Was Legalization an Improvement?

On March 17, 1907, Paulina Schneider died at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria, Illinois, from complications of a criminal abortion. Paulina gave a deathbed statement implicating Dr. Robert Emery in her abortion. Paulina's mother had also fingered Emery. For reasons not given in the source document, Emery -- identified as "Old Doctor Robert Emery" -- was found not guilty.

Though the verdict might have indeed been a case of exonerating an innocent man, it might also reflect loopholes in the abortion law that made conviction difficult, such as a requirement that the prosecution prove that the woman was pregnant or had felt the baby move.

Fast forward to our enlightened days of safe, legal abortion.

Cycloria Vangates underwent an abortion on March 13, 1976, performed by Dr. Paul Glassman. She suffered a cervical laceration. The Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine found that Glassman failed to adequately treat Cycloria's injury. She died on March 17.

Glassman's license was finally revoked for three years beginning in 1981. He later recovered his license on the condition that he undergo close supervision and not perform any more abortions. Glassman moved to Missouri, but his attorney revealed to the Florida Board of Osteopathic medical Examiners that Glassman performed 17 abortions while visiting in Fort Lauderdale, in an effort to prove that the ban against Glassman performing abortions was unnecessary. Glassman also faced a 1978 Florida conviction for felony grand larceny involving filing insurance claims for a faked automobile accident. Glassman paid out $386,875 to Cycloria's survivors, according to a malpractice liability search.