Dr. Charles P. Wood admitted that
Elvira Woodward had come to his house in Manchester, New Hampshire, on April 1 and
remained there until her death on April 27, 1871. He said that she'd
expelled a dead fetus on April 3, and that she suffered from puerperal
fever. Elvira took ill, languishing and finally dying on April 27, at
about 2:30 PM, at Wood's house.
Dr. Wood was convicted of performing the fatal abortion on Elvira. It is
unclear how the prosecutor or the jury identified him, from among all
the doctors who had attended Elvira, as the guilty party. It may have hinged on Wood's unsavory reputation. He began his local career as a machinist, did a quick study to get a dental license, then took a bit more training and began practicing medicine as an allopath -- whereupon he developed a reputation as an abortionist.
On April 27, 1990, 28-year-old divorcee
Sandra Milton (pictured, left) underwent an abortion, performed by Dr.
Carl Armstrong (pictured, right) at Toledo Medical Services in Ohio.
Sandra's abortion was performed at 10 a.m., and she was discharged shortly thereafter for the 90-minute drive home to Sandusky.
The babysitter stayed with Sandra and her three children, ages 10, 7,
and 5, for three hours as the young mother slipped in and out of
consciousness and suffered pain and abdominal swelling. Twice the
alarmed babysitter called the clinic, but was told that the symptoms
were normal. The third time the babysitter called the clinic, she got no
response at all, and summoned an ambulance. Sandra was pronounced dead
on arrival at the hospital at 6:01 p.m.
The medical examiner found a one-inch uterine perforation. Her abdomen was full of blood. She had bled to death internally.
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