Two illegal anniversaries

1902: Journey to Death. In June of 1902, Irene Wengel traveled to Tampa, Florida, where she was met by her cousin, J. Carl Christian. Christian had arranged for her to stay at the home of Dr. Frederick N. Weightnovel for an abortion.

1922: Abortion by midwife kills Chicago woman. On June 12, 1922, Mrs. Louise Huse, age 30, died at Chicago's Mid West Hospital from a criminal abortion performed there that day. On June 16, midwife Agnes Tholl was arrested on the recommendation of the coroner.

Keep in mind that things that when these women died, things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future.



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