I'm continuing to make my way through a page gigan had created for her research. It turns out that somehow I missed a lot of abortions on the Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database during the years from 1910-1919. I'm slogging along. Thanks, gigan, for the heads-up on these. Like I've said before, please drop in.
1917: Tillie Vrzal, Marie Benzing, Edna Lamb, Bertha Dumbrow, Mannie Schofield, Celia Steele, Antonia Gennaro, Emma Melvin, Julia Suchora, Frances Reenaarot, Anna Lindquist, Mrs. Valdislaw Zapanc, Lizzie Heimos, Genevieve Popjoy, Annie DeGroote, Stella Ahern, Helen Devora, and Victoria Chimelewsky.
Mary Conners refused to name her killer before she died. I'm always a bit bewildered by women who, to the death, prefer to protect their killers rather than protect other women that the abortionists might harm.
Esther Stark's killer never went to trial because she died herself several days after her victim did. The Database doesn't say how she died.
Helen Skoza died from an abortion perpetrated by Elizabeth Schade, who went on to kill Fern Strecker in 1926.
Both Emelia Gorman and Mrs. M. Linstrom both died from abortions performed by Anna Sorenson, who died before either case went to trial.
I've been struck as I go through the Database at how large a number of homicides of women in Chicago in this time period were from abortions. (The other striking causes of deaths among females are murder by spouse, being gassed to death when their mothers tried to commit suicide, and being strangled as a newborn and tossed into the trash. Later, when I have time, I'll explore this further.)
And again and again with cases never going to trial. I wonder how many criminal abortion deaths happened because woman-killing quacks weren't locked up. Why not? We need to resolve that before Roe goes so that we can have laws in place that make sure these butchers aren't allowed to prey on women.
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