A 1923 death. The proper response?

On October 30, 1923, 19-year-old Mrs. Lydia Nelson died at Chicago's Englewood Hospital from an abortion performed there that day, evidently by Dr. Charles Klinetop. Lydia's abortion was typical of criminal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.

On January 15, 1924, Klinetop was indicted by a grand jury for felony murder in Lydia's death. For some reason, the abortion lobby insists that prosecuting this man for what he did to Lydia shows a callous disregard for Lydia's life, and that the best way to show concern for the lives of women like Lydia would be to shrug her death off as a simple case of all surgery having risks. I'll grant that at the time of Lydia's death, 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.) But I still don't understand how you can look at a woman dead from a botched abortion and conclude that you demonstrate that you care about women by leaping to the defense of the person who killed her.

All Equally Dead

Fifteen-year-old Sarah Jane Beaver disappeared from her Indiana home in April of 1876, and remained at large until late July, though there were sightings of her with Shepherd Cox, the landlord, in Texas. About four weeks after her return, her mother "discovered that the daughter was in an interesting condition". Sarah Jane named Cox, who was there during the conversation, as the responsible party. Shortly after this conversation, Mrs. Spencer said, she discovered a bottle with a few drops of oil of tansey -- a popular abortifacient -- in it. When confronted, Cox reportedly admitted that he had bought it for Sarah Jane. After more suspicious goings-on, Sarah Jane took sick, and the next night expelled her dead baby. Mrs. Spencer said she sent for Dr. Duncan, who could not come until the next Wednesday, October 25. Duncan said that Sarah Jane had not miscarried but had undergone an abortion caused by instruments of some sort, used with force. Mrs. Spencer was able to show the fetus to Duncan. It was about three and a half months old.

Dr. Duncan continued to provide care to Sarah Jane, at first expecting her to recover, but her condition deteriorated. Sarah made a deathbed statement to her doctor, but after repeatedly refusing to name her abortionist, told Dr. Duncan, "I did it." With more questions, Dr. Duncan finally got, "He did it, with instruments." Sarah Jane died the following morning.

Cox was indicted for murder in December, 1876. He fled to avoid prosecution. Eventually his attorney negotiated a deal for him to return for the trial but remain free on bail of $3,000. He was also able to negotiate a change of venue, so that the trial took place in Hancock County.
After a trial with many conflicting witness testimonies, it took the jury a full day of sparring to come back with a verdict of not guilty.

Fast forward. At 11 AM on October 17, 1947, Dr. Paul Singer, a gynecologist, called police and reported that a woman had come to his office suffering from an incomplete abortion.
He said that he had taken 22-year-old Jane Ward, heir to the Drake Bakeries fortune, to Park East Hospital, where Dr. Oswald Glasberg, a plastic surgeon, had helped him to complete the abortion. Jane died on October 28, and the autopsy confirmed the cause of death as criminal abortion.

After the death, Singer and Glasberg were arrested and released on bail. The baby's father, Eduardo Schneidewind, a trade promotion executive for a South American government, was questioned as a material witness but was never indicted. Dr. Alejandro Ovalle, an X-ray technician, was sentenced to one year after pleading guilty as an accessory, having profited from abortion referrals. Singer was convicted of manslaughter in Jane's death, and sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. The judge, Francis L. Valente, said that Jane had been subjected to "surgical mayhem," and that Singer and Glassberg were "completely devoid of human feeling and decency."

Glassberg was also convicted and sentenced to prison, but was never sentenced because six hours after the verdict on June 14, 1948, Glassberg committed suicide in his cell, having poisoned himself.

Now fast-forward to the halcyon days of safe, legal abortion. On October 9, 1993, 25-year-old Giselene Lafontant underwent an abortion by a Dr. Scher at Gynecare in Monsey, New York. She was 9 or 10 weeks pregnant. Within 20 minutes, Giselene had no pulse. She was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital and placed on a respirator. Efforts to save her life failed; Giselene died on October 28.

