A 19th Century Trunk Mystery and Other Criminal Abortion Deaths

A Doctor's Work in 1948

Mildred Ferguson, age 23, of Narrows, West Virginia, died in Huntington, West Virginia on February 25, 1948 from abortion complications.

After a four-day trial and only 23 minutes of jury deliberation, Dr. William M. Lewis, age 61, was convicted of second degree murder. His assistant, 29-year-old Julia Darling, was charged with falsely swearing on an affidavit, illegally administering anesthetic, and murder by abortion.

Self-Induced in 1918

On February 25, 1918, 34-year-old homemaker Mary Mayer died at Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. The coroner found that she had died of septicemia following a self-induced abortion.

One of Dr. Hobbs' Victims in 1916

Dr. Lillian Hobbs (pictured) was convicted of murder in the 1916 abortion death of 21-year-old Alda Christopherson. The testimony of John K. McDonald, who was granted immunity in exchange, was crucial in the case. He was the father of Alda's aborted baby. Depending on whose testimony you believe, the whole sordid story began either on February 21, or six weeks earlier. All testimony agreed that Alda and John had visited Hobbs' practice. John insisted that Hobbs had perpetrated the fatal abortion. Hobbs, a known abortionist, insisted that she'd merely been treating Alda for complications of an abortion she'd attempted to perform on herself with a button hook.  Between Alda's death and the trial, Hobbs had been indicted for the 1917 abortion death of Ellen Matson. The jury evidently thought that Hobbs' story didn't hold water, since they found her guilty and she was sentenced to 14 years in prison. She appealed, protesting that it was inappropriate to bring up the death of Ellen Matson as evidence of her practice as a criminal abortionist, since Ellen died nearly two years after Alda's death and thus her abortion wasn't evidence of prior criminal behavior. The appeal succeeded. The conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered. However, Hobbs' conviction and sentencing for Ellen Matson's death rendered this rather a moot point. Hobbs was also implicated, but never tried, for the 1917 abortion death of Ruth Lemaire.

A Trunk Mystery in 1879

Jennie Clark's body was found stuffed into a trunk in Lynn, Massachusetts on February 27, 1879. The trunk, lodged in shallow, icy water, was weighted down with several bricks and two empty champagne bottles. Dr. Caroline C. Goodrich, a Boston woman, was arrested as the abortionist. Dr. Daniel F. Kimball, who lived in the same house, was arrested as an accessory. Mr. Allen N. Adams, at whose house Jennie lived and worked as a servant, was arrested as secondary accessory, as were a mother and daughter living in  the house where Jennie had died. Adams was said to be the person who arranged the fatal abortion. An investigation indicated that on February 12, 1879, Jennie left her home in the Highlands. She was seen shortly thereafter going into the home of Dr. Goodrich. The abortion was evidently perpetrated at Goodrich's practice. Jennie left on February 15 and went to the home where the mother and daughter cared for her. She  delivered her dead fetus and seemed to be on the mend. She took a sudden turn for the worse and died on February 25. The guilty parties packed up the body into the trunk and dumped it.

*****

Mary Mayer death certificate

A Pair of Chicago Midwives, a Doctor in Denver, and a Doctor in New York

Scant Info on Chicago Abortion

On February 20, 1927, 23-year-old Angenita Hargarten died in her Chicago home from an abortion performed there that day. Midwives Anna Trezek and Frances Raz were held by the coroner, Trezek as the principal and Raz as her accomplice.


Travel Plans Lead to Fatal Abortion

Ada Williams, about 27 years old, was living in Denver in early 1916 when she got a letter from her mother in Nebraska. Nearly 50, Ada's mother was going to give birth soon and feared that she might die in childbirth, so she asked Ada to come to her.

Dr. Hamilton

Ada, pregnant herself, decided to have an abortion before she left in order to facilitate the journey. With her husband, Thomas, she went to Dr. Noble O. Hamilton on Sunday, February 13, asking about proceeding with the abortion Ada had already discussed with him. Hamilton told her to return the following day, and told Thomas to bring $25, which was how much he charged for delivering a baby and seemed to be a fair amount to charge for aborting one.

