medical care</li><li>Improved access to resources that help women to avoid abortions</li><li>Increased community awareness of the preventability of abortion</li></ul><br /><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-26043098174454020582013-03-23T05:15:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.487-07:00From 1905 to 1979, Abortion Kills Each Woman Equally Dead<a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Lynn+McNair" target="_blank"><b>Lynn McNair</b></a>, age 24, was 23 weeks pregnant when she was <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/weekly/aa063000a.htm" rel="nofollow">injected with saline</a> by Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Edward+Rubin">Edward Rubin</a> at Jewish Memorial Hospital.The first injection of saline failed to kill the fetus, so Lynn was given a second injection. After this second dose, Lynn went into contractions and slipped into a coma. She died March 23, 1979 of a pulmonary embolism of amniotic fluid.She left two children motherless.<br /><br />On March 23, 1917, 19-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Conners" target="_blank"><b>Mary Conners</b></a> died at Chicago's <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Cook+County+Hospital">County Hospital</a>, refusing to name the abortionist who had fatally injured her that day.<br /><br />On March 23, 1907, Mrs. <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Dora+Swan" target="_blank"><b>Dora Swan</b></a>, age 24, died at <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Englewood+Union+Hospital">Englewood Union Hospital</a> in Chicago from infection caused by a criminal abortion. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Louise+Achtenberg">Louise Achtenberg</a>, whose profession is not given, was held responsible by the coroner, but there is no record that charges were filed. Achtenberg, a doctor identified as a midwife due to her obstetric work, had been implicated in the 1909 abortion deaths of <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Stella+Kelly">Stella Kelly</a> and <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Florence+Wright">Florence Wright</a>. She was also implicated in the 1921 abortion death of <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Violet+McCormick">Violet McCormick</a>. Later, in 1924, it was Dr. Louise Achtenberg who was held responsible for the death of <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Madelyn+Anderson">Madelyn Anderson</a>. <br /><br />On March 23, 1905, Mrs. <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Ida+Pomering" target="_blank"><b>Ida Pomering</b></a>, a 30-year-old German immigrant, died in Chicago from an abortion performed earlier that day. Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Apollonia+Heinle">Apollonia Heinle</a> was held by the coroner's jury for Ida's death. <br />Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before <i>Roe vs. Wade</i> legalized abortion across America.<br /><br /><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva,helvetica; font-size: 80%; line-height: normal;"> For more on pre-legalization abortion, see <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/weekly/aa082901a.htm" rel="nofollow">The Bad Old Days of Abortion</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-15060476604379433532013-03-22T00:59:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.585-07:001983: Doctor-Recommended Abortion Kills TeenBarbara Hoppert was a sixteen-year-old high school sophomore when she checked into <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Loma+Linda+University+Hospital">Loma Linda University Hospital</a> for an abortion.<br /><br />Barbara was in the second trimester of her pregnancy. She was having the abortion on the recommendation of her physician, because of a congenital heart condition.<br /><br />The abortion was performed on February 22, 1983.<br /><br />During the procedure, Barbara's heart stopped. Physicians were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead on the operating table.<br /><br />The following comment was posted on the <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">RealChoice blog</a>:<br /><br /><br /><ul class="quotelist"><li>It's been almost 24 years since I was at the Loma Linda Hospital and was roomed with Barbara Hoppert, but not year goes by when Feb 22nd rolls around and I don't think of her. She died that day during her abortion procedure. I just now put her name into google and found your article on her. It was barely 4 sentences and seemed as cold as her death. She was once alive and had such a sad end and dramatic story. It still brings me to tears today thinking about her last night alive... how she was treated by her own family and the staff at the hospital. We watched Square Pegs that night on tv. And she told me about the boy who had impregnated her... She left early the next morning and I wished her good luck... An hour later a woman came to the room, later I found out that was her "real" mother whom Barbara thought was her sister. She missed seeing Barbara that one last time.... Barbara's story is very tragic. I am so very sad that she was so alone her last night alive. I was her only comfort and I was a complete stranger. Don't know how comforting I was other than I cried with her and listened.... Knowing the pain she was in.... She remains in my prayers. Just thought you should know she was more than just part of your cause.