One of many to die at Fast Eddie's mills

Sixteen-year-old Natalie was brought to San Vicente Hospital in Los Angeles by her mother for a safe and legal abortion on October 21, 1972. Milton Gotlib injected saline into Natalie's uterus on the 21st.

On October 22, Natalie expelled the dead baby but retained the placenta. She had trouble breathing and suffered abdominal pain, so San Vicente staff transferred Natalie to County-USC Medical Center just before midnight.
Natalie was in shock when she arrived at County-USC. She underwent a D&C there, but remained in shock from infection in her uterus. On October 26, a hysterectomy was performed to try to control the infection, to no avail. Natalie was pronouced dead at 9:35AM on October 27.

The autopsy found most of Natalie's internal organs swollen and hemorrhagic. Death was attributed to hyaline membrane disease brought on by the abortion.

Natalie is one of over a dozen women to die at one of Edward Allred's facilities. Others known to have died after abortion at Allred's facilities include:

• Denise Holmes, age 24, 1970
• Patricia Chacon, age 16, 1984
• Mary Pena, age 43, 1984
• Josefina Garcia, age 37, 1985
• Lanice Dorsey, age 17, 1986
• Joyce Ortenzio, age 32, 1988
• Tami Suematsu, age 19, 1988
• Susan Levy, age 30, 1992
• Deanna Bell, age 13, 1992
• Christina Mora, age 18, 1994
• Kimberly Neil, 2000
• Chanelle Bryant, age 22, 2004

Did laws kill Stella or save Deloris?

On October 24, 1917, 24-year-old Stella Ahern died at her Chicago home from an abortion performed by an unknown perpetrator. Lest we move too swiftly to blame Stella's death on laws, we should consider that there's over a 90% chance that her abortionist was a doctor or a midwife, and a less than about 2% chance that the person had no medical training at all. However, with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good.

In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across America.



The "What do you expect in the days before modern medicine?" excuse could have easily held water for Stella's abortionist. The same can't be said for the people responsible for the death of Deloris Smith. She was one of two teenage abortion patients who suffered fatal injuries at National Abortion Federation (NAF) member Atlanta Women's Pavillion on June 2, 1979.

NAF tells prospective patients:

What is a NAF Clinic? NAF is the professional association of
abortion providers in North America. .... In order to become a member,
a clinic must complete a rigorous application process. Member clinics
have agreed to comply with our standards for quality and care....
NAF periodically conducts site visits to confirm that our clinics
are in compliance with our guidelines.

The staff of Atlanta Women's Pavillion showed what a safe, legal NAF clinic is made of when 19-year-old Angela Scott stopped breathing in the recovery room. A nurse-anesthetist was administering anesthesia to 14-year-old Deloris Smith while Dr. Jacob Adams was performing her abortion. The nurse-anesthetist ran to assist in efforts to revive Angela, leaving Delores unattended with her anesthesia drip still running. This suggests that either AWP had no protocol for emergencies, or that nobody had been adequately trained to make sure that all patients, not just the most obviously distressed patient, was being provided with vital care.

After staff had resuscitated Angela and loaded her into an ambulance, they returned their attention to Delores, who had gone into cardio-respiratory arrest. Adams had accompanied Angela to the Grady Memorial Hospital, and staff refused to release Dolores to an ambulance until the physician had returned to discharge her. This resulted in a 30-minute delay, during which the ambulance crew was unable to attend to Delores or begin transporting her.

Angela lingered for a week in a coma before dying on June 11. Delores never regained consciousness and eventually was admitted to a nursing home, where she died of adult respiratory distress syndrome on October 24, 1979, some time after her fifteenth birthday.

The presumed safety of legality, and the presumed superior care of a NAF member clinic, did nothing to protect Angela and Deloris. Those who truly care about abortion safety, not just abortion legality, might to well to do their own independent oversight of local abortion facilities, and not trust high-profile lobbying groups to put the safety of the patients ahead of the political interests of their members.

