Saturday, October 24, 2026

October 24, 1979: One Negative Pregnancy Test, Two Dead Teens

Summary: Delores Jean Smith was the second of two teens to die of nearly simultaneous injuries at a National Abortion Federation member clinic.

In the era of safe, legal abortion, we find a case of striking ineptitude. 

On June 2 of 1979. National Abortion Federation member Atlanta Women's Pavillion rose to new levels of incompetence when staff there managed to fatally injure two teenage abortion patients in less than an hour.

Recovery Room at Atlanta Women's Pavilion

Dr. Jacob Adams was a co-owner of the clinic, along with Dr. Otis Hammonds and Dr. Olly C. Duckett. Adams performed an abortion under general anesthesia on 19-year-old Angela Scott. He sent her to the recovery room then began performing an abortion on 14-year-old Delores Jean Smith.

Angela went into cardio-respiratory arrest in the recovery room due to what was reported as an "idiosyncratic reaction" to anesthesia. 

Nurse Teresa Stearns, who was not certified as an anesthetist, was administering anesthesia to Delores while Adams was performing her abortion. Stearns ran to assist in efforts to revive Angela, leaving Delores with her intravenous anesthesia drip still running while Adams continued with the abortion.

There was a 25-minute delay in getting an ambulance to the clinic because staff didn't tell the ambulance service that the call was for an emergency. 

After the staff had resuscitated Angela and loaded her into an ambulance, they returned their attention to Delores , who had gone into cardio-respiratory arrest. 

Dr. Jacob Adams

Adams had accompanied Angela to the Grady Memorial Hospital, and even though the ambulance could have transported both patients, staff refused to release Delores until the physician had returned to discharge her. This resulted in a 30-minute delay, during which the ambulance crew was unable to attend to Delores or begin transporting her.

Angela lingered for a week in a coma before dying at 2:35 a.m. on June 9. 

Delores remained comatose in an intensive-care unit at Grady.

Fulton County District Attorney Lewis Slaton launched an investigation. Atlanta homicide chief Lieutenant W. K. Perry said, "We've had everybody, including the CDC, calling to see what happened and why." 

State legislators held hearings about regulating abortion clinics. The medical board held formal hearings. The Food and Drug Administration examined the anesthesia drugs used on the patients.

Delores never regained consciousness. She was admitted to a nursing home in August, where she died of adult respiratory distress syndrome on October 24, 1979. Her 15th birthday had come and gone while she was in her coma. 

Delores's mother, Nancy Smith, filed a $12.3 million suit against the clinic after learning that her daughter's pregnancy test performed at the clinic had come up negative.

State legislators proposed a regulation to require that pregnancy tests be done at licensed laboratories prior to abortions to ensure that abortions would not be performed on women and girls who were not actually pregnant. However, Lynn Thorgensen and Lynne Randall, co-directors of Feminist Women's Health Center opposed the measure, saying that it would delay abortions and increase costs. 

Both young women were Black -- a fact that made them at higher risk of abortion death for reasons that, to my knowledge, have never been investigated.

Watch the YouTube video.

Other women who have died after abortions at National Abortion Federation members include: Leigh Ann Alford, Gloria Aponte, Keisha Marie Atkins, Deanna Bell, Diane Boyd, Chanelle Bryant, Patricia Chacon, Geneva Colton, Barbaralee Davis, Laniece Dorsey, "Kyla Ellis", Josefina Garcia, Christin Gilbert, Sheila Hebert, Regina Johnson, Sandra Kaiser, "Imelda Laurence", Maria Leho, Susan Levy, Dawn Mack, "Haley Mason", Sophie McCoy, Jennifer McKenna-Morbelli, Denise Montoya, Kimberly Neil, Joyce Ortenzio,Venus Ortiz, Mary Pena, Catherine Pierce, Vanessa Preston, Dawn Ravenelle, Maria Rodriguez, Tamiia Russell, Oriene Shevin, Christi Stile, Latachie Veal, Chivon Williams, Diamond Williams, and Nichole Williams.

Sources:

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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.

Sherlock has  pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims.   But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:


Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.

at 12:00 AM 0 Speak to me!

October 24, 1981: Mentally Disabled Teen Dies from Abortion

SUMMARY: Dianne Boyd, age 19, died on October 24, 1981 after a drug error made during an abortion performed by Robert Crist at Reproductive Health Services in St. Louis, MO.