</li></ul><br />Thanks to the woman who came forward to share this memory of Barbara.<br /><br />Barbara's was not the only tragic death caused by doctors who recommended (or excused) abortion as a life-saving or health-preserving option for the mother:<br /><br /><ul><li><a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Allegra+Roseberry">Allegra Roseberry</a> was pushed into an abortion in order to obtain experimental cancer treatment.</li><li><a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Anjelica+Duarte">Anjelica Duarte</a> sought an abortion on the advice of her physician, and ended up dying under the care of a quack.</li><li><a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Christin+Gilbert">Christin Gilbert</a> died after an abortion George Tiller holds was justified on grounds of maternal health.</li><li><a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Erika+Peterson">Erika Peterson</a> died in 1961 when her doctors obtained her husband's permission to perform a "therapeutic" abortion.</li><li><a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Molly+Roe">"Molly" Roe</a> died in 1975 when her doctors made the dubious decision to perform a saline abortion to improve her chances of surviving a lupus crisis.</li></ul><br />The whole idea of abortion for the life of the mother is based on misconceptions, both about caring for pregnant women and about what constitutes an abortion. Watch this video to learn more.<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cVGvUF217us" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-90593500470859613462013-03-20T15:32:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.682-07:00A Doctor, a Husband, and a LoverOn March 20, 1926, 19-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Alice+Annalora" target="_blank"><b>Alice Annalora</b></a> died at the <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Cook+County+Hospital">County Hospital</a> in Chicago from complications of an abortion performed that day. Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Wilford+Vine">Wilford Vine</a> was booked for Alice's death, as was her husband, Joseph Annalora. Vine was indicted for felony murder. Ultimately, the coroner was unable to determine the legal status of the abortion that killed Alice, so Dr. Vine and Mr. Annalora were released.<br /><br />The March 20, 1907 death of <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Anna+Gosch" target="_blank"><b>Anna Gosch</b></a> was similar to the death of <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Daisy+Roe">"Daisy" Roe</a>, a systems analyst who died in 1990 after allowing her boyfriend to attempt to perform an abortion on her with a piece of aquarium tubing. Anna allowed her lover, a man only identified by the surname Edwards, to insert a rubber catheter tube into her uterus to cause an abortion. Anna developed an infection, and although a doctor provided her with care, attending to her twice daily, she developed an infection and died. Her lover was convicted of homicide. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-47796719112212606762013-03-19T02:41:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.779-07:00More Criminal Deaths -- Mostly the Work of Doctors<a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Geraldine+Easley" target="_blank"><b>Geraldine Easley</b></a>, age 19, admitted before her death on March 19, 1932, that she had undergone a criminal abortion. Since Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/J.W.+Eisiminger">James W. Eisiminger</a> and Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Richard+E.+Thacker">Richard E. Thacker</a> had been responsible for a string of other criminal abortion deaths in the Oklahoma City area, suspicion in Geraldine's death naturally leaned toward the two known quack abortionists. <br /><br />On March 19, 1916, 30-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Carolina+Petritz" target="_blank"><b>Carolina Petritz</b></a> died at the Chicago office of midwife <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Paulina+Erlomus">Paulina Erlomus</a>, who had perpetrated the fatal abortion there that day. Erlomus was held by the Coroner but the case never went to trial. <br /><br />On March 19, 1907, Mrs. <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Bessie+Simons" target="_blank"><b>Bessie Simmons</b></a>, age 30, died at her Chicago home from infection caused by a criminal abortion perpetrated on February 22 at the office of Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/C.+D.+Hughes">Charles D. Hughes</a>, who was arrested in the death. Bessie's abortion was typical in that it was <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/illegalbydoctors.htm">performed by a physician</a>.<br /><br />During the first two thirds of the 20th Century, <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2006/02/abortion-in-1940s.html" target="_blank">while abortion was still illegal</a>, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality, including mortality from abortion. Most researches attribute this plunge to improvements in public health and hygiene, the development of blood transfusion techniques, and the introduction of antibiotics. Learn more <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2006/02/abortion-in-1940s.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><table class="captionBox"><tbody><tr><td class="captionedImage"><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Noble" target="_blank"><b>Mary Noble</b></a>, age 38, died at her home in New York's 28th Precinct on March 19, 1867. The coroner's jury concluded that Mary had died from pyemia, "resulting from an abortion produced by the prisoner, <a class="wiki_link" data-mce-href="/Wm.+F.J.+Thiers" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Wm.+F.J.+Thiers">Wm. F.J. Thiers</a>, alias Dr. Dubois. They further hold Amelia Armstrong, alias Madame Dubois, as accessory before the fact." Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-41460592697619837702013-03-18T03:43:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.875-07:00Early 20th Century -- Chicago Abortion DeathsOn March 18, 1914, 28-year-old derssmaker <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Irene+Ridgeway" target="_blank"><b>Irene Ridgeway</b></a> died at <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Garfield+Park+Hospital">Garfield Park Hospital </a>in Chicago from an abortion performed by an unknown perpetrator.<br /><br />On March 18, 1913, 25-year-old homemaker <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Brubaker" target="_blank"><b>Mary Brubaker</b></a> died in her Chicago home on Inglewood Avenue from septicemia caused by an abortion perpetrated that day by Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/H.+W.+Case">H.W. Case</a>. Case was held by the Coroner and indicted by a Grand Jury April 15, but the case never went to trial. <br /><br /> Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across America.<br /><br />For more information about early 20th Century abortion mortality, see <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2008/12/abortion-deaths-1910-1919.html" rel="nofollow">Abortion Deaths 1910-1919</a>.<br /><br /><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-5808607785409877292013-03-17T00:32:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:41.972-07:00Legal, Illegal, Equally Deadly<a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Cycloria+Vangates" target="_blank"><b>Cycloria Vangates</b></a>, age 32, underwent an abortion on March 13, 1976, performed by Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Paul+Glassman">Paul Glassman</a>. She suffered a cervical laceration. The Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine found that Glassman failed to adequately treat Cycloria's injury. She died on March 17.<br /><br />On March 17, 1907, <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Paulina+Schneider" target="_blank"><b>Paulina Schneider</b></a> died at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria, Illinois, from complications of a criminal abortion. Paulina gave a deathbed statement implicating Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Robert+Emery">Robert Emery</a> in her abortion. Paulina's mother had also fingered Emery. For reasons not given in the source document, Emery -- identified as "Old Doctor Robert Emery" -- was found not guilty. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-28319327219392869172013-03-16T22:48:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:42.070-07:00Abortions Deadly, Over More than a Century<a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Norma+Greene" target="_blank"><b>Norma Greene</b></a>, a 34-year-old divorcee, went into cardio-respiratory arrest in a Winston-Salem hospital on March 16, 1981. Her death certificate indicates that the arrest was caused by a pulmonary embolism (tissue or air in the lungs) following a recent abortion. <br /><br />Reports on death of <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Evelyn+Dudley" target="_blank"><b>Evelyn Dudley</b></a>, age 38, indicate that she was treated at <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Friendship+Medical+Center">Friendship Medical Center</a> in Chicago on March 16, 1973. Later, at home, she collapsed in the driveway. She was taken to a hospital, where attempts to save her failed. <img align="right" alt="TRMHoward.jpg" src="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/file/view/TRMHoward.jpg/311715350/TRMHoward.jpg" title="TRMHoward.jpg" />Her death was due to shock, <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/blhemorrhagedeaths.htm">hemorrhage</a> from a ruptured cervix and vagina, from "remote abortion." <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/T.R.