1924: Abortion by doc proves fatal for Chicago woman

On May 18, 1924, 26-year-old Miss Mary Whitney died at St. Mary's Hospital of complications of an abortion performed April 2 at the Chicago office of Dr. Lou E. Davis. Dr. Davis was held by the coroner on May 19.

Mary's abortion was typical of criminal 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

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