Dianne's Disability

naflogo.jpgNineteen-year-old Dianne Alicia Boyd had the mental capacity of a 14-month-old child. She was cared for by her mother, Barbara Bates, until she was ten years old, then was placed in various facilities until finally being moved into St. Louis State Hospital's Developmental Disabilities training Center when she was around 18 years old. She lived on an all-female ward. 

Dianne's Pregnancy

Grok AI illustration
Dianne was beaten and raped some time in July of 1981, and was later discovered to be pregnant. Dianne's mother was notified of the rape and pregnancy on September 25.

The rapist was never identified. Staff were questioned and polygraphed. Other patients couldn't be interviewed because, like Dianne, they were severely intellectually disabled. Walter Sloan, president of a patient advocacy group, said, "I doubt if anyone on that hall has the mental capacity of even a 5-year-old."

Dianne did not spend all of her time in the facility. She had attended two movies, four dances, three picnics, three swimming outings, one bowling outing, and two other unspecified field trips during the period in question. It was never determined if the rape took place at the facility or while Dianne was on an outing. 

The Decision is Made for Diane and her Unborn Baby

Dianne's mother and a court-appointed guardian went before a judge to get permission for an abortion, which they held would be in Dianne's "best health interests." The judge gave approval on October 13.

As a black woman, Diane was at higher risk than a white woman for fatal abortion complications.

Dianne was 16 weeks pregnant when she was taken to Reproductive Health Services in St. Louis, Missouri. Dianne's mother signed the consent form and the abortion was performed October 22, 1981 by Dr. Robert Crist. 

Dianne stopped breathing, went into shock and was taken to the intensive Care Unit at Barnes Hospital. She was placed on a respirator. Her EEG showed flat brain waves, so Dianne was kept on life support until organ donation surgery could be arranged. She was removed from life support and pronounced dead at 1:30 pm on October 24.

The Allegations

Abortionist_Robert_Crist_small.jpg

According to suits later filed by Dianne's mother, RHS staff and abortionist Robert Crist did not check for possible drug interactions before giving Dianne valium and sublimaze. Dr. Mary Case of the St. Louis Medical Examiner's Office said that sublimaze could depress a patient's respiration. "This was a severely brain-damaged individual," Dr. Case told the United Press. "She could not tolerate any respiratory depressant. The reaction was totally unpredictable."

It's unclear how it would be unpredictable that a drug known to cause respiratory depression could have caused Dianne's respiratory depression, especially if given to a patient who was already taking thorazine. The drug combination is likely what caused Dianne to stop breathing. 

Clinic staff told the Associated Press that they would never have administered the drugs they did to Dianne had they known that her disability had been caused by brain damage. But again, she was already taking a medication that could cause respiratory depression and gave her additional respiration-suppressing drugs.

Dianne's mother also said that the clinic lacked heart monitoring equipment or resuscitation equipment.

Dianne was not the last woman to die after abortion by Crist. Seventeen-year-old Latatchie Veal bled to death after an abortion by Crist in 1991. Twenty-two-year-old Nichole Williams died of DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulopathy) after an abortion by Crist in 1997.

Fourteen-year-old Sandra Kaiser committed suicide after a 1984 abortion at RHS, performed without her mother's knowledge or consent.

Sources:

at 12:00 AM 0 Speak to me!

Friday, October 23, 2026

October 23, 1936: The Second of Two Deaths Attributed to Dr. Aloysius Mulholland

On October 16, 1936, 26-year-old Katherine DiDonato, mother of two, was admitted to Roosevelt Hospital to be treated for complications of a criminal abortion. 

Katherine's husband, who was left to raise their two children alone, reported that the abortion had taken place three days earlier. Detectives were told that Katherine had bought pills from drug clerk Hyman Kantor, who had then recommended Dr. Aloysius Mulholland to perform an abortion. 

Katherine died at 2:00 AM on October 23. Both Mulholland and Kantor were arrested and charged with homicide. 

Mulholland had previously been charged with the 1931 abortion death of Jane Merrill. He finally went to prison in 1943 on charges related to a number of abortions not fatal to the mothers. He reportedly committed up to 10 abortions a day for which he charged $100 to $300, or a little over $1,500 to $4,600 in 2020 dollars. This meant that he could make the equivalent of  $46,000 in a single day. 

Sources: 

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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.

Sherlock has  pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims.   But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:


Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.

at 12:00 AM 0 Speak to me!

October 23, 1920: Doctor Gets Away With Abortion Murders

Summary: Nineteen-year-old Francis Karies was one of five deaths attributed to Dr. Charles Waldstein Millikin in Akron, Ohio.

Background

Dr. C. W. Millikin

Charles Waldstein Millikin was a trained, licensed physician and very highly respected in his community. It's important to grasp this as we look at what he did with his training and license over a six-month period from October of 1920 through March of 1921.

The sixth son of Thomas and Tamar (Clark) Milliken, C.W. was born April 17, 1856 in Johnston, Trumbull County, Ohio. Milliken was an 1880 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He was licensed as an allopath in Ohio in 1896 after having served a residency at Harrisburg Hospital and Philadelphia Hospital in Pennsylvania. 

Millikin moved to Akron, Ohio in 1882.

In 1887, Milliken served as secretary of the 64th quarterly meeting of the Northeastern Ohio Medical Association. 

Things started going wrong when Milliken was around 64 years old, nearing retirement age.

He should have retired.

September and October, 1920 

Around September 23, 1920, Milliken performed a criminal abortion on 19-year-old Francis Karies (also sometimes spelled Kerris) underwent an abortion at his Akron practice. 

I've been unable to determine anything about Francis's whereabouts or condition in the following weeks. However, Millikin was keeping busy. He performed an abortion on Maud Sporn, alias Spohr, on October 2. She died in Akron on October 12

Though Francis had undergone her abortion in Akron, she died at Chicago's Swedish Covenant Hospital on October 23. The coroner recommended Milliken's arrest, but there is no record if any legal action was taken against him for Francis's death until, sadly, too much later. In fact, as far as I know, no authorities outside of Chicago seemed to take notice.

February Through March, 1921

No ill seems to have befallen any other women at Milliken's hands in November or December. Even January of 1921 got off to a good start. But things started going wrong in Millikin's practice in February.

Iva Jean Tripplett, nee Isner, 28, wife of Artie George Tripplett, 317 Bowery St. Akron. Millikin was 65 in 1921

Funeral services at Billows' mortuary chapel interrupted on afternoon of October 10. Family had been planning to transport Ida's body to West Virginia for burial.

Coroner Kent performed post-mortem.

Millikin filed death certificate indicating acute tuberculosis. Health department issued burial certificate. Coroner found Ida's lungs in perfect condition but found evidence of septicemia. Removed organs and preserved them for prosecution.

Artie said he hadn't know about the abortion until Ida took ill and told him. Four young children. "Doyle stated tat the death of Mrs. Tripplett makes four in seven days all from the same causes, and each of them charged against Dr. Millikin.

Milliken was free on March 1 or 2, 1921 when he performed an abortion on Iva J. Triplett at his home office at 365 E. Market St. in Akron. Immediately after the abortion, Ida took ill. Millikin attended to her until her death from septicemia and peritonitis at 7:00 on the morning of March 9, leaving behind a husband and children. That was the third death in a week reported to Doyle.

Florence Cobb

As Ida lay dying under Milliken's care, he performed another criminal abortion which resulted in the March 6 death of 22-year-old telegraph operator Florence Heath Cobb, wife of Thomas Cobb of Kenmore, who worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber. Died at Akron Hospital at 1:00 the afternoon of Sunday, March 6, 1921. Florence and Thomas had married only on the 22nd of the previous June. Her family brought her body to her home town of Salt Lake City for burial. Millikin arrested on the 5th while Florence was still alive, a few hours after the illness was reported to Doyle. Assistant prosecutors Scheck and Wanamaker visited Florence Cobb at City hospital on Saturday the 5th. She made a dying declaration saying Milliken had performed the fatal abortion. Her husband agreed. An autopsy showed that Florence had died as the result of an abortion. Florence, a graduate of the LDS University in Salt Lake City, had been a swimming instructor at Desert Gymnasium before moving to Akron, where she married Thomas Cobb on June 22, 1920.

"Doyle stated that when the first reports came to him he was loathe to place any credence on them inasmuch as the physician is reputed to be one off the best in Summit county and one, through his long residence and wide practice here has earned the reputation of being a man of high ideals." Had to order bodies exhumed.

"The physician who has practiced for 40 years or more in Akron and is well known to most of the older residents of the city and vicinity was arrested Saturday night when Doyle had been informed of the serious condition of Mrs. Cobb, and he was released on bond furnished by himself and A. G. Miller." Doyle wanted to await the April grand jury to present the four deaths.

On March 15, 1921, five more indictments were handed to the judge by the grand jury, for a total of seven at that point, some for the abortions, some for falsification of documents to cover up the abortions.

Louise Marie Vogt, 19, died of peritonitis on March 5, 1921 after an abortion perpetrated on February 26.

And what became of the illustrious Dr. C. W. Millikin after all of these deaths? He pleaded guilty for the death of Louise Marie Vogt in exchange for a suspended sentence, dismissal of the indictments for the four other deaths, and revocation of his medical license. Three judges, Anderson, C. P. Kennedy, and F. J. Rockwell pushed for clemency on the grounds that Millikin was old, a first-time offender, and an all-around great guy.

Judge Anderson further stated, "Courts have made the practice of late years of giving young first offenders that benefit of a parole, and we feel that this is a case where the court can do likewise. It is extremely hard at his age for this defendant to be in such trouble as he now finds himself in. This young woman was in trouble. He had treated the members of her family for 30 years, and when she came to him begging him to assist her he did so in order to protect her good name and that of the family. He is not really guilty, although technically he is. I have known him for a great many years, and have never known him to do an unkind act. The appeal of the woman in distress affected him, and he was justified, morally, in doing what he did. Although the publicity given him has caused the loss of his good name, he will always enjoy the confidence of his friends."

Judge Ahern chimed in, "Dr. Millikin has admitted his guilt, however, but on account of his past record and his many manifestations of public spiritedness the court feels that he is entitled to a suspended sentence."

Prosecutor Doyle merely commented that legally the judges had the authority to turn Millikin loose. His rather tight-lipped comments to reporters tend to indicate that he did not take kindly to the leniency granted to a man who had cost five young women their lives.

Milliken remained in Akron until his death from cerebral hemorrhage and chronic myocarditis on April 13, 1929. "Last Rites For Dr. Millikin To Be Held Tuesday," announced the April 15, 1929 Akron Beacon Journal. The notice sang his praises as a political and social figure. "Dr. Millikin's Death," published in another edition that same day, praised him to the skies: "In the death of Dr. C. W. Millikin this community loses another fine type of the old-time physician whose fifty years of service here spanned the interesting transit of Akron from village to city class. .... He was chief of staff of the City Hospital in 1915. He was a lover of nature and a member of the National Audubon society and the National Society of Natural Research Next to his professional work and his devotion to his friends, public service held his chief interest. This was expressed through his association with the Democratic party, of whose local organization he was often chairman. He sought no preferment for himself. Having no children of his own he sent many a student to and through college. He was a lover of children and of young people. One so kindly and gentle in character will be deeply missed in the circles where he was best known and highly regarded."

He likely was not so nearly highly regarded by the loved ones of Iva Triplet, Maud Sporn, Louise Marie Vogt, Florence Cobb, and Francis Karris. 

Sources:

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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.

Sherlock has  pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims.   But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:


Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.

at 12:00 AM 0 Speak to me!

October 23, 1913: Why Did the Midwife Confess?

Emma Bickel, a 59-year-old St. Louis midwife, was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of 19-year-old Emily Nohavec of St. Louis. Bickel had been a midwife for 28 years, and had a reputation for "uprightness" and honesty.

Grok AI illustration
Emily, age 19, was single, and had been living with her sister in St. Louis, where she worked as a clerk in her sister‘s vegetable store. 


The Desperate Attempts to Save Emily's Life

On October 18, 1913, Emily first reported feeling ill. On Monday, October 20, a Dr. Reber was summoned to see her. He diagnosed her with septic peritonitis. The next day, her condition was critical and she was admitted to Rebekah Hospital. There, Dr. Garcia was called in for consultation. Drs. Reber and Garcia agreed that an immediate laparotomy was needed to try to save Emily‘s life.

The doctors found Emily‘s abdominal cavity inflamed. A cyst about the size of a pear surrounded her left ovary, her right ovary was surrounded by pus, and there was pus in her fallopian tubes. The doctors removed these purulent organs and inserted drainage tubes.

Dr. Reber also curetted Emily‘s uterus and packed it with iodoform gauze. Emily‘s uterus noted an ulceration about the size of a hazelnut inside the cervix. The edges of this ulceration were ragged and torn, and Reber concluded that this was caused by instrumentation. Reber also believed that swelling near where the fallopian tube entered the uterus was caused by instrumentation. Reber believed that an abortion had been performed a week to ten days before he was first called to examine Emily.

Dr. Garcia, on the other hand, agreed that Emily had recently been pregnant, and that the pregnancy had ended at about two months, but noted "there were no direct punctures or cuts, scratches, or anything of that kind in the uterus, or in the abdomen." He agreed with Dr. Reber that the sepsis was caused by an abortion, but he disagreed about the abortion having been induced. Dr. Garcia concluded that Emily might merely have miscarried.

Despite the efforts of both doctors, Emily died the following day, October 23.

The Investigation

That same day, Dr. Hockdoerfer performed an autopsy. He made the same findings as Drs. Garcia and Reber, except that he also found a section of placental implantation about the size of a quarter. He agreed that retained placental tissue had caused the sepsis, but did not find any signs of damage from instruments. Emily had been in good health prior to her final, fatal illness.

While Emily was hospitalized, police officer William H. Coates arrested St. Louis midwife Emma Bickel and brought her to Emily‘s bedside. Coates testified that he asked Bickel if she knew the girl, and Bickel said yes, she did know her. Coates testified that he then said, "You performed an abortion on  her, didn‘t you?" To which, he testified, Bickel replied, "Yes."

Coates took Bickel to the police station where she made a statement. Coates wrote out the statement as follows:

Department of Police, City of St. Louis.
7:16 P. M., Oct. 22, 1913.

To whom it may concern I herein state that on or about October 13th, 1913, Emily Nohavec came to my house in the evening and said she was in trouble and wanted me to help her out. I told her it was dangerous for to do a thing like that, and she said, ‘You need not be afraid,‘ that ‘I won't tell on you.‘ I then inserted a catheter into the private parts and opened her womb. She then paid me about five or seven dollars; I don‘t remember which. She came back in two days, and I again put the catheter into the womb. She left, and I never saw her until I saw her this evening at the hospital.

The above statement was made of my own free will, and not by any threats or promises or violence to me.

[Signed] Emma Bickel.
Witnesses: Off. W. H. Coates; Off. David J. O‘Connor.

The Trial

Vintage abortion pills
When called upon to testify in court, however, Bickel denied having performed an abortion on Emily. She said that she never knew Emily until the girl came to her house, saying that she was "in trouble." Bickel said that she asked Emily, "How far along?" To which Emily replied that her period was two weeks late. Bickel said that Emily told her that she was married, and that she had taken some medicine to cause an abortion, and had also taken a box of pills. Bickel said that she told Emily, "Well, if you are only two weeks gone they ought to bring you by your next monthlies." Bickel said that she then sent Emily away.

Bickel said that about two weeks later Emily, who had still not given her name, returned, saying that she was ill, and willing to pay $7 for an examination. Bickel said that she used a speculum to examine Emily, and found her cervix open and exuding a foul discharge. Bickel testified that she told Emily to consult a doctor. She said that this took place about two weeks prior to Emily‘s death, and that she‘d not seen the girl between the examination and being brought to the hospital by Officer Coates.

Bickel testified that she had confirmed that she knew Emily, and that the girl had come to her house, but that Coates did not ask her at the hospital if she had performed an abortion. She said that she was taken to the police station, that Coates had written out the statement and told her to sign it, so she‘d complied.

Bickel said that she‘d never told Coates that she‘d inserted a catheter, that she‘d tried to discourage abortion, telling Emily "that it was a dangerous thing to do a thing like that." She said that she‘d only signed the statement because she was excited and confused and was merely doing what she was told.

Conviction

Despite her protestations of innocence, Bickel was convicted of second degree manslaughter. She was sentenced to three years in prison. She unsuccessfully appealed her conviction and was paroled in June of 1915.

View the video on YouTube: The Midwife's Confession

Sources:

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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.

Sherlock has  pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims.   But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:


Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.

at 12:00 AM 0 Speak to me!

October 23, 1913: Scanty Info from Chicago

On October 23, 1913, 22-year-old Mary Tureck died in Chicago from an abortion performed by an unknown perpetrator.

Source: Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database

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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.

Sherlock has  pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims.   But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:


Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.

at 12:00 AM 0 Speak to me!

Thursday, October 22, 2026

October 22, 2020: Contraindications And Infection From Abortion Pill

The FAERS report for a 26-year-old’s death indicates a sad story that should never have taken place.

“Dove” was on the antibiotic Clindamycin for a bacterial infection. According to the manufacturer, Clindamycin use in the first trimester “is not recommended unless clearly needed.” The FAERS report noted “maternal exposure,” “treatment noncompliance” and “contraindication to medical treatment.” Dove was prescribed medication that was contraindicated in pregnant patients, which is most likely why she underwent the abortion that took her life.

Mifepristone and misoprostol were administered for a chemical abortion. Around that time, Dove was also given a medication to prevent her from developing Rh-sensitivity. This indicates that Dove had an Rh-negative blood type. It is also a preventative measure to protect babies during a future pregnancy. Dove may have wanted to have a baby, but feared that her child had already been harmed by her medication.

On October 22, 2020, Dove died. She suffered vaginal hemorrhage and “toxicity to various agents.” Her death was labeled accidental.

It is not specified if any tests were actually run to see if the baby had been harmed at all. Either way, both deaths were needless.

FAERS Case ID 18768030


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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.

Sherlock has  pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims.   But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:


Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.

at 7:22 PM 0 Speak to me!

October 22, 1914: Second of Three Deaths by Dr. F. Waldo Whitney

Margaret Buetelman died in New York's St. Vincent's hospital on October 22, 1914. She had been admitted suffering complications of an illegal abortion perpetrated on the 20th in the office of Dr. F. Waldo Whitney. Whitney, age 61, was convicted of manslaughter in her death. He was sentenced to 2 to 19 1/2 years at Sing Sing.

Whitney had already been implicated in the 1913 abortion death of Annie Brassler.


While he was in prison, Whitney was sued by Margaret's husband, John, on behalf of himself and the couple's two children.

Whitney was pardoned in 1918 and regained his medical license only to perform another fatal abortion for which he was sent to prison in 1923. I've been unable to determine the woman's name. He was released from prison again in 1926 and died from a broken leg in 1927.


Sources:

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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.

Sherlock has  pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims.   But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:


Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.


at 12:00 AM 0 Speak to me!

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

October 20, 1921: Who Killed Annie Sczepkowski?

 

On October 20, 1921, 30-year-old Annie Sczepkowski died at Jefferson Park Hospital in Chicago from complications of an abortion perpetrated by an unknown suspect. Tillie Pawlowski was arrested, but exonerated by the Coroner.

Keep in mind that things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future. For more about abortion in this era, see Abortion in the 1920s.

During the first two thirds of the 20th Century, while abortion was still illegal, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality, including mortality from abortion. Most researches attribute this plunge to improvements in public health and hygiene, the development of blood transfusion techniques, and the introduction of antibiotics. These improvements happened long before legalization, and credit for them is due to those who improved both public health and medical practice, not to those who came along afterward and laud themselves for what others have done. 

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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.

Sherlock has  pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims.   But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:


Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.

at 12:00 AM 0 Speak to me!

October 20, 1971: Emboldened Quack Kills Second Woman in Six Months

Carole Schaner was 37 years old when she traveled from Ohio to Buffalo, New York, for a safe and legal abortion. to be performed by Dr, Jesse Ketchum. She had been referred by a local abortion advocacy organization, West Shore Center. Carole was divorced and caring for her four children.

Black and white headshot of a middle-aged white man with brushed-back dark hair
Dr. Jesse Ketchum

Ketchum was a former criminal abortionist from Ypsilanti, Michigan who had relocated to New York specifically to open an abortion practice. He had allowed another abortion patient, Margaret Smith, to bleed to death in his office from a hysterotomy abortion just four months earlier. 

Ketchum performed a vaginal hysterotomy on Carole on October 20, 1971. This is a procedure where the doctor cuts the uterus open just above the cervix to remove the living unborn baby and allow it to die of extreme prematurity. Carole was 14 weeks pregnant.

After the abortion, Carole went into shock, and was taken to Deaconess Hospital. Despite all efforts, Carole died before doctors could even fully assess the extent of her injuries. She left behind four children.

The autopsy found that Carole's cervix and uterus had been cut open, and an artery outside her uterus had been cut. It also noted sutures that had evidently been put in by Ketchum in an attempt to repair the damage. The sutures, however, completely closed Carole's cervix, allowing her to continue bleeding from the injured uterus and artery.

