Wednesday, May 13, 2026

May 13, 1972: Journey to Safe and Legal Convulsions and Death

Grok AI illustration
"Roxanne" was 17 years old when she decided to take advantage of New York's new abortion law, and traveled there from Michigan to have a first-trimester abortion in a doctor's office. 

The doctor gave her sedatives and local anesthesia to begin the abortion on May 13, 1972. But before the abortion could be started, Roxanne started to have convulsions and went into cardiac arrest.  

Roxanne was taken to an area hospital, but she was declared dead on arrival.  

An investigation into the case revealed that the doctor had exceeded the recommended dose of the local anesthetic. This is the same cause of death of Stacy Ruckman in 1988. 

The 1970 liberalization of abortion had made New York an abortion mecca until the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling that abortionists could legally set up shop in any state of the union. In addition to "Roxanne," 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:

  • Pearl Schwier, July, 1970, cardiac arrest during abortion
  • 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
  • "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
  • "Audrey" Roe, July, 1971, cardiac arrest during abortion
  • "Vicki" Roe, August, 1971, post-abortion infection
  • "April" Roe, August, 1971, injected with saline for outpatient abortion, went into shock and died
  • "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
  • "Roseanne" 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
  • "Robin" Roe, May, 1972, lingering abortion complications
  • Pamela Modugno, May, 1972, air in her bloodstream

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, 324.
  • "Maternal deaths associated with paracervical block anesthesia," Berger, Tyler, Harrod, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 118:8, April 1974, 1142-43.
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May 13, 1981: Multiple Professionals Let Barbara Down

Senior photo, Sanford Calhoun High School,
Merrick, NY 1977

A lawsuit filed by Frank Dillon, the father of Barbara Ruth Dillon, a 22-year-old junior at SUNY New Paltz, alleged that Barbara underwent a safe and legal abortion performed by Dr. Mark Silver at Long Island Gynecological Group on April 18, 1981. According to public records, Frank had already faced one tragedy after the other: he had lost his father in 1966, his wife in 1978, and his mother in 1979. 

The Pathology Findings

The tissue from Barbara's abortion was delivered to Idant Laboratory on April 21. Dr. Michael J. Klein completed a microscopic analysis. Both he and the histotechnologist, who performed the gross examination (visible without a microscope), found placental tissue but no fetal parts. The lab notified Long Island Gynecological Group on April 22. 

The pathology finding indicates that the fetus was still inside Barbara's body, either left behind in her uterus or implanted in her fallopian tube. It also didn't eliminate the possibility that Barbara had a double pregnancy -- one embedded in the uterus and the other in her fallopian tube.

Nobody from Long Island Gynecological Group contacted Barbara to inform her that she needed to be seen to determine where the fetus was, or specifically that she needed to be seen to rule out a potentially life-threatening ectopic pregnancy.

Fruitlessly Seeking Care

Barbara suffered pain and bleeding from May 5. On May 10 she finally went to the emergency room at Kingston Hospital and was treated with antibiotics by Dr. Kalyanasundaran Venkataraman and advised to see a gynecologist named Dr. Theodore Jackaway, the on-call gynecologist for the hospital, for follow-up care. 

Barbara was in severe pain later that day and began to vomit, so her roommates called the emergency room again. They were told to give the antibiotics more time. 

At 5:30 on the morning of May 11, Barbara was in so much pain that one of her roommates called Dr. Jackaway's answering service and left a message. Jackaway called back and said that he couldn't take any responsibility for Barbara because he hadn't seen her, so he suggested that she be taken to the emergency room. 

About three hours after talking to Jackaway, Barbara's roommate contacted a neighbor who called the SUNY health center. There, Dr. Johannes D. Weltin requested that somebody take her to the health center so that he could examine her. The neighbor drove Barbara to university health center at around 9:25 a.m. Barbara was unconscious upon arrival, with no respiration, blood pressure, or pulse. 

Dr. Weltin called the hospital and spoke to Dr. Jackaway, and told him that Barbara had blood in her abdomen and needed immediate surgery. Jackaway refused to see her because she wasn't his patient and he didn't want to get involved. Dr. Weltin tried to call Dr. Kirk for a consultation, which he refused to do -- though he did call Dr. Jackaway and try to convince him to treat Barbara.

Too Late

Finally at 11:45 that morning somebody brought in Dr. Venkataraman, who performed emergency surgery. Despite this final doctor's efforts, Barbara went into irreversible shock and died on May 13. (Note: I originally had an incorrect date, May 11, due to lack of clarity in the legal document.) 