Doc goes to Sing Sing for killing abortion patient

Dr. F. Waldo Whitney, age 61, was convicted of manslaughter in the October 22, 1914 abortion death of Mrs. Margaret Buetelman. He was sentenced to 2 - 19 1/2 years at Sing Sing.

Note, please, that with general public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more information about early 20th Century abortion mortality, seeAbortion Deaths 1910-1919.

Legal and illegal deaths, and lessons learned or left unlearned

On October 20, 1877, Nellie Ryan, an unmarried 21-year-old white woman from Turner Junction, Illinois, died in Chicago during a criminal abortion. Midwife Amelia Spork was arrested for Nellie's death. Since midwives were an ordinary source of pregnancy care at the time, it's difficult to assert that Nellie was somehow "forced" to go to a midwife rather than a physician for an abortion due to abortion laws. It's also hard to assert that legalization would have improved the overall state of Nellie's health going into the abortion, the state of medical practice at the time, or any other factor that typically contributed to all manner of maternal mortality of the time.

On October 20, 1921, 30-year-old Annie Sczepkowski died at Jefferson Park Hospital in Chicago from complications of an abortion perpetrated by an unknown suspect. Tillie Pawlowski was arrested, but exonerated by the Coroner. Just as in Nellie's case, it's difficult to assert that laws caused Annie's death. No law would have given either woman access to things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks.


In fact, during the first two thirds of the 20th Century, while abortion was still illegal, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality, including mortality from abortion. Most researches attribute this plunge to improvements in public health and hygiene, the development of blood transfusion techniques, and the introduction of antibiotics. Learn more here.


So let's fast forward to 1971, after the enlightened members of the New York legislature legalized abortion on demand. Carole Schaner, age 37, traveled from Ohio to Buffalo to take advantage of this purportedly woman-protective move. Dr. Jesse Ketchum performed a vaginal hysterotomy abortion, which is like a c-section done through the vagina, in order to remove Carole's 14-week fetus and allow it to die. Ketchum preformed this surgery, as the law permitted, in his private office. After the abortion, Carole went into shock, and was taken to a hospital. She was in shock when she arrived. Despite all efforts, Carole died before doctors could even fully assess the extent of her injuries. She left behind four children.

The autopsy found that Carole's cervix and uterus had been cut open, and an artery outside her uterus had been cut. It also noted sutures that had evidently been put in by Ketchum in an attempt to repair the damage. The sutures, however, completely closed Carole's cervix, allowing her to continue bleeding from the injured uterus and artery.

Carole was the second woman to bleed to death after an outpatient hystertomy abortion performed by Ketchum; Margaret Smith had died four months earlier. Interestingly enough, Ketchum had been a criminal abortionist in Michigan, and while he'd been in trouble with the law, none of his patients had died. New York allowed him to set up shop in spite of his Michigan arrests and the unsanitary conditions police had found. So while Michigan police had been able to limit Ketchum's practice by periodically arresting him, New York turned a blind eye to his character, supposedly in the interests of making abortion safer.

Another former criminal abortionist, Milan Vuitch, also had kept his nose clean as a criminal abortionist, then went on to kill two legal abortion patients. Wilma Harris and Georgianna English both died under Vuitch's care. Benjamin Munson, likewise, had a clean record in his criminal abortionist then went on to kill two women in his supposedly safer legal practice -- Linda Padfield and Yvonne Mesteth.

Free Abortions!

Mighty generous, that Dr. Brandeis. He's giving away free abortions!

Just in case the fact that it's FREE! is lost on the prospective patient, the bullet points include:

• Free services for low income eligible ca residents
• Free abortion clinic
• Free services for low income eligible ca residents

The site also features what look like coupons for free gyn services and free sterilization.

A bit redundant, I know. But Dr. Emmanuel Brandeis wants to make absolutely sure you know that it's FREE!