+Mason+Howard">T.R. Mason Howard</a> (pictured) stated that Evelyn was treated at Friendship for infection sustained in an abortion in Detroit. But Evelyn's brother stated that she had come to Chicago specifically to have the <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/legaldeaths.htm">abortion</a>. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Julia+Rogers">Julia Rogers</a> and <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Dorothy+Brown">Dorothy Brown</a> also died after abortions at Friendship Medical Center.<br /><br />As you can see from the graph below, abortion deaths were falling dramatically before legalization. This steep fall had been in place for decades. To argue that legalization lowered abortion mortality simply isn't supported by the data.<br /><br /><img alt="external image Abortion+Deaths+Since+1960.jpg" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPSftFPyILqncxcL7Oh15SnpV000Oyzp16E6C5MfLUjSSgA_Sq2jwNMDo7zccQqnzYcq9DYbHpf1utT5xbQHprgrIoh_wYXw4TNnUUkZpzWQLeCqB1g_MVHKqYdfw91CvM0tlHAxqMrV1/s400/Abortion+Deaths+Since+1960.jpg" title="external image Abortion+Deaths+Since+1960.jpg" /><br /><br />On March 16, 1924, 35-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Selma+Hedlund" target="_blank"><b>Selma Hedlund</b></a> died in Chicago's <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Jefferson+Park+Hospital">Jefferson Park Hospital</a> (pictured) from complications of an abortion performed that day. The sources says that she died at the crime scene. Nobody was ever positively identified as the abortionist. However, a Carl Carlson, indicated as a person known to Selma, was arrested as an accomplice. <br /><br />On March 16, 1915, 19-year-old saleslady <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Hazel+Wilcox" target="_blank"><b>Hazel Wilcox</b></a> died at a Chicago home from sepsis caused by an abortion perpetrated that day by midwife <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Julia+Patera">Julia Patera</a>. Patera was held by the coroner on March 20 but the case never went to trial, despite the fact that <a class="wiki_link_new" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Elinora+Cassidy">Elinora Cassidy</a> had died only the previous day after identifying Patera as her abortionist.<br /><br />On that same day, 26-year-old homemaker <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Hazel+Carr" target="_blank"><b>Hazel Carr</b></a> died in her Chicago home from an abortion performed by an unknown perpetrator. <br /><br />Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across America.<br /><br /><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" /><br /><br /><a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Harriet+Reece" target="_blank"><b>Harriet "Hattie" Reece</b></a>, a 25-year-old primary school teacher in Browning, Illinois, died March 16, 1899. The finger pointed at Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/James+W.+Aiken">James W. Aiken</a>. Hattie had consulted with a doctor two months prior to her death. She did have some health problems, but this doctor recommended continuing the pregnancy rather than taking the risk of an abortion. Hattie, however, was concerned about the effect being pregnant would have on her teaching career. She made inquiries and ended up corresponding with Aiken, who assured her that he could get her safely through an abortion. Hattie's husband, Frank, was against the idea of an abortion but said he'd agree to one if it was necessary for Hattie's well-being, but he had no faith in Dr. Aiken and refused to participate in any way. Hattie used her salary to travel to Tennessee to have her abortion. She took ill and sent for Frank, who found her in ill health, with Aiken saying that Hattie needed an abortion for her safety. Frank went back to Hattie's room, begged her forgiveness for having been harsh with her, and returned home.He got a telegram from his wife saying that she was worse and to come at once. When Frank arrived, Aiken told him that Hattie was dying and that he'd sent for her father. Aiken told Frank that "he had told the people Mrs. Reece had died of peritonitis. That was the story he had been telling and we must both stick to it as I was in it as deep as he." Frank told Aiken that he'd tell the truth, and went to speak with his wife. She told Frank that the abotion had been performed on Saturday (most likely March 4) with blunt instruments, and that she had expelled the dead baby on Wednesday (most likely March 8). Aiken had put the baby in his pocket and left with it. She recanted her story shortly before her death. Aiken seemed to be a bit of a George Tiller precursor -- somebody who would find a "life of the mother" case in any pregnancy. But unlike Tiller, Aiken couldn't just buy his way out of trouble. He was found guilty and sentenced to fifteen years.