It turned out that Barbara had an ectopic pregnancy which the clinic had failed to detect. Barbara's father sued Dr. Silver, Dr. Jackaway, Dr. Kline, and the Long Island Gynecological Group.

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. In Barbara's case, it seems that everybody in the medical establishment except the pathologist and the university physician utterly let her down.

Watch "Passing the Buck Leads to Death" on YouTube.

Source: Dillon v. Silver, New York Appellate Court 134 A.D.2nd 159 (1987)

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Tuesday, May 12, 2026

May 12, 1971: Sent Home to Bleed to Death

Anita's Journey

Grok AI illustration
"Anita" was a 23-year-old mother of two when she chose safe and legal abortion in 1971. She was 22 weeks pregnant.

She traveled from Massachusetts to New York for her abortion. She had not told her husband that she was planning on the abortion. She used a fictitious name at the facility.

A Dangerous Choice

On May 11, 1971 the doctor initiated a saline abortion by injecting a strong sterile salt solution into Anita's uterus. The idea was that the fetus would inhale and swallow the fluid, which would cause massive internal hemorrhaging and death. this would then trigger labor. 

Saline abortion was hardly a pleasant experience. The abortionist would remove as much amniotic fluid as he could using a needle and syringe. He would then replace the amniotic fluid with a concentrated saline (salt) solution that would poison and kill the fetus. The woman would then go into labor and expel the fetus.

Saline abortions became very popular in Japan following WWII. Within the Japanese medical community, however, word quickly spread: this method was unsatisfactory. Too many women were being injured and killed. Over 70 papers were published in the Japanese medical community reporting hazards of saline abortions, including at least 60 maternal deaths. The Japanese Obstetrical and Gynecological Society condemned the technique, and it was quickly abandoned. But the Japanese abortionists kept news of the trouble among themselves -- until Western nations discovered instillation abortions and embraced them with great enthusiasm.

Two Japanese doctors, Takashi Wagatsuma and Yukio Manabe, broke the silence. Wagatsuma wrote, "It is, I think, worthwhile to report its rather disastrous consequences which we experienced in Japan." Manabe wrote, "It is now known that any solution placed within the uterus can be absorbed rather rapidly into the general circulation through the vascular system of the uterus and placenta. Thus any solution used in the uterus for abortion must be absolutely safe even if given by direct intravenous injection. ... A solution deadly to the fetus may be equally toxic and dangerous to the mother. ... In spite of the accumulating undesirable reports, the use of hypertonic saline for abortion is still advocated and used ... in the United States and Great Britain. I would like to call attention to the danger of the method and would predict the further occurrence of deaths until this method is entirely forgotten in these countries."

As western abortionists gained experience with saline abortions, other grim reports arose. A British study published in 1966 found that the saline would enter the mother's bloodstream and cause brain damage. Swedish researchers noticed an unacceptably high rate of complications and deaths. Sweden and the Soviet Union abandoned saline abortion as too dangerous for women in the late 1960s.

For whatever reasons, American abortionists were deaf to these warnings. When New York had completely repealed its abortion law, doctors had tremendous leeway in abortion practice. In New York City in particular, it became popular to inject the woman with the saline in the office, then send her home with instructions to report to a hospital when she went into labor. This was, to say the least, a highly irresponsible way to use an abortion technique that was risky even when performed in a hospital under close medical supervision. Women started dying from these reckless saline abortions.

Sent Home to Die

Anita's doctor sent her home to expel the fetus with no aftercare arranged beyond a phone number. The next day, May 12, Anita's husband found her unresponsive on the bathroom floor, lying in a pool of blood.

She was rushed to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. An autopsy found a 630-gram fetus partially protruding from Anita's uterus. At this size, Anita's baby would have been about 24 -25 weeks of gestation. The placenta was still about 25% firmly implanted. A small puncture wound from the saline injection was also identified. 

Anita had bled to death on the bathroom floor.

Not an Isolated Incident

In addition to “Anita,” 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
  • Margaret Smith, June 1971, hemorrhage from multiple lacerations during outpatient hysterotomy abortion
  • "Annie" Roe, June, 1971, cardiac arrest during anesthesia
  • "Audrey" Roe, July, 1971, cardiac arrest during abortion
  • "Vicki" Roe, August, 1971, post-abortion infection
  • "April" Roe, August, 1971, death after saline abortion
  • "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
  • "Roseanne" 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 Just Another Mention in a Medical Journal on YouTube.
Watch Just Another Mention in a Medical Journal on Rumble.