I found out about this generous fellow when his spambot posted a link on my blog -- as a comment to an article about an RU-486 death.

How does Dr. B do it? His FEES page explains:

We offer the presumptive eligibility program also known as PE. This is a Medi-Cal program that among its services provides temporary abortion care to eligible low-income women and teens. With PE you can receive services for miscarriage or abortion immediately and for free. Any California resident who believes that they are pregnant and whose family income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level is eligible for this program. Call now to see if you qualify.

Ah! Dr. B isn't generous with his own money, or even his own time. He just has his staff trained to stick a straw into the public trough and slurp up taxpayers' money expeditiously.

This resourceful fellow's name was familiar to me, so I searched my site and found out why: he'd screwed up when injecting drugs into an abortion patient, causing tissue damage that resulted in the amputation of several fingers.

The first question on the FAQ page is:

Is the office confidential and private?

Our Medical Center is a private office and there are no protestors.

Now that they've spambotted my blog, that might change.

As you can see, the Vermont Avenue location has plenty of room for a prayer vigil outside. It's in a Korean neighborhood, too, so there's probably really good kimbap, bibimbap, galbi, bulgogi, porridge, and shabu-shabu available nearby. Yum! Plus there's another office available for lease in the building. What a great place for a prolife pregnancy center!

The Beverly Hills location seems to be in more of a medical office building, though the only sign I see on the outside is for a chiropractic clinic. There is also a "For Lease" sign with the number 310-652-7006.

Though there's no real room on the sidewalk directly outside, the situation across the street is another matter entirely.



It's the La Ciegna Community Center -- a city park, public property. There's plenty of room for a prayer vigil and some sidewalk counselors, right there on a busy street corner.

Dr. B wouldn't have hired a spambot if he didn't want his practice to be advertised, right? So, LA prolifers, have at it!

A brief summary, a confession, and a medical board investigation

I know very little about the first woman featured today. On October 19, 1910, Pelagia Usorowski, age 32, died in a Chicago residence from an abortion that had been performed on October 13. Rosalie Tomajoski, whose occupation is given only as "abortion provider", was indicted by a grand jury for felony murder in Pelagia's death.

I have far more information about the 1954 death of Betty Ladel. A naturopath named Sylvia Redman made, then recanted, a confession that went into a lot of detail and was consistent with the autopsy findings. Click on Betty's name to learn more.

Finally, we have the 1990 death of 19-year-old Christina Goesswein from complications of a rather shady abortion performed by Dr. Moshe Hachamovitch in Bronx, New York. Click on Christina's name to learn about the appalling findings of the medical board investigation into Christina's death. Click on Hachamovitch's name to learn about the other women who died at his hands or under his supervision.

Four pre-legalization anniversaries

All four of today's anniversaries date back to pre-legalization days.

In early October of 1883, Mrs. O'Connor, a widow, died from a criminal abortion in Halifax. "Dr. Archibald Lawson, a prominent physician, has fled to avoid arrest."

On October 18, 1920, 30-year-old Alice Jolly died at Chicago's Englewood Hospital from a criminal abortion perpetrated by somebody who was never identified.

On October 18, 1939, Miss Alice Corbett, age 28, of Brooklyn, New York, died from complications of an illegal abortion. Dr. Allen F. Murphy was sentenced to 2-10 years in Sing-Sing for Alice's death.

On October 18, 1942, 23-year-old Harriet Lichtenberg of Brooklyn died in Royal Hospital, the Bronx, from suspected criminal abortion complications. Dr. Henry Katz was indicted for first degree manslaughter in Harriet's death.

You'll notice that in all three cases in which the abortionist was identified, he was a physician. This was typical in pre-legalization abortions. Women, by and large, are neither mentally incompetent nor mentally deranged, and don't merely reach reflexively for the rustiest coathanger in the closet when they decide upon abortion. Read Nancy Howell Lee's excellent The Search for An Abortionist for a contemporary account.