<br /><br />On March 16, 1869, <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Magdalena+Philippi" target="_blank"><b>Magdalena Philippi</b></a> died of complications of an abortion performed on March 11, evidently by a Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Gabriel+Wolff">Gabriel Wolff</a>, who continued to attend to her as she sickened and died. Although Magdalena was four or five months pregnant, prosecutors had no way of proving that she had felt movement in the fetus, so they could not prosecute Dr. Wolff. The next day, a bill was introduced in Albany to eliminate the quickening distinction in prosecuting abortion cases. This would make it easier to prosecute abortionists like Wolff. Magdalena's abortion was typical of illegal abortions in that it was <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/illegalbydoctors.htm" target="_blank">performed by a physician</a>. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-82048418299693242002013-03-15T18:42:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:42.169-07:00A Chicago Midwife and an Unknown PerpOn March 15, 1915, 22-year-old homemaker <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Elinor+Cassidy" target="_blank">Elenora Cassidy</a> died at Cook County Hospital after being treated for two days for septicemia. Before her death, Elinor named <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Julia+Patara">Julia Patara</a> as the guilty abortionist, and indicated that the abortion had been done at Patara's house on March 6. Patara was indicted for Elinor's death on March 15 by a Grand Jury, but the case never went to trial. <br /><br />On March 15, 1917, 24-year-old waitress <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Celia+Steele" target="_blank"><b>Celia Steele</b></a> died at Chicago's <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Jefferson+Park+Hospital">Jefferson Park Hospital</a> from septicemia and purulent peritonitis caused by a criminal abortion. The coroner was unable to identify the guilty party.<br /><br />Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. In fact, due to improvements in addressing these issues, during the first two thirds of the 20th Century, <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2006/02/abortion-in-1940s.html" target="_blank">while abortion was still illegal</a>, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality, including mortality from abortion. Most researches attribute this plunge to improvements in public health and hygiene, the development of blood transfusion techniques, and the introduction of antibiotics. Learn more <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2006/02/abortion-in-1940s.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7aNNrLCJU7Pb8xPHtCfjSCNxpxMZyS3Lws8uvnC3L2_p4cwRb30wk6e3WsjEMXloulxrngGR317ccgx_owlTJSEOIngF-ipvNnhEIVw37eyKUicncDVY2fggkpcm5nKEP3xcAdS_xpag/s1600/MaternalMortality.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7aNNrLCJU7Pb8xPHtCfjSCNxpxMZyS3Lws8uvnC3L2_p4cwRb30wk6e3WsjEMXloulxrngGR317ccgx_owlTJSEOIngF-ipvNnhEIVw37eyKUicncDVY2fggkpcm5nKEP3xcAdS_xpag/s320/MaternalMortality.gif" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-62512995586489799882013-03-14T05:46:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:42.266-07:00The Infamouse Dr. Hagenow, Chicago, and Hauled Out to the Car<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9yAc_2Y52RP0MdYSnokmb_0KoSevImtd7Kv4laXnSmLRrWGQoDKv3FtxHLj2usjfd-PfkKF54JoJs7MR2tmYrx1fFRXWquIwxku29daK_HPEmCbCbcvgCwfT_gOnuzmPLQpsjF1IENWbj/s1600/Hagenow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9yAc_2Y52RP0MdYSnokmb_0KoSevImtd7Kv4laXnSmLRrWGQoDKv3FtxHLj2usjfd-PfkKF54JoJs7MR2tmYrx1fFRXWquIwxku29daK_HPEmCbCbcvgCwfT_gOnuzmPLQpsjF1IENWbj/s200/Hagenow.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abortionist Lucy "Louise" Hagenow</td></tr></tbody></table>March 16, 1905, 27-year-old seamstress <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Putnam" target="_blank"><b>Mary Putnam</b></a> died at Chicago's <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Monroe+Street+Hospital">Monroe Street Hospital</a> from infection caused by an abortion. May had been brought to the hospital two days earlier, in critical condition, and the police were notified. Dr. Lucy Hagenow and a man identified as F. E. MacCordy were arrested by the Coroner's Jury on March 16. Hagenow, who had already been implicated of the abortion deaths of <a class="wiki_link_new" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Louise+Derchow%2C">Louise Derchow</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Annie+Dorris">Annie Dorris</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Abbia+Richards">Abbia Richards</a>, and <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Emma+Dep">Emma Dep</a> in San Francisco, would go on to be linked to over a dozen Chicago abortion deaths: <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Minnie+Deering">Minnie Deering</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Sophia+Kuhn">Sophia Kuhn</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Emily+Anderson">Emily Anderson</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Hannah+Carlson">Hannah Carlson</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Marie+Hecht">Marie