Sources: 

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May 12, 1946: Second Death in One Year for Seattle Abortionist

SUMMARY: Irene Timmons, age 24, died May 12, 1946 after an abortion perpetrated by Seattle sanitarium operator Marjorie Folsom.

According to "When Abortion was Illegal (and Deadly): Seattle's Maternal Death Toll," Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project:

The Kingston housewife [Irene Timmons] was the second woman to die as a result of a procedure performed by Margaret Folsom. According to the brief article, Folsom who was out on bail for the Mary Johnson fatality, operated on Mrs. Timmons on May 8 and "the woman died four days later." Police charged that Folsom had established a new office "set up as an abortion mill" since her arrest two months earlier. It is not clear what happened to this case.

The Project cites a May 17, 1946 article in the Seattle Times.


The abortionist's name was actually Marjorie, not Margaret. 

The investigation concluded that Irene's abortion had been done with an instrument that had not been sterilized. She left behind three children.

Marjorie Folsom
According to the May 17, 1946 Seattle Star, neither Folsom, nor her co-conspirator Ada Pearl Wrench, was a doctor or even a nurse. "The trail of investigation led to an unmarked door in a downtown office building." This was Folsom's office. "When the raiding party broke into Mrs. Folsom's office, she frantically attempted to tear up her records, containing figures as well as women's names and addresses." 

Folsom, the Star said, had been caught in a sting operation when the prosecutor sent a female staff member to Folsom's office to arrange an abortion.

Both Folsom and Wrench pleaded not guilty. Folsom was found guilty for abortion and manslaughter in one of the deaths and sentenced to three years, of which she served ten months and the rest was deferred.

My sources: 
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Monday, May 11, 2026

May 11, 1907: Death of Newlywed Mom

Mrs. Florence Zeck Porter, age 18, was admitted to Saint Luke's Hospital in Chicago on Saturday night, May 11, 1907. 

In spite of doctors' best efforts, she died on Monday morning, May 13. 

An inquest held at the hospital determined that she had died from a botched abortion.

According to public records, Florence and her husband, Harvey, had only been married for a little over a year and had a young son.

Sources:

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May 11, 1884: Protecting a Deadly Abortionist

On May 11, 1884, a young woman who had given her name as Alice Brown died at the Chicago residence of Mrs. R. A. Hough. She was quickly identified as 20-year-old Lottie Hudson of Austin, Illinois. 

Lottie had gone to Chicago to live with a man identified as C. O. Owen, "a printer who already had a wife and family." He had been boarding with Lottie's mother, Mrs. Hudson.

Mrs. Hough insisted that she hadn't known anything about Lottie's background but had just taken her in out of the goodness of her heart. Lottie's mother visited her twice at Mrs. Hough's home during her illness. 

Lottie had sent two letters to her mother during her illness:

May 5, 1884
My Dear, Darling Mamma:
It is very hard for me to write, for I am very weak, but I know you would be glad if only to get a few words. I am getting along as well as I can. Won't be able to sit up for a week. I don't think I will write as often as I can. I will have to have some more money. Will write about that when I am stronger. Love to all, and May and Willie. Lovingly,
Alice

Chicago, May 8
My Darling Mamma:
Inclosed you fill find a letter for him [likely Owen]. I want you to send it to him immediately; you know his address. I am getting along very well now, though slowly. I sat up a short time yesterday. I can't write any more. I am all tired out now. Mamma, you write to me as 'Auntie.' I will be so glad to hear from you. My address is 'Alice brown, care of Mrs. R. A. Hough, No. 300 garfield avenue, Chicago.' give my love to every one, and keep lots of love and kisses for your own dear self. Yours lovingly,
Alice

On the day of the funeral, Mrs. Hough went to Mrs. Hudson's house and "was decidedly uneasy during the forenoon." At 11 a.m., Hough asked Mrs. Hudson to leave with her because the police would soon come to arrest them since they'd not called in a doctor to attend to Lottie as she was dying.

It was determined that Lottie had died from blood poisoning due to an abortion, believed to be perpetrated by a doctor whose name neither Lottie nor Mrs. Hough either could or would divulge. 

Lottie's family situation had been sad. Her mother had been widowed after her husband had dropped dead in a street car somewhere back East when Lottie and her sibling were very young.