Two abortions, half a century apart

On October 2, 1923, 16-year-old Lauretta Schranz underwent a criminal abortion somewhere in Chicago. On October 16, Lauretta died at Chicago Hospital from complications of that abortion. Ethel Davis and Lena Rumenstein were held by the coroner in Lauretta's death. Their professions were not listed on my source document. Davis was indicted by a grand jury for felony murder on November 15.

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.


Fast forward to 1974, when abortion is safe and legal and women need fear quackery no more.

Maria Lira, a 19-year-old college student, went to Riveria Hospital on October 14, 1974, to undergo an abortion. After she'd been discharged, Maria had problems and returned. Staff performed a D&C, then discharged her again. That night, she went to the emergency room due to excessive bleeding, and was sent to Torrance Memorial Hospital for treatment, where she died on October 16. The autopsy found a decomposing fetus in her uterus, which had caused infection and DIC (disseminated intravacsular coagulopathy), a clotting disorder which allowed Maria to bleed to death.

Four anniversaries

Mary L. Stone, a 26-year-old native of England, was living in New York City with her husband, George, in 1854. Some time in late August, she left her husband and went to live with William Mills in New Haven, Connecticut. White at Mills' home, Mary took oil of tansy as an abortifacient. She stated that she had done this at the recommendation of Mrs. Britton, who denied the charge. After taking the oil of tansy, Mary became very ill. About five weeks later, she returned to New York, going to stay with a friend. She sent for her husband. After seeing his wife's condition, Mr. Stone had her taken to New York Hospital. There, she died the night of Sunday, October 15. Her death was attributed to "exhaustion produced by abortion."

On October 15, 1915, Anna Anderson, a 25-year-old unmarried woman, died at the office of Dr. A. A. Ausplund, who had brought two additional doctors in to assist him in caring for her. Ausplund insisted that Anna's pregnancy had been tampered with before she'd come to his office. The autopsy, however, indicated that the injury had likely taken place while Anna was on the premises. Click on her name to learn more.

October 15, 1926, 23-year-old Ethel Horner died at Chicago's Jackson park Hospital from an abortion performed earlier that day. Dr. Albert Peacock was arrested the following day.
On November 15, 1926, he was indicted for felony murder. Ethel's abortion was typical of criminal abortions in that it was performed by a doctor.

On October 15, 1990, 23-year-old Angela Satterfield underwent a legal abortion. The abortionist did not diagnose Angela's ectopic pregnancy. He simply performed an abortion procedure and sent her home. That evening, the undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy ruptured. Angela was found dead in her home. She had hemorrhaged. Her death certificate only mentions the ectopic pregnancy and the hemorrhage, but her autopsy notes the failure of the abortionist to diagnose the ectopic pregnancy. Even though, in theory, women who choose abortion should be less likely to die of ectopic pregnancy complications, experiences shows that they're actually //more// likely to die, due to sloppy practices by abortion practitioners.

1908: Mystery death in Chicago

On October 14, 1908, Olga Anderson, age 23, died in Chicago from complications of an abortion.
There is no record of who was the guilty party, though he or she was most likely a physician.

Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, see Abortion Deaths 1900-1909.


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

---

Two women "endangered," two "protected," all four dead.

On October 11, 1913, 28-year-old Frances Odochowski, a married woman, died in Chicago at the scene of an abortion perpetrated that day by Dr. Arthur L. Blunt. Bunt was arrested and held by the Coroner on November 7, and brought before a Grand Jury, but the case never went to trial.

On October 11, 1926, Jeanette Jarrett, a 28-year-old Black woman, died from complications of a criminal abortion performed on her that day. A Black doctor, Roy Shell, was held by the coroner on October 29. On November 1, he was indicted for felony murder.

If you're tempted to blame the deaths of Frances and Jeanette on abortion law, remember that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good.

In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across America.