Ada returned as instructed at about 9:40 in the morning. Hamilton later admitted that he examined Ada, including a vaginal exam, and inserted a medicated tampon, but denied that he had performed any abortion.

On Tuesday morning, Thomas stopped by Hamilton's office on the way to work and paid $10 toward the abortion. After Thomas had gone, Ada got up and went to visit a friend, who later reported that she seemed ill.

Wednesday came and Ada stayed in bed, where she labored and delivered a dead three-month fetus. She sent for Hamilton, who wrapped the dead baby in paper and burned it in the stove. He gave aftercare instructions and left.

On Thursday, Ada was showing signs of going septic. Hamilton diagnosed her as having typhoid fever. The next day he brought in a Dr. Gundrum to consult about the typhoid diagnosis but said nothing about the abortion, not even to claim that Ada had miscarried.

Dr. Monson came to check on Ada on Friday and found her in grave condition. Hamilton still tried to keep the abortion a secret but Monson managed to ferret out the information from Ada somehow. He admitted Ada to a hospital, where she died of sepsis the evening of Sunday, February 20.

When convicted and sentenced to ten to eleven years, Hamilton swore his innocence. The verdict in the Ada Williams case was upheld on appeal.
 
An Inadequately Documented Deathbed Statement

An inquest was held in the February 20, 1856 death of Catharine DeBreuxal.

A witness testified that Catharine suffered "a violent hemorrhage" at Dr. Cobel's house in New York, where she had remained for a few days. The medical examiner concluded that Catharine had died from an infection.

"An effort was made by the defense to show that the deceased was a woman's bad character; but the evidence on that point was not admitted on account of its irrelevance."

The coroner's jury called for the arrest of Cobel, as well as of Francis Legoupil, as an accessory.  Cobel had been permitted to confront Catherine on her deathbed, challenging her and asking whey she had named him as her abortionist. She replied, "Because you operated on me."

Cobel was acquitted in April because Catharine's deposition was not taken formally before her death, and there was no further evidence that Cobel was the guilty party. He remained free to be charged with additional abortion deaths: the 1858 death of Amelia Weber, the 1865 death of Emma Wolfer, the 1870 death of Catherine Shields, and the 1875 death of Antoinette Fennor.

Deaths 80 years apart

Failure to Diagnose Leads to Death

Magnolia Thomas was a 35-year-old mother of two when she went to Hedd Surgi-Center in Chicago for a safe, legal abortion performed by Rudolph Moragne on February 19, 1986. Moragne failed to note that the fetus was growing in Magnolia's fallopian tube, rather than in her uterus. After Magnolia was discharged from the clinic, the undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy ruptured, and Magnolia was rushed to the hospital. There, doctors did everything they could to save her, but she died from blood loss and shock on February 19, 1986.

This was Magnolia's third abortion. Multiple abortions are a known risk factor for ectopic pregnancy. Even though, in theory, women who choose abortion should be less likely to die of ectopic pregnancy complications, experiences shows that they're actually //more// likely to die, due to sloppy practices by abortion practitioners.

Another patient, Diane Watson, died of anesthesia compliations after she'd undergone a safe, legal abortion by Moragne at Hedd.


A Midwife's Fatal Work

Ida Prochnow, a 35-year-old German-born homemaker, died in St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Chicago on February 19, 1906, from septicemia caused by an abortion performed earlier that day. Midwife Maggie or Madaline Motgna was arrested in the death.

Illegal Abortions: Doctors at Work

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Injured While Her Abortionist Was Awaiting Trial

On February 18, 1916, Beulah Hatch, age 24, died at Mercy Hospital in Denver. Dr. Bennett Graff, already out on bond while awaiting trial for the February 2 abortion death of Ruth Camp, was believed to have perpetrated the abortion that likely killed Beulah. Both women, in fact, were in Mercy Hospital at the same time, which means that Beulah's abortion must have been perpetrated prior to Ruth's death.

Beulah had gone to Denver about six weeks prior to her death, installing herself in a rooming house and then entering Graff's care. He had her removed to the Panama rooming house, where he had offices. She remained there at the rooming house until her condition deteriorated to the point where somebody sent for her husband. Mr. Hatch summoned the family physician, Dr. Andrews, who came to Denver from Longmont. He examined Beulah and had her transferred to the hospital. Once she was there, Andrews transferred her to the care of a local physician, T. Mitchell Burns, who attended her until her death.