Watch Protecting a Deadly Abortionist on YouTube.
Watch Protecting a Deadly Abortionist on Rumble.

Sources:

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May 11, 1915: Home Abortion Leaves 8 Children Motherless

Grok AI imagining of the family
Homemaker May Johnson, age 36, of Melrose Street in Chicago died on May 11, 1915 from a self-induced abortion "after advice from quack."

According to public records, May (also spelled Mae) and her husband, Frank, had 8 children:

  • Perlie, age 2
  • Helen, age 4
  • Mabel, age 6
  • Lillian, age 9
  • Erma, age 11
  • Leslie, age 14
  • Aletha, age 16
  • Fern, age 18

According to the 1910 Federal census, Frank was a laborer who did odd jobs. 

Sources:





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Sunday, May 10, 2026

May 10, 1983: Minimal information on New York death

The Blackmun Wall by Life Dynamics had a memorial entry for “Jaime”, who they only noted was a Black woman between the ages of 20 and 24 who died from legal abortion in New York.

Kevin Sherlock’s book, The Scarlet Survey, contained a matching case with more information. Jaime was 20 and from Manhattan, and she died of her legal abortion in New York City on May 20, 1983.

Women of color like Jaime are disproportionately targeted by the abortion industry— especially in New York, where more Black babies are aborted than born.

The little information known about Jaime was obtained through New York State Health Department records. The records on her death were run in 1995, and today the relevant data cannot be found on the NY Health Department’s website.

New York State Department Of Health, Bureau of Biometrics, Abortion Related Deaths, Resident Data (archived data, run on July 19, 1995)

The Scarlet Survey, page 221, citing New York Health Department (Jaime is Jane Roe of Manhattan 1983)

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May 10, 1960: Dumped Off the Highway

A Gruesome Discovery 

AI rendition of police at the dump site

At around 6:50 on the morning of Wednesday, May 11, 1960, the body of a young black woman was found in an uncultivated field just off Taylor Road at a spot about 100 yards off Highway 215. Found along with the body were a topcoat, a bundle, and shoes. In the coat pocket was a piece of paper with the dead woman's name. 

Identity and Cause of Death

The dead woman was 30-year-old Miss Corine Lyles of Jenkinsville, SC. She had worked as a domestic servant in Richland.

Dr. C. K. Lindler, who performed the autopsy and signed the death certificate, concluded that Corine had died the previous day from bleeding and shock due to a criminal abortion. The coroner's jury concluded that the abortion had been perpetrated the day Corine died.

The Sister's Story

Corine's sister, Mary Estelle Harrison, was arrested as an accessory before the fact. She stated that Corine had been pregnant and had said that she would "kill herself if she couldn't get rid of the baby." Mary told investigators that 54-year-old Daisy Brown Baxley said that she could "do away with" the baby. Mary said that she paid Baxley $45 as a down payment for the $75 abortion.

Perpetrator or Accomplice?

Baxley, who was also black, was arrested as the principal in the case. She reportedly told Chief Deputy Sheriff J. C. Harrison that she had only referred Corine to Viola Anderson Wheeler, age 44, for the abortion rather than perpetrate it herself. All the parties agreed that regardless of who had wielded the deadly instruments, the abortion had been perpetrated in the Baxter home, 305 Wilkes Road, Columbia.

Daisy Baxley's husband, 53-year-old Herman Baxley, was arrested as an accessory after the fact. 

The Baxleys were evidently a relatively well-off couple. The single-family home in which they lived was only about five years old.

AI image based on actual location of the fatal abortion

Herman Baxley later pleaded guilty, saying that his wife had asked for help dumping Corine's body so he had helped load it into his station wagon and drive to the dump site. 

Wheeler also denied having perpetrated the abortion. Despite her original statement that she had not laid eyes on Corine until after the young woman had died, when her case went to court she admitted that she had been in the room when Corine died. She also admitted that she had helped to dispose of Corine's body and pleaded guilty to her charges.

When the case went to court, Baxley again denied performing the abortion but did admit to having been present when Corine succumbed. She said that Corine "started foaming at the mouth and ... laid back on the bed and died." She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Herman Baxley, who was Daisy Baxley's husband, and Viola Wheeler were charged as accessories after the fact.

Herman was granted a divorce from Daisy in the spring of 1961. She was paroled on September 21, 1961.

Watch "Dumped by the Highway" on YouTube.

