Ethel Crowell, age 20, died on April 14, 1930, in the office of Dr. Hans Paulsen, from an abortion performed on her that day. Two days later, Paulsen was booked for manslaughter by abortion. The father of the baby, Uriah Denniston, was booked as accessory. Paulson was held by the Coroner for murder by abortion. Denniston wasn't mentioned in the verdict. On September 1, the indictment was quashed. The source notes "Circumstances suggesting judicial corruption."
Ethel'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 1930s.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see
The Bad Old Days of Abortion
2 comments:
Christina,
Back in February of 2006, I discovered and disclosed Marie Claire magazine reporter Siobhan O'Connor requesting negative experiences with Crisis Pregnancy Centers for an article she was writing. As a result the article was never published in Marie Claire magazine. However, I recently discovered Ms. O'Connor went on to write and publish a negative article on CPCs in Good Magazine, entitled, "Playing Doctor: The pro-life movement's new plan for family planning" My reaction, response, and more can be found
at: http://rsnider.livejournal.com/67690.html
I'm encouraging others to consider leaving positive feedback on CPCs in the article comment section, sharing a positive experience with a CPC as a client or volunteer.
It does certainly show where their priorities are, that a worst-case scenario of "She was really annoyed and had to call someplace else to arrange an abortion" is considered a heinous crime against humanity that can't be tolerated, but "She got raped by the abortionist" or "She was sent home to bleed to death by her abortionist" is just another day in paradise, nothing to get your knickers in a twist over.
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