The Physician-Fiance

Kittie O'Toole

At about 2:00 p.m. on February 18, 1883, 28-year-old Irish immigrant Kittie O'Toole died at the office of Dr. C. H. Orton, her betrothed, in Milwaukee.

Orton attributed Kittie's death to an epileptic seizure. Orton's neighbors, however, found the death suspicious and demanded an investigation.

The coroner's jury found Orton culpable for two murders -- of Kittie and of her unborn baby -- for having perpetrated a fatal abortion.

Orton, a widower more than 60 years of age, was a prominent politician and a doctor of longstanding in the community, which makes it interesting that in late April a municipal court judge suddenly dismissed all of the charges against Orton.

Doctors, a Midwife, and "Uncle Billy"

Oklahoma, 1937: A Midwife's Fatal Handiwork

Merl Williams

On April 24, 1937, Merl Williams of Watonga, Oklahoma, died of peritonitis. She was 21 years old, a worker in a poultry packing plant. Her death was attributed to a botched abortion.

A midwife, 57-year-old. Cordelia Moore, was charged with abortion murder. An investigation found evidence that Moore, formerly a registered nurse, had perpetrated hundreds of abortions in her home in Longdale, Oklahoma.

After her arrest, Moore "unworriedly set her glasses on the end of her nose and continued her quilting in the county jail." Her husband, John, actually got up in his cell and jigged when a jaunty tune came on the radio.

W. C. Mouse, a railroad engineer, testified that he had taken Merl to Moore's 3-room farm house on April 11, not knowing the reason for the visit. He said only that he had heard Merl ask Moore, "Will it be dangerous?" The state also gathered 14 additional witnesses in the case against Moore, including women swearing under oath that Moore had done abortions on them. The prosecutors were also investigating the possible abortion death of a married woman a few years previously.

Cordelia Moore was tried for the crime; her husband, John, was arrested but released. I have been unable to determine that outcome of any trial in Merl's death.


Oklahoma City, 1932: Two Docs' Deadly Spree

Dr. J. W. Eisiminger

Virginia Lee Wyckoff, a University of Oklahoma student, age 21, died from complications of an abortion on April 24, 1932 Hers was one of a string of deaths in the city that year. Dr. J.W. Eisiminger, an osteopath, was tried and convicted of murder in Virginia's death. He admitted to having treated her in his office on April 3, but said that he didn't believe she was pregnant. Nevertheless, Virginia spent several days in a private home where Eisiminger kept recovering abortion patients under the care of Mrs. Luther Bryant Price. Dr. Richard Thacker, who had an abortion patient of his own die on April 24, 1932, also used Mrs. Price's home as a recovery center for his abortion patients.

Virginia was transferred from Mrs. Prices's home to Oklahoma City General Hospital, where she died of septicemia, first having told doctors there that Eisiminger had performed the fatal abortion.. A deathbed statement absolving Eisiminger was proven to be a forgery.

Eisiminger was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to murder in her abortion death. The sentence was later reduced to 15 years.

Dr. Richard Thacker

Thacker's trial for the April 15, 1932 abortion death of Ruth Hall brought out testimony concerning the death April 24 death of 25-year-old Lennis May Roach and of other patients, including Robbie Lou Thompson, and Nancy Lee.

Mrs. Roach had come to Thacker's office several times, he admitted. Thacker said that she had been in poor health and emaciated, and had a white discharge, indicative of infection, from her vagina. She also, Thacker said, had pains in her abdomen. Thacker said that he treated her with a tonic and with antiseptic tampons.

He adamantly denied that he had performed an abortion on her. However, other witnesses, including Mrs. Roach's husband, testified that Thacker had indeed performed an abortion on Mrs. Roach, causing her death. Thacker was only prosecuted for Ruth Hall's death and was sentenced to life in prison. This is probably why he wasn't prosecuted for any of the other deaths. He died in prison in 1937.


