June 16, 1910: First Death Attributed to Fred Orainger

On June 16, 1910, Mrs. Paulina Sproc, a 35-year-old immigrant from Bohemia, died in a Chicago home from an abortion that had been performed on June 5.

A man mistakenly identified in the Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database as W.L. Orsinger was held by the coroner's jury. However, his name was actually Fred L. Orsinger. Orsinger had battled with the medical board for 32 years trying to get licensed and insisted on practicing regardless.

Ten years later Orsinger was implicated in the abortion death of Minnie Schofield in March of 1917.

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

Sources: 

• "City and Vicinity," Streator (IL) Free Press, November 4, 1898
• "Nuggets of News," Sterling (IL) Standard, November 17, 1898
• "Practice Without Licenses," The (Chicago) Inter Ocean, September 14, 1905
• Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database
• Death certificate
• "Woman Dies; Indict Doctor," Chicago Daily Tribune, July 1, 1910

Chicago Business Directory, 1904