April 18, 1944: Abortion-Rights Death Claim Confirmed

I stumbled across a video about a self-induced abortion death -- one I was able to verify by searching for a death certificate. Winifred "Win" Mayer died on April 18, 1944, at around 2:00 in the afternoon. Her death certificate attributes her death to shock "due to attempt at criminal abortion self inflected." She was in the second month of her pregnancy. The autopsy showed cuts in her uterus, hemorrhage, and congestion of her lungs, liver, and kidneys.

According to the YouTube video, Win was living in military housing in Virginia with her husband and two small children. Her husband, Eddie, worked for the government was about to be deployed overseas for an undetermined amount of time and Win didn't feel prepared to care for a third child while he was away. She already had a son, Peter, who was not quite three years old and a 10-month-old baby girl, Judy. Win was college educated and financially comfortable, according to her granddaughter.

Win's mother, her granddaughter says, was a nurse in New York. Win travelled to New York to use her mother's connections with doctors who performed criminal abortions. For some reason this arrangement fell through. Win's father, who was a doctor, refused to perpetrate the abortion. Win's daughter said that Win's French stepmother told her that women in France "take care of this themselves." Win returned to Virginia.

Whether she got specific instructions from her stepmother or another person or just came up with an approach on her own, Win put the children down for their naps, went into the bathroom, and attempted the abortion. Eddie came home after work and found her dead.

Watch Abortion Advocacy Story Verified on YouTube.