Chicago, 1920: An Unidentified Perpetrator

On April 24, 1920, Emma Shanahan died at Chicago's St. Anthony Hospital from an abortion perpetrated by a person who was not identified. Most abortionists in Chicago in that era were doctors or midwives, which makes it likely that Emma availed herself of one of these trained medical professionals.


 Hannibal, Illinois, 1893: Racist Coverage of an Abortion Death

An article on the death of 19-year-old Emma Hub underscores the racism of the time. It begins, "Uncle Billy Nickens, a well-known colored character of Hannibal [Illinois], was arrested there yesterday charged with causing the death of Emmy Hub by a criminal operation."

Emma was the daughter of Jacob Hub, a German shoemaker living just south of the Hannibal city limits. Jacob had expelled his daughter from the house due to "her wild habits", so she had moved in with a painter named Mathew Seoville.  Around April 15 of 1893, Emma took ill, and was tended by a Dr. Ebbits. Ebbits suspected an abortion and refused to treat Emma until she admitted to it. "She continued to grow worse until death relieved her suffering at 1 a.m. yesterday" -- that being April 24.

Emma had told Mathew Seoville and his wife that she had gone to Nickens' house, where he had used instruments on her to cause an abortion. She said that a girl from Illinois was also there for an abortion. Mathew had pressed Emma to write up a declaration.

The fatal abortion was reportedly Emma's second; the previous had been performed the previous October. She also had given birth to a child about two years earlier.  The article notes that Nickens was arrested, adding, "The negro has been brought up on similar charges before, but always managed to clear himself."

Deaths in the First Third of the 20th Century

One of Six Clustered Victims of Dr. Guy E. Brewer


Dr. Guy E. Brewer

Ruby Ford, a 26-year-old homemaker, died on April 1, 1934, 11 days after an abortion committed on March 20 "at the combination bachelor dwelling and office" of Dr. Guy E. Brewer, a beloved philanthropist in the small town of Graber, Oklahoma. So popular was Brewer that the husband of one of his six abortion victims was fired from his job in retaliation for reporting the death to the police.

Brewer had graduated from the University of Louisville in 1906 and had been practicing medicine in Garber for 21 of the 29 years he had been a physician. He supported young men during their university studies, maintaining houses for them to live in. Those he had educated over the years rushed immediately to his defense. Though Brewer had spent many long years helping boys and young men, his impact on women's lives was evidently lightning-fast.

Hermoine Fowler, a 20-year-old coed, died in June of 1934, nine days after an abortion perpetrated by Brewer. Doris Jones, a 20-year-old mother of two, died in April of 1935. Wanda Lee Gray, age 20, Myrtle Rose, age 21, and Elizabeth Shaw, 23, of Roxanna.

Brewer entered guilty pleas and was sentenced to six four-year sentences, to run concurrently, for the six abortion deaths.


A Death and a Pardon

On March 29, 1921, 57-year-old Dr. Simeon B. Minden performed an abortion in his New York City office on 32-year-old Mrs. Catherine Riga. Catherine died three days later at Lincoln Hospital. It took only two days for his trial, which ended in a conviction. Minden collapsed upon hearing the verdict.  Minden was granted a new trial on May 18, 1922, and was pardoned by the governor after serving one year and four months of a 2.5 to 10-year sentence in Sing-Sing on December 12, 1924.

A Midwife Suspected

On April 1, 1911, 23-year-old Chicago homemaker Annie Murphy died from an abortion perpetrated by a midwife (or possibly obstetrician) named Carolina Adams. Adams, age about 63, was held by the Coroner's Jury but the case never went to trial.


A Grim Delivery

On the morning of April 1, 1904, a body was hastily shipped from Old Orchard Sanitarium, aka Eastman's Women Sanitarium, run by Dr. Charles A Eastman. A death certificate was filed in the town clerk's office by Eastman stating that the deceased was 24-year-old Edith McIntyre, a schoolteacher from Boothbay Harbor, Maine. She had died at the sanitarium at 3:00 that morning. The body, Eastman said, had been shipped on the early train of that day to Boothbay Harbor in charge of Edith's brother, Capt. Albert McIntyre. The cause of the death was given as gastritis resulting from the taking of oxalic acid salts by the deceased sometime in February. Edith had been at the sanitarium for two weeks.

This all seemed a tad fishy, so the case was quickly referred to county attorney George L Emery, who examined the documents then hurried off to Boothbay Harbor to speak with Edith's brother. Emery learned that Edith had been buried early on Saturday, April 2, and that no viewing of the body by family or friends had been permitted. Edith's body was exhumed for an autopsy, which revealed that she had died from a criminal abortion.

Eastman, realizing that the authorities were on to him, fled his sanitarium by the time Emery got back to question him.  Eastman was traced to Lowell, MA, where he was arrested. He was arraigned on a murder charge, to which he plead not guilty.

The prosecution presented evidence that Eastman had performed an abortion on Edith some time in March, and that she developed septicemia and died as a result. Eastman's defense argued that Edith had just miscarried and died from a bad gastric reaction to the oxalic acid salts she had been taken. Since oxalic acid is a toxin found naturally occurring in many plants, Eastman seemed to be arguing that Edith had taken the salts as a self-abortion attempt in February, prior to coming to his sanitarium.

John Morrill, who had arrested Eastman, presented letters written by Eastman to his wife while he was a fugitive, along with letters from Edith's brother. Expert testimony was presented by two doctors, Alfred King of Portland and George Gregory of Boothbay Harbor.

On July 12, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter.

Deaths in the First Quarter of the 20th Century

A New York Midwife, 1902

Lena Schott

On September 15, 1902, Mrs. Henrietta Appel, age 31, died in New York from an abortion perpetrated by midwife Lena Schott (pictured). The police had been notified about the abortion by Henrietta's husband, Samuel, while she was on her deathbed. Henrietta admitted the abortion to the authorities and indicated that her husband had not known about it.

When police went to arrest Schott, they had to break into the home, and found Schott in the basement. She attacked the arresting officer, Captain Elbert O. Smith, nearly tearing off his uniform and pinning him on the floor until other officers could restrain her. After her arrest, Schott admitted that she had treated Henrietta.

An Unknown Chicago Abortionist, 1925

On September 15, 1925, Mary Williams, a 25-year-old Black woman born in Mississippi, died at Chicago's County Hospital from an abortion performed on her that day at an undisclosed location. The person responsible for Mary's death was never identified, so it's impossible to know if she availed herself lf one of the plethora of doctors and midwives practicing abortion in Chicago.

A Chicago Midwife, 1926

On September 15, 1926, 23-year-old Mary Bailek, a native of Poland, died at Chicago's Lutheran Deaconnes Hospital from complications of a criminal abortion performed at her home that day. Rozalia Ossowska, alias Olszewski, was arrested for the death on October 7. Her profession is not given but according to the 1930 Census she was a midwife. She was born around 1888 in Germany and immigrated to the US in 1906. On March 15, 1927, she was indicted for felony murder by a grand jury.

Illegal and Legal, 50 Years Apart

A Probably Lay Abortionist in New York, 1925

Very little is on record about the July 22, 1925 death of 17-year-old Gertrude Wynants. According to the New York Times, Gertrude died from a criminal abortion. Mrs. Margaret Shott Higgens, age 25, was indicted for manslaughter in Gertrude's death.

An Abortion Hospital in Detroit, 1974

On July 22, 1974, twenty-two-year-old Carole Wingo died of a Demerol over dose during a safe and legal abortion at Mercy General Hospital in Detroit. Despite the name, Mercy was not a general hospital. It was an abortion hospital. It was also a hospital in big trouble even before Carole's death.

The Michigan Public Department of Health had cited Mercy for 43 violations of nursing standards and 12 violations of physical plant standards in October of 1973, and had withheld their license. Among the violations were that the operating room lacked a cardiac monitor, a resuscitator, and a defibrillator. Carole's mother filed suit against the facility and doctors David Northcross, Chuk Nwokedi, and Robert Wolf.

Illegal Abortions: Two Typical and One Atypical

The oldest of today's deaths are from common Chicago abortions of the early 20th century.

On June 17, 1913, 36-year-old Freda Englehard died in Chicago, at the scene of an abortion reportedly perpetrated that day by Dr. Joseph A. Meeks. Meeks was held for murder, and Mrs. Mollie Flaherty was held as an accessory, but the case never went to trial.

On June 17, 1918, 25-year-old Sophie Suida died at Chicago's St. Mary's Hospital from complications of an abortion reportedly perpetrated by Dr. L. D. Tucholska, who died at the county jail on June 28, before the case could come to trial. Physicians and midwives ran an abundance of semi-clandestine abortion practices in the Chicago of that era.

Another death, this one in the 1950s, followed a less common abortion.

"When Abortion was Illegal (and Deadly): Seattle's Maternal Death Toll," Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project, citing Seattle Times articles dated June 22, July 1, and July 3, 1935, notes the following about the abortion death of Bettye Porter:

The African American mother of two flew to Seattle from her home in Anchorage evidently seeking an abortion. After friends reported her missing, her body was found in a remote area near Gig Harbor. Norman Wade Austin was charged with manslaughter and two others as accessories. Police charged that Austin, 34, a mechanic by trade, had performed the abortion in the massage parlor he had recently opened in the Savoy Hotel at 1214 2nd Ave. Austin, who also faced charges for running a stolen car ring, spent several years in prison.

I have been unable to learn anything more about Bettye or Austin. The fact that Bettye went to a lay abortionist made her choice highly unusual.

Who performed abortions before legalization?

Mary Claderone (then Medical Director of Planned Parenthood) and Nancy Howell Lee (a pro choice researcher) both investigated the practice of criminal abortion in the pre-legalization era. Calderone estimated that 90% of all illegal abortions in the early 1960s were being done by physicians. Calderone further estimated that 8% were self-induced and that 2% were induced by someone other than the woman or a doctor. Lee estimated that 89% of pre-legalization abortions were done by physicians, an additional 5% by nurses or others with some medical training, and 6% were done by non-medical persons or the woman herself.

Calderone's numbers came from "43 men and women from the various disciplines of obstetrics, psychiatry, public health, sociology, forensic medicine, and law and demography." Lee interviewed women who had undergone pre-legalization abortions. The discrepancy between Lee's and Calderone's breakdowns of non-physician abortions is probably due to sampling errors.

Lee, who spoke with women who survived abortions, would of course not encounter women whose abortions killed them. Therefore she would not be exposed to the proportionate number of women who chose the most dangerous alternative. Lee's sample also included only willing survey participants, who would be more forthright and complete in divulging information, such as who really performed the abortion, than women being interviewed by health or law enforcement officials.

Calderone, on the other hand, spoke with those likely to see the botched and fatal abortions, and therefore they would be exposed to a higher percentage of the most dangerous, self-induced abortions. Also, Calderone's informants would have been investigating botched abortions that could be subject to a criminal investigation. Therefore, women speaking to them would be likely to withhold the true identity of their abortionists to protect them. Also, should the woman die, her family and friends might identify the woman herself as the abortionist, rather than admit their own roles in arranging or performing abortions, in order to close the investigation.

Anecdotal data tends to support Lee's research. Stories of abortions by midwives, orderlies, chiropractors, and assorted lay practitioners likeHarvey Karman and the Jane Syndicate are far too common to represent only 2% of criminal abortions. We would probably not err too far if we relied primarily on Lee's numbers and adjusted them slightly to reflect the slight under-reporting of amateur abortions. Thus, a fair estimate of the breakdown of criminal abortions would probably look like this:

• 90% performed by physicians
• 5% performed by trained non-physicians (medical and lay)
• 3% performed by an untrained accomplice
• 2% performed by the woman herself

Two Deaths: 1929 and 1931

On July 16, 1929, Dr. Sven Windrow performed an abortion on 19-year-old Emmy Anderson at a Chicago location. Emmy died on July 24. Dr. Windrow was held by the coroner on July 25. Jacque Lagrave, age 67, was held as an accessory. Windrow was indicted February 6, 1929 for felony murder. Emmy's abortion was typical of illegal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.

Mrs. Sophie Layton of Raleigh, North Carolina, was sentenced to five years for the abortion death of 20-year-old Miss Celia Roberts of Granville County. Celia had gone to Raleigh in July of 1931 for an abortion, which was perpetrated on July 22. She was taken to a hospital in Oxford, where she died on July 24 after naming Layton as her abortionist. A Justice of the Peace, I. E. Harris, was arrested "on charges of advising and procuring the operation." He turned state's evidence and identified Layton as the abortionist -- though on her deathbed Celia had sworn that Harris had nothing to do with her situation. Another man, whose ties to the events I have been unable to determine, also testified that Layton went into Celia's room the night of the abortion.

Keep in mind that things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future. In fact, it was blood banks and antibiotics that reduced maternal deaths from abortion. Abortion-rights advocates who claim otherwise are either misinformed or are wantonly stealing credit for the accomplishments of others.

The Fatal Work of Doctors, 1900 - 1980

On January 12, 1900, Mrs. Ida Henry, age 26, died at the home she shared with Dr. Paulina Bechtel, from complications of an abortion Bechtel had performed on her there that day. Bechtel, who said that she'd been practicing medicine for 18 years, was held by the Coroner's Jury. An undertaker had embalmed Ida's body prior to a post-mortem examination. He was censured for this compromising of evidence that would be found in the body, but was not charged with any crime. Bechtel had already been tried in the October 3, 1895 abortion death of Mrs. Kittie Bassett. She was also implicated in the death of Barbara Shelgren shortly after Ida's death. Bechtel went on to kill Mary Thorning in 1911.

On January 12, 1909, Florence Wright, a 34-year-old Black woman born in Kentucky, died at Wesley Hospital in Chicago from nitrous oxide asphyxiation while being treated for complications of an illegal abortion perpetrated on January 3, 1909. Midwife Louisa Achtenberg, a white woman, was held without bail for the crime of murder by abortion. She was indicted for murder but the source document doesn't indicate that there was a trial. Achtenberg appears to have been implicated as well in the abortion deaths of Dora Swan in 1907, Violet McCormick in 1921, and Madelyn Anderson in 1924.

Shirley Williams was 30 years old when she underwent a safe and legal abortion in January of 1980. She suffered from infection and hemorrhage after her abortion. On January 12, 1980, she was pronounced dead from hemorrhage.

Former criminal abortionist Milan Vuitch (pictured) had been operating his clinic without a license for two years when 32-year-old Jeannie English came to him for a safe and legal abortion on January 12, 1980, the same day Shirley Williams died. Vuitch administered general anesthesia for Jeannie, and she never woke up. She was transported to a nearby hospital where she died. When Vuitch was investigated, it was discovered that he kept patients overnight in his home (an unlicensed facility) which he designated "The Annexe." Inspectors also noted repeated violations of medical standards regarding sanitation and anesthesia. Vuitch also admitted during another case that he had lacked hospital admitting privileges since 1963. Vuitch was also responsible for the 1974 abortion death of 17-year-old Wilma Harris. He is one of three abortionists I know of who started out as criminal abortionists with clean records -- no patient deaths attributed to them -- who went on to kill two patient by performing the supposedly safer legal abortions. They are Jesse Ketchum (Margaret Smith and Carole Schaner) and Benjamin Munson (Linda Padfield and Yvonne Mesteth).

Doctors' Fatal Work, 1918, 1983, 1984

Today there are three anniversaries from the Cemetery of Choice. All three fatal abortions were performed by doctors. One was illegal; the other two were safe and legal.

On January 9, 1918, 39-year-old Mary Cusack, a widowed homemaker, died at Chicago's West Side Hospital from septicemia caused by an abortion perpetrated that day by Dr. William A. McFarlane. He was indicted on January 15, 1918, but the case never went to trial.

Life Dynamics lists 17-year-old Sharon Davis on their "Blackmun Wall" of women killed by safe and legal abortions. Life Dynamics says that Sharon was a high school student, 14 weeks pregnant, when she submitted to an abortion at a hospital in Tucumcari, New Mexico on September 20, 1982. Her uterus and bowel were perforated, and she developed an infection. For over three months, she was treated for her infection before she died on January 9, 1983.

Twenty-five-year-old Rita Goncalves took ill after her safe and legal abortion in late 1983. At some point after her abortion, she was taken to Roger Williams General Hospital in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. There, she died on January 9, 1984, from abortion complications.