For more information about early 20th Century abortion mortality, see Abortion Deaths 1910-1919.



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

Let's fast-forward to the blessed days of safe, legal abortion, shall we?

Life Dynamics lists 17-year-old Sharonda Rowe on their "Blackmun Wallsafe and legal abortions.
According to LDI, Sharonda had an abortion done in a doctor's office in Washington, DC on October 11, 1981. She suffered lacerations in her vagina and uterus, causing a massive, fatal air embolism. So, in spite of "safe and legal," Sharonda's competent and compassionate provider of vital reproductive health care services managed to slice her open internally to the point of letting air into her circulatory system and killing her.

L'Echelle Head, age 21, died October 11, 2000, after an abortion at Dayton Women's Health Services. Dayton Right to Life said that L'Echelle was pronounced dead at Samaritan Hospital after she'd been sent home from the clinic. Police had been called to a private residence to investigate the report of an unresponisve 21-year-old woman shortly after 6 p.m. L'Echelle's obituary indicates that she left behind a daughter, her parents, and three sisters. Peggy Lehner of Dayton Right to Life said, "The final results of the autopsy are still pending. From early indications it appears she suffered some sort of blood clot or embolism."

The safe and legal Dayton Women's Health Services had been caught operating without a license in 1999. It was inspected on October 27, 1999, to see if a license should be granted. Inspectors found rusty instruments, improperly-marked medications, and a failure to follow sterile technique. The clinic administrators were told they'd have to correct the problems to get a license. The clinic got the license after getting a waiver regarding follow-up care for patients. In other words, the state knew a year before L'Echelle's death that the facility was sub-par, and allowed the abortionist to ply his trade anyway. Thank you, legalization, for keeping abortion safe.

1916: Victim of laws, or of lack of antibiotics and blood transfusions?

On October 9, 1916, Emily Projahn died at the Chicago office of Dr. Clarence W. Merceraue from complications of an abortion he had perpetrated there that day. Though Mercerau was held by the coroner and indicted, the case was stricken off on December 16.

Note, please, that with overall public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good.

In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across America.

For more information about early 20th Century abortion mortality, see Abortion Deaths 1910-1919.



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

Why not ask the people who REALLY know abortion from experience?

My FaceBook friend Kathy Peterson points out that abortion supporters often insist that unless you've been the one on the abortion table, you have no right to have an opinion on abortion. (They totally discount dissatisfied customers, but that's another topic for another day.)

Well, actually, since the person who is impacted the most by an abortion is the baby targeted, shouldn't their voices be the ones given the most credence?

I'm not being facetious. There are people who are only alive because an attempt to abort them failed to do the job. I've described one such person, Gianna Gessen (pictured), as a Fetus With Attitude. Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO) objected to the idea of Ms. Jessen testifying before Congress about abortion on the grounds that hearing from the actual slated-for-death fetus would "undermine the public’s consistent and overwhelming support for Roe v. Wade." As I asked in my original article, what do you expect from somebody who had actually been aborted? Could you expect "consistent and overwhelming" fetal support for Roe v. Wade?
   
Ms. Jessen said what anybody left with cerebral palsy from the toxic effects of abortion chemicals might be expected to say: that being aborted isn't very pleasant. That abortion wreaks havoc on fetuses. That fetuses, given their druthers, would rather be left unmolested. This should come as a surprise to nobody. When an aborted fetus limps up to the podium and reads her prepared comments, that's good news for fetuses, but bad news for somebody who gets campaign support from the abortion establishment.