Hecht</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Lola+Madison">Lola Madison</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Annie+Horvatich">Annie Horvatich</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Lottie+Lowy">Lottie Lowy</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Nina+Pierce">Nina H. Pierce</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Jean+Cohen">Jean Cohen</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Bridget+Masterson">Bridget Masterson</a>, <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Elizabeth+Welter">Elizabeth Welter</a>, and <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Mary+Moorehead">Mary Moorehead</a>.Hagenow's incorrigibility and her ability to for the most part avoid prosecution and prison stand as a stark reminder that we can not trust either the authorities nor abortion referral networks to stamp out quackery, regardless of abortion's legal status. Vigilance will always be necessary, as will highly visible opportunities for women to get life-affirming help.<br /><br />On March 14, 1930, <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Alberta+Beard" target="_blank"><b>Alberta Beard</b></a>, age 29, died at the office of Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Davis+Lucas">Davis Lucas</a> from an abortion perpetrated there that day. Lucas was arrested on May 24, on recommendation of the coroner. Lucas was indicted for felony murder in Alberta's death on August 7. <br /><br />How much better are things nowadays, when abortion is safe and legal? Read on.<br /><br /><a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Glenda+Davis" target="_blank"><b>Glenda Davis</b></a>, a 31-year-old mother of two, underwent a <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/legaldeaths.htm">safe and legal abortion</a> performed by <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Robert+Hanson">Robert Hanson</a> at Aaron Family Planning March 11, 1989. During the abortion, Glenda suffered a 1.5 - 2 inch long wound to her uterine artery and vein complex, causing massive bleeding. After a delay, staffers decided to transfer Glenda to the hospital. Glenda's husband discovered staffers attempting unsuccessfully to transfer Glenda from a wheelchair to a staffer's car. He helped them get Glenda into the car. With the IV still in her arm, Glenda was driven to HCA Memorial Hospital. She had no blood pressure and almost no pulse upon arrival. Glenda fell into a coma, and died three days later.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-17264807796147088722013-03-13T15:35:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:42.362-07:00Early 20th Century Chicago, a Doctor and a MidwifeOn March 13, 1917, 33-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Minnie+Schofield" target="_blank"><b>Minnie Schofield</b></a> died at a Chicago residence after an abortion performed that day by Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Fred+Orsinger">Fred L. Orsinger</a>. Both Orsinger and Minnie's husband, Thomas, were held by the coroner. Thomas never went to trial; Orsinger was acquitted on May 8, 1920. Minnie was in immigrant from Ireland.<br /><br /><br />On March 13, 1909, Mrs. <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Lena+Oppendal" target="_blank"><b>Lena Oppedal</b></a>, age 37, died at Norwegian Tabitha Hospital in Chicago from peritonitis caused by a ruptured ectopic pregnancy complicated by an attempted abortion. A midwife named <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Carrin+Bakke">Carrin Bakke</a> was held to a grand jury and indicted for murder but the source document doesn't indicate that there was a trial.<br /><br />Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across America.<br /><br /><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-36912105209381466232013-03-12T02:14:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:42.461-07:00Criminal Abortion: The Work of Doctors and MidwivesOn February 4, 1928, 24-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Julia+Agoston" target="_blank"><b>Julia Agoston</b></a> underwent a criminal abortion in Chicago. The coroner concluded that the abortion had been perpetrated in her home. On March 12, Julia died at <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/St.+Elizabeth%27s+Hospital">St. Elizabeth's Hospital</a>. On March 31, Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Anton+Feher">Anton Feher</a>, Dr. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Helen+Moskowitz">Helen Moskowitz</a>, Susie Kosmos, and Julia's husband Manhart Agoston were held by the coroner. The physicians were held as principals. The two laypersons were held as accessories. Moskowitz was indicted for felony murder on November 23. <br /><br />On March 12, 1909, Cook County native <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Kate+Blust" target="_blank"><b>Kate Blust</b></a>, age 22, a homemaker, died at her home on Courtland Street in Chicago from peritonitis caused by an abortion perpetrated there on February 25.