Another former criminal abortionist, Milan Vuitch, also had kept his nose clean as a criminal abortionist, then went on to kill two legal abortion patients. Wilma Harris and Georgianna English both died under Vuitch's care. Benjamin Munson, likewise, had a clean record in his criminal abortionist then went on to kill two women in his supposedly safer legal practice -- Linda Padfield and Yvonne Mesteth.


Sources:
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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.

Sherlock has  pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims.   But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:


Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.

at 12:00 AM 0 Speak to me!

October 20, 1877: Small Town Native Dies in Chicago

Nellie Ryan was described by the Chicago Tribune as "a comely brunette, of petite form, and a very attractive face, ornamented with large hazel eyes. She was about 21 years of age. Being the younger daughter in the family she was caressed and petted, but the family was poor and she was obliged to shift for herself."

Nellie first worked with her friend Barbara Hahn at the St. Elmo Hotel in Turner's Junction, Illinois before moving to Chicago at some point.

On October 20, 1877, Nellie died in Chicago due to a criminal abortion perpetrated two weeks earlier. The autopsy report noted "The internal surface of the womb showed no marks of violence, but was inflamed and in the incipient state of gangrene." Dr. Amelia Spork was arrested for Nellie's death but released by the Coroner's Jury. A man named Dougherty was sought by police in connection with the case, which was considered a double homicide.

Dr. D. C. Stillians went to Chicago's Madison Street police station and asked to speak with Lieutenant Simmons. He had been called to attend to a patient whose case struck him as suspicious. Detectives Gallagher and Lansing went to 162 Sangamon Street, as directed by Dr. Stillians. The place was a tenement house owned by K. K. Forrest, who also lived there. The detectives found the body of 21-year-old Nellie Ryan.

According to the Chicago Tribune, "She lay just as she died, save that a damp cloth had been thrown carelessly over the face to keep the features moist. The bed-clothing was soiled, and a pill0w-slip at the foot of the bed was found filled with soiled clothing and other cotton cloths. After viewing this not very pleasing sight, the reporter sat down in an adjoining room to hear Mrs. Forrest's story.

The reporter summarized her story:

Grok AI illustration
Nellie Ryan, the deceased, came to this house just three weeks ago yesterday. A young man accompanied her, and said he wished to procure a nice room for her, as she was his half-sister, and had been forced from the home through cruel treatment by her parents. Mr. Forrest had gone away for his health, and, having a spare room, Mrs. Forrest offered to rent it for $8 per month. He accepted, and Nellie came there that evening. Dougherty, for such the young man called himself, remained there off and on until the Saturday following, when he left to go to work, he being employed as a brakesman on the Northwestern Railroad, He was absent nine days, or until last Monday, when he returned looking quite pale, and saying he had been down sick....

In the meantime Nellie was also ill. The Sunday after Dougherty's departure, she managed to take care of herself pretty well. Monday, when Dougherty returned, she was quite ill. That afternoon Mrs. Forrest saw Doctress Spork visit the room; she did not stay long, and before going spoke to Mrs. Forrest, as they had known each other for some time. Nothing respecting the patient was said by either.

Mrs. Forrest says she did not know Mrs. Spork was a doctress until then. She made daily visits thereafter, but the patient seemed to grow worse. Friday morning her visit was a protracted one, and the patient never seemed to rally from whatever transpired during the visit.

At 7 o'clock she was very ill, and Mrs. Forrest sent for her family physician, Dr. Stillians. He came and prescribed, and at 9 o'clock he was again called. This time he reached the house just in time to see the girl expire. In all her conversations Mrs. Forrest says she told the same story of herself as did Dougherty. Never a word was spoken by the girl that would in any way tend to clear up the mystery.

Nellie's Friend Barbara

Police, and evidently the reporter as well, also spoke to Nellie's hometown friend Barbara Hahn, who worked at a nearby laundry. She reported that the village girls all "went with young Dougherty when they could." The meaning of "went with" is presumably understood by contemporary readers.

Barbara said that Nellie had told her she was going to get lodgings in Chicago, but hadn't said that Dougherty would accompany her. She said that on Friday evening Dougherty had rushed over to the rooming house where she stayed, telling her that Nellie was dying. As they hurried to Nellie's side, Barbara said, Dougherty told her that Nellie had undergone an abortion because her older sister had died in childbirth and she feared the same fate. According to Barbara, Dougherty said that he and Nellie had found a woman doctor to do the deed. 