Based on the only report we ever got out of the Centers for Disease Control on the subject, abortionists reported about 500 babies surviving later abortion attempts every year. Times 38 years of abortion on demand, that's 19,000 folks like Gianna, like Ana Rosa Rodriguez (pictured, right), whose right arm was wrenched off at the shoulder during the abortion attempt, or like Ximenia Renearts (pictured, left), who was left brain damaged and physically incapacitated by extreme prematurity and being left unattended to die until rescued by a nurse.
Then we can add in those who survived what are called "failed abortions" -- early abortion attempts that somehow leave the fetus unscathed. Research indicates that between about 850 and 1,800 unborn children survive first-trimester abortion attempts in the US every year. We don't have numbers on what percent of women change their minds about wanting their babies to die and continue their pregnancies. It's neither uncommon nor universal, so I'll just aim for the middle and say that half of those children get to be born alive. That's about 1,325 survivors of early abortions every year, about 662 of whom are permitted to live to be born. That's 25,000 (rounded down) since Roe. Add that to the 19,000 late abortion survivors, and we have about 44,000 fetuses we can ask.
What would their opinions about abortion be? Maybe we should ask.

A midwife's work, and a beneficiary of New York's abortion law

On October 5, 1911, 38-year-old Mrs. Mary Bambrick died from an abortion perpetrated that day by midwife Emma Schultz. Schultz was held by the Coroner's Jury and indicted on October 12, but the case never went to trial. Schultz went on to kill Martha Kohnke on September 24, 1927.

"Becky" Roe was 18 years old when she traveled from Arkansas to New York for a safe and legal abortion. She was 14 weeks pregnant. The abortion was performed on September 26, 1971. Though she was running a fever the day after the abortion, staff discharged her to return home.
By the time Becky got back to Arkansas and saw a doctor, her condition was critical. She died from infection on October 5.

A 19th century abortion death

Mary Jacquay Doyle, wife of P.M. Doyle, died in Buffalo, NY, on October 2, 1867, from "convulsions produced by an abortion within the last two weeks." She had only been married the previous February. Her husband was held in her death by order of the coroner.

Five young women's deaths remembered today

On October 1, 1908, 21-year-old Mary Rahur died in Chicago from complications of an abortion performed that day. Mrs. Frida Trappe was arrested and held by the coroner's jury on October 14. The case went to trial, but Trappe was acquitted on July 12 0f 1909. Trappe's employment status is recorded as "Outside labor force (incl. criminals)", which may be an indication that she was a professional lay abortionist.

On October 1, 1914, eighteen-year-old Lillie Giovenco died at Wesley Hospital in Chicago from complications of a criminal abortion. Dr. Eva Shaver, Dr. Leopold Pijan, and Dr. John Fernow were held by the coroner in Lillie's death. The coroner concluded that the fatal abortion had been preformed on September 5 in a medical facility that my source describes as "Abortion place." Eva Shaver was also prosecuted for the 1915 abortion death of Anna Johnson.

On October 1, 1922, 21-year-old Margaret Sullivan died in her Chicago home from complications of an abortion performed that day. The person or persons responsible were never caught. Keep in mind that things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future.

Brenda Banks was 35 years old and 13 weeks pregnant when she went to Hillcrest Women's Surgi-Center in Washington, DC, for a safe, legal abortion, performed by Llewelyn Crooks on September 30, 1989. Brenda went into shock, and was transported to the hospital by ambulance. Doctors performed an emergency hysterectomy and transfused Brenda with 20 units of red blood cells, to no avail. She died the following day, October 1, 1989. Brenda's uterus had been perforated and several major blood vessels had been cut or severed entirely.

Stacy Zallie underwent a safe, legal abortion at the age of 19, in 1999. She didn't tell her family about the abortion, but did mention that she was troubled. She sought psychiatric care, but still kept the abortion a secret. In October of 2000, about a year after her abortion and mere days before she was to serve as a bridesmaid in her brother's wedding, Stacy took her own life. After learning of the abortion and Stacy's unbearable anguish afterward, her parents started the **Stacy Zallie Foundation** to provide post-abortion care so that nobody else's daughter suffers the fate their daughter did. The Zallie family takes no stand on abortion, seeking to keep their focus on providing desperately-needed aftercare to suffering women, regardless of politics, creed, or religion.