<b> </b>Midwife <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Emma+Novak">Emma Novak</a> was held without bail for the crime of murder by abortion. She was indicted for murder but the source document doesn't indicate that there was a trial.<br /><br />Note, please, that with issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, see <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.blogspot.com/2008/12/abortion-deaths-1900-1909.html" rel="nofollow">Abortion Deaths 1900-1909</a>.<br /><img alt="external image Illegals.png" src="http://realchoice.0catch.com/images/Illegals.png" style="height: 263px; width: 538px;" title="external image Illegals.png" />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146114422444211690.post-84435558458800412952013-03-12T01:07:00.000-07:002013-06-08T10:56:42.559-07:00Deaths at the Hands of Two Criminal Abortionists, and One Former Criminal Abortionist<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Sidney+Knight">Sidney Knight</a> was facing a number of criminal abortion charges in 1973, when <i>Roe v. Wade </i>made them a moot point. He hung out his shingle and began performing abortions legally.</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In March of 1974, <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Janet+Blaum" target="_blank"><b>Janet Blaum</b></a>, age 37, went to Knight's New Orleans facility for a <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/legaldeaths.htm" rel="nofollow">safe and legal abortion</a>. Five days later, on March 11, she was dead of brain hemorrhage.</span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Janet's ex-husband sued Knight on behalf of the couple's children, alleging that Knight had administered a fatal dose of anesthesia while preparing Janet for the abortion.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As you can see from the graph below, abortion deaths were falling dramatically before legalization. This steep fall had been in place for decades. To argue that legalization lowered abortion mortality simply isn't supported by the data.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img alt="external image Abortion+Deaths+Since+1960.jpg" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPSftFPyILqncxcL7Oh15SnpV000Oyzp16E6C5MfLUjSSgA_Sq2jwNMDo7zccQqnzYcq9DYbHpf1utT5xbQHprgrIoh_wYXw4TNnUUkZpzWQLeCqB1g_MVHKqYdfw91CvM0tlHAxqMrV1/s400/Abortion+Deaths+Since+1960.jpg" title="external image Abortion+Deaths+Since+1960.jpg" /></span> <br /><br />While visiting a friend who had just given birth, 30-year-old <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Catherine+Mau" target="_blank"><b>Catherine Mau</b></a> asked another friend, Catherine Beyer, to come with her to the office of Chicago midwife <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/illegalbyparamedical.htm" target="_blank"></a><a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Anna+Heisler">Anna Heisler</a> for an abortion. On February 13, 1929, two Catherines went together, and according to Beyer, Mau told the midwife that "she had three children and her husband was out of work and she could not support another one, and that her husband was sickly." Beyer waited while the midwife took Mau into another room and inserted a catheter. The two women parted ways and each went home to her husband and children. Two days later, Beyer met the midwife at Mau's home and helped her “wash her out” and put her to bed. Beyer then took care of Mau's children. About two weeks later, Mau's husband Frank called a doctor to report that his wife was in great pain. A doctor told Catherine Mau that she was near death. Mau reportedly said, “What will my children do?” A few weeks later, on March 11, Catherine died from infection. On July 20, 1929, Heisler was sentenced to Joliet Penitentiary for Catherine's death. She had already done time in Joliet for the May 30, 1919 abortion death of 43-year-old <a class="wiki_link_new" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Lena+Benich">Lena Benich</a>, but had been freed after winning an appeal.<br /><br />On March 11, 1915, 40-year-old homemaker <a href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Emma+Jonas" target="_blank"><b>Emma Jonas</b></a> died at Chicago's <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/German+American+Hospital">German American Hospital</a> after an abortion perpetrated by <a class="wiki_link" href="http://cemeteryofchoice.wikispaces.com/Cecelia+Styskal">Cecelia Styskal</a>. Though Styskal was arrested and held by the Coroner, the case never went to trial.<br /><br />Note, please, that with issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across America.<br /><br /><img alt="external image MaternalMortality.gif" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhKbh5RH3gGoJe2R_r4zqCg8vcc8VT38JKHgFEEZjmf88Ik3aGITO4lTr33qjGj1IQDoWgJIWmsBdNuuw6djYtQA7Q_X2T7bkFa-ozAkq69XtSKcUF7P7B2IOtulMAjXxn8Cg0yoYdBSJ/s400/MaternalMortality.gif" title="external image MaternalMortality.gif" /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08229749636434733335noreply@blogger.com0