On October 24, 1917, 24-year-old homemaker
Stella Ahern died at her
Chicago home from an abortion performed by an unknown perpetrator.
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. The fact that abortion-rights organizations claim credit for what others accomplished in public health and medical care speaks volumes about their character.
For more information about early 20th Century abortion mortality, see
Abortion Deaths 1910-1919.
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