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Saturday, May 09, 2026

May 9, 1901: Was Bride's Death a "Life-of-the-Mother" Abortion?

Grok AI illustration
The marriage of Miss Jessie Wing, daughter of N. B. Wing, and H. G. Matteson of Chicago was beautifully solemnized at the residence of Rev. Dr. Thompkins, Thanksgiving day at 1 o'clock. .....

After the ceremony the wedding party was driven to the home of the bride's father on Union avenue where they remained until 7:43 and then took the train for Chicago. Later in the week they expect to make a trip into Michigan and visit with friends for a week or ten days, after which they will be permanently located in Chicago.

The bride is a very popular young lady of this city, having spent the greater portion of her life here, and is highly esteemed and respected by all who know her. She is a graduate of South Belvidere High school.

The groom is a promising young man of Chicago and is president of the Syndicate Book Co., on LaSalle street. Their many friends join in wishing them the best of success in their new life.

- Belvidere (IL) Daily Republican, November 30, 1900

The couple's new life didn't last long. Just six months after his marriage, Henry Guy Matteson would become a widower. 

At 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 9, 1901, 22-year-old Jessie May Wing Matteson died of peritonitis from an illegal abortion. She had been sick for about a week prior to her death. 

Guy was arrested, as was Dr. J.B. Butts, who was held by Coroner's Inquest on May 16. 

Jessie had been a teacher in the Witbeck and Hicks schools prior to her marriage. In addition to her father, she left behind her brother, Henry Wing; and her sisters, Hattie and Mattie Wing and Lucy Smith.

Butts held that while he did perform an abortion on Jessie, he had only done so because she had health problems that would have made childbirth dangerous. During their trial, the judge dismissed the charges against both Jessie's husband and Dr. Butts on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence for a conviction.

Watch Death of a Young Bride on YouTube.

Sources:

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Friday, May 08, 2026

May 8, 2009: A Paper Bag Is Not Medical Care

Antonesha Ross's family described her as a young woman who loved singer Keyshia Cole, wrote poetry, and had a laugh that lifted spirits. She had gone to Evanston Township High School and was pursuing a GED. She wanted to go to college. She had a new job lined up that she was to start in two days. She was working on building a better life for herself and her children, 1 1/2-year-old Antonio and 6-month-old Antwane.


The First Visit

On May 2, 2009, the 18-year-old woman went to Women's Aid Clinic of Lincolnwood, Illinois. She had an ultrasound performed that showed that she was13 weeks pregnant. However, she also had an upper respiratory infection, swelling in her throat, and tonsils described as "beefy red." 


To their credit, the staff at the clinic decided not to go ahead that day with an abortion on an obviously ailing woman -- making them far more responsible than the Planned Parenthood nurse practitioner who had inserted laminaria into the cervix of Edrica Goode in spite of obvious infection, ultimately leading to her sepsis death. Instead, she was instructed to get her throat infection treated by her family doctor.

Antonesha made a down payment for an abortion to be performed on May 8, at which time she would pay the additional $390 that was due.

The Fatal Day

Antonesha returned as scheduled. But the meticulous care from the first visit seemed lacking. Nobody documented checking to verify that the infection had been treated or cleared up.

Dr. Josephine Kamper initiated the abortion at 12:55 pm and finished at 1:00 -- a five-minute abortion performed in the second trimester. CRNA Lawrence Hill administered anesthesia. During the abortion, Antonesha's blood oxygen saturation fell to between 80% and 90%, and she began to cough up blood through her mouth and nose. Kamper or another clinic employee, rather than perform medical care, gave her a bag to breathe into.

Needless to say, this wasn't any help, and Antonesha went into cardio-respiratory arrest. It wasn't until 40 minutes after the abortion was completed that anybody called the ambulance. Medics transported her to Presence St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. She was pronounced dead in the emergency room at 3:05 pm.

A Devastated Family

Antonesha's aunt, Michelle Nicks, told the Chicago Tribune, "It was devastating. The family all met at the hospital where they had taken her body and it was just so bizarre, just to see her there. Still to this day, it doesn't seem real. I just can't believe it."

Antonesha's cousin, Janell Austin Tuft, had been with the family at the hospital. She told the Chicago Tribune that she had trouble leaving Antonesha's side even after her death. "I literally held her hand until her hand turned blue. They had to have security remove me." 

