Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Abortion deaths in 1975

The Centers for Disease Control deigned to count the following abortion deaths in their most recent Abortion Surveillance Summary, for 2004:



Today I'll look at deaths in 1975. The CDC counts 34 -- 29 legal, 4 illegal, and 1 unknown. Remember that "illegal" deaths can be like Myrta Baptiste -- cases in which the woman thought the abortion was legal and safe, but after she died the CDC discovered that her doctor's license wasn't currently valid and so counted it as illegal.

I know of 10 abortion deaths in 1975, one of which the CDC won't count, which means the CDC has at least 25 other deaths I don't know about:

  • Sandra Chmiel left four children motherless when she bled to death from a punctured uterus.

  • Sharon Floyd died of sepsis.

  • Rita McDowel was deliberately sent home with a retained fetus after her abortion.

  • Mitsue Mohar went into cardiac arrest during her abortion.

  • Beverly Moore died at a clinic cited for numerous deficiencies.

  • "Gail" Roe bled to death after her uterus ruptured during a saline abortion.

  • "Molly" Roe died after doctors chose a dangerous and antiquated technique to try to protect her life during a high-risk pregnancy.

  • "Sherri" Roe died after developing an amniotic fluid embolism.

  • Cheryl Tubbs bled to death after her uterus ruptured during an abortion.

  • Lynette Wallace certainly wasn't counted by the Centers of Disease control, since she died when her abortionist failed to diagnose her ectopic pregnancy.

    For more abortion deaths broken down by year, see this post. Or you can place them in the context of other abortion deaths in the 1970s, and the years surrounding the 1970s:



    For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



    For more abortion deaths broken down by year, see this post.

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