Barbara reported that when they arrived at the rooming house they were told that Nellie had just died. Barbara said that Dougherty had uttered invectives against both himself and the doctor. He then telegraphed Nellie's parents and sister.

Nellie's father was, the Chicago Tribune said, "a rough, uncouth-looking Irishman, but appears to be as large-hearted as an Irishman can be. He is greatly shocked over the story of his daughter's shame, downfall, and death, and when taken to the room where she was lying, spasmodically raised the covering from her face, and fainted dead away as he gazed on her deathly features."

Dr. Spork

The detectives then rushed to the home and office of 52-year-old "Doctress" Emelie Spork, who had been caring for Nellie until Dr. Stillians was summoned. Nobody was at the house at 218 Indiana Street, but at the office, at 381 West Madison Street, they found the woman in question. Police took Spork to the West Madison Street station and conducted a search.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Spork's office was "quite neatly furnished," and "the detective found a case of homeopathic medicines, and, in searching a small closet under the wash-bowl, he found secreted an abortionist's entire lay-out." Spork, a Norwegian immigrant, had graduated from the Central Institute of Stockholm, "an institution devoted to the study of the diseases of women and children." She had come to the United States eight years earlier with her husband and two adopted children. She also received a diploma in medicine and surgery from Hahnemann Medical College.

When the Chicago Tribune reporter spoke to Spork in her jail cell, "She talked freely, on being assured that word of her arrest would not be sent to her husband, who, she said, was suffering from heart-disease." 

Dr. Spork told the reporter that on Monday afternoon when she'd arrived at her office there had been a note telling her to come to 162 North Sangamon Street. That was, Spork insisted, the first time she'd seen Nellie.

"When I arrived there I found her sitting in a rocking-chair, in a cold, clammy state. I at once ordered her to bed, and as she complained of pains in the chest, I concluded it was pleurisy. Accordingly I placed porous plasters on each side and ordered cloths wet with 'Groen Oile,' a Norwegian remedy, and Pond's Extract. She complained of nothing else until Wednesday, when she said there was a severe pain her her bowels."

Spork told the reporter that, being a homeopathic physician, she treated Nellie with aconite (an herb traditionally used to treat a variety of ailments), byronia alba (an herb used widely in homeopathic remedies), and cantharides (a blistering preparation made from dried beetles).

When the reporter asked if Nellie had been pregnant, Dr. Spork said that she suspected that Nellie was pregnant but that when she'd asked her patient had denied it. 

A reporter at the police station started investigating the case. Dr. Stillians said that Nellie had told him that she'd suffered a miscarriage, but Stillians saw evidence that an abortion had been perpetrated. 

According to the Chicago City Directory and Census records, Spork, a Swedish immigrant, was a physician. The May 21, 1874 Inter-Ocean notes that she was accepted into the State homeopathic Society. The May 18, 1876 Chicago Tribune notes that "Miss Dr. Helen J. Underwood read Mrs. Dr. E. Spork's report on 'Moto-Therapeutics,' which recommended the movement cure for many of the diseases of women and children, and regarded it as the best extant," at the State Homeopathic Medical Society conference.


The Verdict

At the inquest, held October 22, a coroner's jury reviewed the case and concluded that there was insufficient evidence to identify Dr. Spork as the guilty party.

I've been unable to determine if the mysterious Mr. Dougherty was ever identified.

Sources:

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Veteran pro-life investigator Kevin Sherlock asks people of good will to help him have Planned Parenthood prosecuted for profiteering from the rapes and incests of underage girls many thousands of times each year.

Sherlock has  pulled the police records of hundreds of cities and has pulled the child protective services records of multiple states to prove Planned Parenthood staffers are violating mandated reporting laws designed to protect girl victims.   But there is more to be done. Sherlock will make sure more and more evidence gets to federal and state prosecutors who care about protecting girls from abusers and profiteers.

If you would like to help, please click the following link:


Sherlock has talked to many girls and young women who trust him. Their stories and the forensic evidence shows most of them undergo pill abortions or humiliating invasive surgical abortions due to fear or ignorance or pressure or coercion. He treats the girls or women carrying children or devastated from their abortions as friends and neighbors in his home town, not afterthoughts.

Thank you for doing what you can to help girls and fight sexual predators and rape profiteers.

at 12:00 AM 0 Speak to me!
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