1928: Fatal abortion in Chicago

On March 12, 1928, 24-year-old Julia Agoston died at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Chicago. The coroner concluded that she had died from complications of a criminal abortion that had been performed in her home on February 4.

On March 31, Dr. Anton Feher, Dr. Helen Moskowitz, Susie Kosmos, and 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.

Julia's abortion was typical of illegal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.

Keep in mind that things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future. For more about abortion in this era, see Abortion in the 1920s.



For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion