July 1, 1971: A Beneficiary of New York's Early Liberalization

Grok AI illustration

"Audrey" is one of the women Life Dynamics identifies on their "Blackmun Wall" as having been killed by a legal abortion.

Audrey was 44 years old when she underwent a first-trimester abortion in New York on July 1, 1971.

During the abortion she went into cardiac arrest. Attempts to revive her failed; she died that day, leaving three children motherless.

The Dubious Benefits of New York Law

"Audry" was one of many women who died in the window of opportunity between limited legalization and Roe's free-for-all. The Supreme Court could have looked at these deaths and decided enough was enough. They chose instead to trust in bogus reports -- such as the review of patient records from C.R.A.S.H. -- and pretend that legalization would magically make everything okay.

In addition to “Audrey,” these are the women I know of who had the dubious benefit of dying from the newfangled safe-and-legal kind of abortion in pre-Roe New York:

• Carmen Rodriguez, July, 1970, salt solution intended to kill the fetus accidentally injected into her bloodstream
• Barbara Riley, July, 1970, sickle-cell crisis triggered by abortion recommended by doctor due to her sickle cell disease
• Pearl Schwier, July, 1970, anesthesia complications
• "Amanda" Roe, September, 1970, sent back to her home in Indiana with an untreated hole poked in her uterus
• Maria Ortega, October, 1970, fetus shoved through her uterus into her pelvic cavity then left there
• "Kimberly" Roe, December, 1970, cardiac arrest during abortion
• "Amy" Roe, January, 1971, massive pulmonary embolism
• "Andrea" Roe, January, 1971, overwhelming infection
• "Sandra" Roe, April, 1971, committed suicide due to post-abortion remorse
• "Anita" Roe, May, 1971, bled to death in her home during process of outpatient saline abortion
• Margaret Smith, June 1971, hemorrhage from multiple lacerations during outpatient hysterotomy abortion
• "Annie" Roe, June, 1971, cardiac arrest during anesthesia
• "April" Roe, August, 1971, death from outpatient saline abortion
• "Vicki" Roe, August, 1971, post-abortion infection
• "Barbara" Roe, September, 1971, cardiac arrest after saline injection for abortion
• "Tammy" Roe, October, 1971, massive post-abortion infection
• Carole Schaner, October, 1971, hemorrhage from multiple lacerations during outpatient hysterotomy abortion
• "Beth" Roe, December, 1971, saline injection meant to kill fetus accidentally injected into her bloodstream
• "Roseann" Roe, February, 1971, vomiting with seizures causing pneumonia after saline abortion
• "Connie" Roe, March, 1972, cardiac arrest during abortion
• "Julie" Roe, April, 1972, holes torn in her uterus and bowel
• "Roxanne," May, 1972, convulsions and death at start of abortion
• "Robin" Roe, May, 1972, lingering abortion complications
• Pamela Modugno, May, 1972, air in her bloodstream

Watch "It's Not Advantageous of it Kills You" on YouTube.

LDI Sources: "Maternal Mortality Associated With Legal Abortion in New York State: July 1, 1970 - June 30, 1972," Berger, Tietze, Pakter, Katz, Obstetrics and Gynecology, 43:3, March 1974, 321.

July 1, 1981: Life-Preserving Abortion Ends Mother's Life Instead

Sheryl Cottone was 23 years old when she underwent a first trimester abortion in June of 1981.

She was rushed to Veteran's Memorial Hospital in Waukon, Iowa, on July 1. She was pronounced dead on arrival.

Grok AI illustration

An autopsy found that she had died from an embolism that lodged in her heart.

The following comment was left on a RealChoice blog post regarding Sheryl’s death. Until I have permission to use her name, I will refer to the author as “Lauren.”

listen, Sheryl was my mom. She died because of clot that formed after she had an abortion. The Dr. Said it would of killed her to have the baby. She really wanted another baby. However, she wanted to be there for the 3 kids she already had. She formed a clot due to have C Factor V Liden mutation, meaning blood prone to clots. Back in 83 they didn’t know or have much information on this condition. She just might of saved my life. I now know I have same condition and can take medical precaution with surgeries, etc….

According to the Mayo Clinic website, Factor V Leiden is a genetic mutation of one of the proteins in the blood that makes it clot properly. People with this disorder are at an increased risk of developing clots inside their blood vessels, usually in the veins. Women are at increased risk of developing blood clots while pregnant or when taking estrogen. Blood thinners can be prescribed to reduce the risk of these clots and to possibly lessen the damage caused by any clots that do develop.

If you have factor V Leiden and have developed blood clots, anticoagulant medications can lessen your risk of developing additional blood clots and help you avoid potentially serious complications. Fortunately, as Lauren pointed out, treatment options for pregnant women with Factor V Leiden are far better now than they were when Sheryl faced her difficult decision. The MayoClinic site notes:

Pregnancy complications. Most women with factor V Leiden have normal pregnancies. But the mutation has been linked with an increased risk of miscarriage and possibly other complications during pregnancy, including pregnancy-induced high blood pressure (preeclampsia), slow fetal growth and early separation of the placenta from the uterine wall (placental abruption). If you’re a pregnant woman with factor V Leiden, be sure your doctor monitors you carefully throughout your pregnancy.

…. There’s no evidence that preventive treatment with blood-thinning medications would be effective enough to outweigh the potential risks of using these drugs during pregnancy or delivery.

I am very grateful to Lauren for sharing her story, and have invited her, if she chooses, to share more.

Watch Life-Saving Abortion Proves Fatal on YouTube.

Source: Iowa Death Certificate 81-013385

July 1, 1896: Another of Dr. Lucy Hagenow's Dead

 From the records of the Cook County Coroner's office:

The said Hannah Carlson now lying dead at Passavant Memorial Hospital in said City of Chicago County of Cook State of Illinois came to her death on the 1st day of July AD 1896 From Peritonitis and Intestinal Gangrene following perforation of the uterus the result of an Abortion said Abortion being performed at 104 Wells St by one Louise Hagenow and one Ida Von Schulz and from the evidence presented We the Jury recommend that the said Louise Hagenow and Ida Von Schulz be held to the Grand Jury until discharged by due course of law.

Dr. Louise "Lucy" Hagenow

Hagenow and von Schulz were arrested and released on $5,000 bond each. Emil Olsen was indicted for having arranged the abortion; he was released on $1,500 bond.

Both Hagenow and von Schulz were identified in the Inter Ocean as midwives, which was a common way to refer to female obstetricians at the time. Each said that she had been licensed to practice medicine in Switzerland, though Hagenow would later claim to have graduated from medical school in the United States.

Hannah, age 19 or 20, was 8th of the 18 victims attributed to Dr. Lucy Hagenow:

1. Louise Derchow (1st San Francisco death, 1887)
2. Annie Dorries (1888)
3. Abbia Richards (1888)
4. Emma Depp (1888)
5. Minnie Dearing (1st Chicago death, 1891)
6. Sophia Kuhn (1892)
7. Emily Anderson (1892)
8. Hannah Carlson (1896)
9. Marie Hecht (1899)
10. Mary Putnam (1905)
11. Lola Madison (1906)
12. Annie Horvatich (1907)
13. Lottie Lowy (1925)
14. Nina Pierce (1925)
15. Jean Cohen (1925)
16. Bridget Masterson (1925)
17. Elizabeth Welter (1925)
18. Mary Moorehead (1926)

Watch "8th of 18" on YouTube.

Sources:

• 'Faces a Big Docket," The Inter Ocean, July 21, 1896
• "Told in a Paragraph," The Inter Ocean, August 2, 1896
• "Olsen Admitted to Bail," The Inter Ocean, August 30, 1896

June 30, 1982: Teen's Death Counted by State as Illegal Abortion

Seventeen-year-old Jennifer E. Suddeth underwent a safe and legal abortion performed by Dr. Franklin Henry "Frank" Robinson Sr. on June 30, 1982.

On the drive home to Cerritos, Jennifer bled heavily, alarming her boyfriend, 20-year-old John Fredzess. 

Fredzess said that he called the clinic repeatedly over the four hours after their return home, but staff would not put the call through to Robinson. One nurse, he said, admonished Fredzess to "be realistic" about how severely Jennifer was bleeding. By that time, Jennifer had bled through two pairs of sweat pants, two blankets, and a towel. At last, the boyfriend said, he was able to contact Robinson at another clinic in La Puente. He said that Robinson insisted that the bleeding was normal and instructed Fredzess to stop calling.

Robinson agreed that Fredzess had repeatedly called the clinic, but denied dismissing Jennifer's symptoms as no cause for concern. He said that he had  first told Fredzess to bring Jennifer back to the clinic, but Fredzess had said he was too tired to make the drive. Robinson said he then told Fredzess to either call 911 or drive Jennifer to the hospital himself. "I was practically pleading," he said. Fredzess, Robinson said, didn't want to go to the hospital or call 911 because then people would find out abortion the abortion. He said that when Fredzess stopped calling, he assumed that Jennifer was at the hospital being tended to. 

When Jennifer went into convulsions, Fredzess said, he called an ambulance. Paramedics arrived at the home to find Jennifer already dead. She had lost at least six quarts of blood. Police interviewed the weeping and hysterical Fredzess, then botched the investigation.  

Sgt. Miriam Travis, who had been called to the scene to investigate, did not collect any evidence, such as Jennifer's clothing, the towels, or the truck seat onto which Jennifer had reportedly bled so heavily. Travis took only four photographs at the death scene because she "ran out of film" and she later lost two of the photographs.

Robinson said he learned about Jennifer's death when four patrol cars and at least ten armed officers arrived at his clinic and he was booked for first-degree murder. He was held without bail for two days before he was finally released.

After posting bail, Robinson told the Los Angeles Time that Jennifer had been "perfectly fine" when she'd left his office. "She came to me for an abortion, and I gave her an abortion. I gave her the best surgical technique I can do... to call that murder is incomprehensible to me."

The charge was reduced to manslaughter. During the second week of the trial, Travis found a box of her mail which had accumulated at her original office after she had relocated to a different room. In that box were phone records from Fredzess's home. He had said that he'd first spoken to Robinson at his La Puente clinic shortly after 2:30 pm. However, phone records showed that the first call to the La Puente office was not placed until 4:39 pm, less than 45 minutes before paramedics pronounced Jennifer dead.

With the evidence more strongly supporting Robinson's version of events, he was acquitted. He told a reporter from the Associated Press that while he was angry about having faced charges, "my anger is tempered by the sadness that Jennifer died needlessly."

The state of California nevertheless counted Jennifer's death as due to illegal abortion.

Robinson has since retired and moved to Tennessee.

Watch "Who is to Blame?" on YouTube.

Sources:

• "Advised Emergency Care, Doctor in Death Case Says," Los Angeles Times, July 23, 1982
• "Doctor stands trial," San Louis Obispo County Telegram, January 14, 1983
• "Physician acquitted in abortion patient death," The (San Bernardino County) Sun, July 14, 1983
• "Doctor Acquitted, but Abortion Foes See Larger Issues," Los Angeles Times, July 16 - 17, 1983

June 30, 1998: Slow Death After North Carolina Abortion

Grok AI illustration

Kendra Paige McLeod, 22-year-old single mother of two, was working as a sales clerk at a grocery store in Clinton, North Carolina. She underwent an abortion at a clinic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on June 12, 1998. 

She bled heavily after the abortion. The following day, she decided to go to the hospital. She fainted three times by the time she got into the emergency room at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. 

Doctors at the hospital transfused Kendra with nine units of blood and performed surgery to try to save her life, to no avail. She died on June 30, at the age of 22. 

Her family lost a lawsuit against the hospital. Documents do not note if the family sued the abortion provider.

Sources:

• “Jury says doctor didn’t cause woman’s death,” Fayetteville Observer, Sept. 13, 2001
• North Carolina Death Indexes, 1908-2004

June 29, 1906: Midwife's Fatal Work in Chicago

Homemaker Johanna Faulner, a 40-year-old German immigrant, died June 29, 1906, at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Chicago. Her cause of death was determined to be "Septicaemia following a criminal abortion, said criminal abortion performed by one Emily Redeniske (a midwife) in her house 1063 N. Witon Ave on or about June 14th AD 1906 and we the jury recommend she be held to the Grand Jury." 

Redeniske was arrested in the death.

Sources:

• Death certificate
• Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database

June 29, 1988: She Never Even Made it to the Hospital

Grok AI illustration

Dawn Mendoza, a 28-year-old mother of two, underwent an abortion at the hands of Edward Rubin at Women's Medical Pavilion in Dobbs Ferry, New York, on June 29, 1988.

Her brother, who had accompanied her, was instructed to wait in a grassy park across the street from the clinic and return at 4 pm to take her home. When he returned the staff again told him to come back later. When he returned at 5:30 they told him that Dawn was dead.

Rubin had performed a D&C abortion on Dawn, who then started screaming and gasping for breath. Staff tried unsuccessfully to revive her, but she died without ever being transferred to a hospital.

The medical examiner determined that she had died from amniotic fluid embolism, as evidenced by particles of placenta and amniotic fluid in her lungs.

Watch "Brother Returns to Clinic to Find Sister Dead" on YouTube.

Sources: Autopsy report #88-1488; and New York Post, July 4, 1989

June 29, 1939: Another Black Woman Dies in Harlem

Harlem Hospital

According to New York death records, 22-year-old Mary Welch died at Harlem Hospital in Manhattan on June 29, 1939. Her cause of death was "acute endomeitritis streptococcic oepticemia, abortion probably induced." This would indicate a likely criminal abortion.

I've been unable to find any news coverage about Mary's death, perhaps because Mary was Black, and thus during that time considered less worthy of news coverage.

2009-2010: Planned Parenthood kills another client

A paper in the Obstetrics & Gynecology medical journal in 2013 reported the death of a woman who died after taking the abortion pill because of Planned Parenthood’s negligence.

“Ella Roe” legally bought the abortion pill from a Planned Parenthood facility in 2009 or 2010. Planned Parenthood apparently failed to competently examine her in advance and most likely did not bother to give her an ultrasound. If they had, it would have been easy to diagnose Ella’s ectopic pregnancy.

Unaware that her life was in danger, Ella took the RU-486 pill. She trusted her health to an abortion facility and paid the price for their malpractice.

Ella died from the ruptured ectopic pregnancy. The condition could have and should have been diagnosed with a simple ultrasound, but Planned Parenthood didn’t care enough to examine her before selling her the pill.

The publication reporting her death does admit to severe side effects, but claims that their work “reinforces the safety” of the abortion pill. However, there are severe limitations and conflicts of interest that most likely prevented significant amounts of data from being included.

First, the data used was obtained mostly from Planned Parenthood, with the corporation even listed as one of the authors. They have been known to lie about statistics relating to abortion and would directly benefit from withholding data that made them look bad. Second, nobody is legally required to report abortion pill deaths or complications to authorities, meaning that it would be very easy to simply not report a case. One of the authors of the study was also noted to “receive compensation” from Danco Laboratories (the manufacturer of the abortion pill) in exchange for “providing third-party telephone consults to clinicians who call for expert advice on mifepristone.”

Other studies on the abortion pill have observed a high level of danger. Even one pro-abortion source showed that as many as 1 in 12.5 abortion pill clients had to go to the ER. Still, even this statistic could easily be underestimated because it’s hard to get accurate data on complications form American abortions because of the grossly deficient and flawed reporting system full of discrepancies. The chemical abortion pill can cause excessive bleeding, sepsis, gas gangrene, hypovolemia, uterine inversion, cryptogenic stroke, tachycardia, leukocytosis, edema, hypotension, metabolic acidosis, necrosis, immunological weakening, cardiac arrest and excruciating pain.

In addition, Planned Parenthood’s own data report showed that they missed ectopic pregnancies in 16 clients during the study period and gave them abortion pills. All they would have had to do to diagnose any of them was a basic exam and ultrasound. Every one of those women could have died the way Ella did. There is no excuse for this level of negligence.

As surprising as it is for something including Planned Parenthood’s input to admit to a client death, the claim in the publication is by no means proof that the abortion pill is safe.

Ella is not the only young woman who trusted Planned Parenthood and paid with her life.

More Planned Parenthood Deaths

Alyona Dixon got abortion pills at a Nevada Planned Parenthood in September of 2022. Although research had shown that vaginal administration of misoprostol puts women at risk of sudden onset fatal toxic shock syndrome, Planned Parenthood instructed Alyona to take this risk. She ended up going septic and dying. Her death broke the streak of exclusively dead black woman at Planned Parenthood.

Cree Erwin-Shephard, age 24, suffered internal injuries during an abortion at Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her mother found her cold and stiff in the guest bedroom on the 4th of July, 2016. You can hear her mother's heartbreaking 911 call here.

Tonya Reaves, age 24, left a one-year-old child motherless when she bled to death in July of 2012 after an abortion at a Chicago Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood staff had delayed for four hours before transporting Tonya to a properly equipped hospital. By the time surgery was performed, it was too late to save her 

In 2009, 17-year-old Roselle Owens died from apparent anesthesia complications after an abortion at Planned Parenthood's Margaret Sanger Center in New York. Her family said that the staff had failed to monitor her properly and delayed transport to a properly equipped hospital. 

     

A nurse at a Southern California Planned Parenthood placed laminaria in the cervix of patient Edrica Goode in 2007 in spite of obvious signs of a vaginal infection. Since laminaria absorb whatever moisture is in the area so that they will expand and dilate the cervix, it's no surprise that the laminaria inserted into Edrica's cervix pulled the infection into her uterus and killed her.

Before Edrica's death, there wasn't the same racial pattern I observed from 2007 to 2022.

Holly Patterson, age 18, died in mid-September of 2003 from sepsis caused by abortion drugs she got at a Planned Parenthood in Hayward, California. Instead of instructing Holly to place the second dose inside her cheek and letting it dissolve, as the FDA instructed, Planned Parenthood told her that she could insert it vaginally. Researchers believe that the vaginal insertion of this second drug makes otherwise healthy young women particularly vulnerable to sudden death from toxic shock syndrome.

Vivian Tran, age 22, and died in late December of 2003, six days into a medical abortion process started at another California Planned Parenthood. Like Holly Patterson, she had been told to use the second drug vaginally instead of placing it in her cheek in keeping with FDA recommendations. Vivian was a young Asian woman.

Irene Stevenson died after an abortion at a Chicago Planned Parenthood in 2002. Planned Parenthood settled out-of-court with her bereaved husband. I have been unable to determine her race. 

In 1981 abortion patient Elise Kalat suffered a severe asthma attack after her abortion at a Massachusetts Planned Parenthood. When the medics arrived to take over Elise's care they found that nobody on site evidently knew how to perform even layman-quality CPR, much less the type of advanced CPR that would be expected of medical professionals. 

Significant Adverse Events and Outcomes

Mifepristone Adverse Events Identified by Planned Parenthood in 2009 and 2010 Compared to Those in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System and Those Obtained Through the Freedom of Information Act

1992: Teenage Girl Dies in Alabama

"Jean" is one of the teenagers memorialized in Life Dynamics' Blackmun Wall.

Citing the Alabama Department of Public Health's mortality statistics in 1992, all that Life Dynamics was able to learn was that Jean was in the 15-19 age range when she died that year. 

June 27, 1929: Two Physicians Held

On June 24, 1929, 19-year-old homemaker Winifred Mary Garver of South Bend, Indiana, underwent an abortion at the Chicago office of Dr. Anna Schultz, aka Rollins. Schultz was assisted by Dr. James White. 

Winifred died on June 27 at Chicago's Woodlawn Hospital. Winifred was white; both her abortionist and the assistant were Black. 

On June 27, both physicians were held by the coroner. Schultz was indicted for felony murder by a grand jury on October 6, 1930 and released on $10,000 bond. White was released on $5,000 bond. I've been unable to determine the outcome of the case.

Source: "Two Physicians Held," Palladium Item, June 27, 1929

1972–1978: Neurodivergent teen suicidal after one abortion kills self after second

19-year-old “Cathy” had been diagnosed with what the study reporting her death called a “sociopathic personality,” but before we can examine her death, it is important to understand what that actually meant.

During the 1970s, this diagnosis was used for what today’s medical professionals recognize as a wide variety of conditions and disorders. Many conditions that were poorly understood at the time also had a high chance of being misdiagnosed in this way. Cathy may have had any number of conditions, including but not limited to bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, head trauma or even misdiagnosed ADHD or autism. In the early 70s, some people were even diagnosed with sociopathic or psychopathic personality disturbances based on criteria that would not qualify for a mental illness by today’s standards. It should also be noted that the psyche of an older teenager is still developing in ways that make most (if not all) modern psychiatrists extremely reluctant to diagnose such a young patient as what would be colloquially called a “sociopath”.

Grok AI illustration

But whatever Cathy’s condition really was, one thing is known; she was in real distress and needed help. Her doctors theorized that her pregnancy was aggravating her existing mental health problems and had her undergo a D&E abortion (colloquially known as a dismemberment abortion for the brutal nature of the method) in a hospital at 14 weeks pregnant. This was an extremely dubious course of action, especially since Cathy had undergone one abortion previously and was now reportedly saying that she was going to kill herself. (This behavior was described in the journal as “suicidal threats” and did not appear to have been taken by those around her as the very real sign of distress that it was.)

The idea that an abortion would stabilize Cathy’s mental health proved to be horribly wrong. Abortion is not a recognized psychiatric treatment for any condition.

The abortion failed to stabilize Cathy, and appears to have pushed her already vulnerable state further into crisis. Instead of getting better, she deteriorated rapidly. Four days after the abortion, she used carbon monoxide to kill herself.

Given Cathy’s psychiatric health, it was reckless and negligent to put her through an abortion— and even more so with the claim that it would relieve her mental health problems. In her time of crisis, she needed real care, not abortion.

(Cathy is Case 18)

June 26, 1942: Mortician Arranges Fatal Abortion

Summary: 18-year-old Inez McGraw died in Spartanburg, South Carolina after an abortion perpetrated by midwife Henrietta Henderson. Interestingly enough, the man who arranged the abortion was sentenced to more than double the sentence faced by the abortionist.

In the summer of 1942, Inez McGraw was an 18-year-old stenographer working at a mortuary in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. She was white, unmarried, and pregnant. 

On June 23, her employer, 51-year-old William E. Evans—a married father of three and proprietor of the mortuary—arranged for her to have an abortion. He had gotten the name of a willing midwife from another black man, John Nix and had arranged that he would pay $15 for her services.

That afternoon, one of Evans’s Black employees, Robert Lee Bobo, picked Inez up in a truck owned by Evans and drove her to the Greenville highway. There she transferred into Evans’s private car. They went to the home of Henrietta Henderson, a 43-year-old Black midwife who lived on the old Greenville highway near Travelers Rest Church, just outside Spartanburg.

Inez went into a room in Henderson’s house while Evans waited on a cot. 

Grok AI illustration

Henderson performed the abortion using an instrument she later described as resembling “a little spoon.” When the procedure was finished, Inez and Henderson returned to the room where Evans sat. Evans handed Inez a ten-dollar bill, which she passed to Henderson. Henderson accepted being shorted a third of the promised payment.

Two days later, on June 25, died at Spartanburg General Hospital. The cause was generalized gas gangrene, necrosis of the uterine wall, acute peritonitis, and septicemia. The physician who signed her death certificate noted the death as occurring “after miscarriage.”

Henrietta Henderson and William Evans were arrested separately on June 30. Both were initially held on $5,000 bond, but only Evans was able to post it. Later, Evans paid $30 to two bondsmen, J. L. Kimbrell and Ab Kimbrell, to help secure Henderson’s release from jail. Prosecutors would later argue Evans obtained the midwife's release because she would flee and be unable to testify against him.

The racial dynamics of the case drew significant attention; victim and the accused procurer were white; the abortionist and most of the key witnesses were black. The case also stood out for one striking fact: the man who arranged the fatal abortion received more than double the prison time given to the woman who performed it.

On the second and final day of the trial, which opened on July 27, 1942, Henderson changed her plea to guilty and turned state’s evidence against Evans. She testified that Evans had told her, “You don’t know me and I don’t know you… I want you to help me out… I want you to see after this girl for me… I done it.” 

Henderson described the procedure in detail and confirmed Evans’s presence and payment. Her husband, Jesse Henderson, testified that he had been in the yard during the abortion. Other witnesses, including a woman named Eva Dixon who had approached Evans on Inez’s behalf, added to the case against him.

Evans denied being the father of the child and denied arranging the abortion. He claimed he had spoken with Henderson after her arrest and told her he “wasn’t the man who came out there.” He said he helped get her out on bond because she had been pressured by police—allegedly threatened with a “sweatbox,” a gun, and a billy club—and he wanted to know what she planned to say in court. He also expected to present an alibi for the afternoon of June 23.

After brief deliberation—just 19 minutes—the jury returned a guilty verdict against Evans. Circuit Judge T. S. Sease sentenced him to 12 years in prison, telling him, “Your sins have overtaken you—12 years.” Henrietta Henderson, who had pleaded guilty, received a five-year sentence. 

Evans’s attorney announced an immediate appeal. Because his sentence exceeded ten years, any bond pending appeal would have to be set by the state supreme court. In a curious detail, the court’s written decision on Evans’s appeal referred to the victim as Inez Crawford rather than Inez McGraw. 

Sources:

• Spartanburg, SC Death Certificate 16911
• "Ethel Inez McGraw," Greenville (SC) News, June 27, 1942
• "Evans Indictment Be Asked by Watt," Greenville (SC) News, July 27, 1942
• "Two Indicted In Spartanburg Abortion Death," The (Columbia, SC) State, July 28, 1942
• "Mortician Faces Murder Charges," (Florence, SC) Morning News, July 28, 1942
• "Spartan Negress Says Guilty of Abortion Charge," Greenville (SC) News, July 29, 1942
• "Evans Convicted Abortion Count; Verdict Speedy," Greenville (SC) News, July 30, 1942
• "Mortician to Take Appeal to Supreme Court," The (Columbia, SC) State, August 1, 1942
• "Evans Given 12 Year Sentence in Abortion Case," Greenville (SC) News, August 1, 1942
• State V. Evans, Supreme Court of South Carolina, 202 S.C. 463(S.C. 1942) pt. 1 and pt. 2

June 25, 1911: Doctor Free to Kill Again

On June 25, 1911, 20-year-old Mrs. Anna Mueller died from a criminal abortion performed by Dr. George Lotz. Lotz was arrested July 5. He was indicted for felony murder.

Leslie Reagan, in her book "When Abortion Was a Crime," indicates that he was expelled from the Chicago Medical Society after admitting guilt in Anna's death, but there is no record that he served time for the crime. In fact, he was free and in Danville, Illinois in 1917, when he perpetrated a fatal attempted abortion on Matilda Tidrick.

Anna's abortion was typical of pre-legalization abortions in that it was performed by a physician.

Watch "Another Doctor Free to Kill Again" on YouTube.

Source: Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database

2008: Unnamed Texas Resident Dies From Legal Abortion

SayTheirNames indicates that a Texan they call "Orielle" died from a legal abortion in Texas in 2008.

She does not match any other deaths on this blog. Other Texas deaths are:

• Irma Aleman Mungia, who died at 16 from sepsis in 1975
• Louchrisser Jackson, who died after bizarre decisions made by Robert Gardner when she started to hemorrhage from an abortion in 1977
• Vanessa Preston, who died under the care of high-profile abortionist Curtis Boyd in 1980
• Sharyn Graham, who bled to death in 1982 when her abortionist chose a pitcher of margaritas over treating her internal bleeding
• Mickey Apodaca, who was killed by convicted child murderer Raymond Showery while he was out on bail for the murder of a newborn abortion survivor
• Dorothy Bryant, who died from multiple instances of negligence in 1986 at the hands of a man who enabled the potential sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl
• Sheila Watley, who suffered cardiorespiratory arrest four minutes into an abortion at Concerned Women’s Center in 1987
• Denise Montoya, who died under the care of "Texas Gosnell" Douglas Karpen in 1988
• Junette Barnes, who discovered she was pregnant after a tubal ligation by Ted Shields and trusted him with a fatal abortion in 1988
• Glenda Davis, who was gashed internally then sent to the hospital in a private car in 1989
• Latachie Veal, who bled to death after an abortion in 1991
• "Jasmine" and "Jeanette," who died in 1990 and 1992, respectively
• Jammie Garcia, who died a lingering death in 1994
• Maureen Espinoza, who died after a punctured uterus during an abortion in 1997
• Virginia Wolfe, who died from hemorrhage in 1998
• "Opal," who died in 2020
• "Maggie," who died from some sort of "maternal indications" abortion in 2023

Other abortion deaths in 2008 are:

• "Carmen," who died from massive infection triggered by abortion pills in an unknown state
• Chloe Colts, who died in Detroit, Michigan after a perforated uterus
• Sherika Mayo, who died after a risky outpatient abortion in Georgia
• "Carrie", who died in Ohio from retained fetal tissue
• Bonnie Hunt, who died after an abortion at a Planned Parenthood in Chicago