The Ugly Truth

It turns out that not only was Antonesha still suffering a respiratory infection. She had full-blown bronchopneumonia. By the end of the abortion her lungs were filled with fluid. This was something a paper bag couldn't fix.

CRNA Lawrence Hill, the nurse anesthetist, was disciplined and fined $10,000 for failing to "properly assess, evaluate, and treat" a patient who -- unless there was another dead patient at the clinic in 2009 -- was clearly Antonesha. Shockingly, Antonesha was the third abortion death Hill had been involved with. The two previous cases were settled out of court between 2004 and 2006. Another abortion patient under Hill's care had been left in an irreversible coma. It's likely that one of those deaths was Nakia "Kia" Jorden, was, like Antonesha, was not properly monitored nor resuscitated in 1998. The other was probably Maria Leho, who died of anesthesia complications in 1999.

Dr. Kamper negotiated with the medical board for her failure to properly evaluate an abortion patient -- most likely Antonesha -- and to assess and agree to Hill's anesthesia plan. She agreed to two years of probation on her license including requirements for monitoring and education.

State officials cited the clinic for their treatment of Antonesha as well as for 15 health and safety violations. Those included not having a registered nurse to oversee patient care, failing to properly track narcotics and sedatives, and failure to ensure "a sanitary facility with all equipment in good working order." Even though the procedure room hadn't been used for two days at the time of the inspection, inspectors found insulin syringes outside of their protective packaging. There were 28 vials of expired medication on the anesthesia cart. Medications and frozen dinners were stored in a biohazard refrigerator used to store fetal and placental tissue. Inspectors saw a recovery room technician take a paper towel out of the trash and use it to cover a tray used to serve food to patients.

Reaching for Justice

The facility was fined $36,000. However, the corporation's owners managed to avoid the fine by closing "Women's Aid Clinic" and reopening as "Women's Aid Center" with the same website, location, and phone number. 

Janelle Tuft commented to the Chicago Tribune about this evasion. "At the end of the day, there is a young lady that is gone, and she cannot see her children grow up, and her family misses her. And for us to not get justice -- for them not to pay the fine -- it's not right. It's just not right."

Her parents, Maria and Anthony Ross, sued on behalf of the children, and accepted the settlement of annuities offered by the defendants, with $475,000 to come from the clinic and $80,500 from Hill.

Antonesha was the third patient I know of to have died after abortions at Women's Aid Clinic. Kathleen Gilbert and Dorothy Muzorewa had both been sent home to bleed to death. 


Sources:
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May 8, 1986: Dying Woman's Screams Brushed Off

SUMMARY: Claudia C. Caventou, age 33, died on May 8, 1986 after a safe, legal first-trimester abortion at Mercy Medical Clinic in Los Angeles, performed by Dr. Hosni Nagib Fahmy.

On May 8, 1989, 33-year-old Hawaiian native Claudia Caventou went to Mercy Medical Clinic in Los Angeles for a safe, legal abortion. She reported severe abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, shortness of breath, dizziness, and nausea -- all clear indicators of an ectopic pregnancy, likely even one that has already ruptured. She reported that she had passed a bloody clump of tissue, which she had brought with her in a jar. 

Dr. Hosni Nagib Fahmy examined the tissue and determined that it did not contain pregnancy tissue. He attributed Claudia's symptoms to a possible miscarriage in process. He noted that Claudia had low blood pressure and pelvic pain near her ovaries, uterine tubes, and uterus. However, without checking his bleeding patient's hemoglobin levels or performing an ultrasound to verify the location of the fetus, Fahmy estimated Claudia to be 7 weeks pregnant and performed a first trimester suction abortion. 

After the procedure was completed, Claudia was alert and ambulatory, but about twenty minutes later she collapsed.

Claudia's boyfriend was in the waiting room during the procedure. Staff told him that everything was okay, and suggested that he leave and get something to eat. Since he'd heard Claudia screaming earlier, he decided to stay.

Several hours after Claudia had first been taken into the patient area, he heard the doctor come out and tell his staff to call 911. This was about an hour after Fahmy first examined Claudia.

Claudia was taken to a hospital where she underwent emergency surgery for what doctors thought was merely a perforated uterus. It turned out that not only had Fahmy poked a hole in Claudia's uterus, her pregnancy had been in her fallopian tube, which had ruptured during the abortion. Efforts to save Claudia were futile, and she died later that day.

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.

Fahmy and the Aftermath

According to immigration records, Fahmy is a native of Cairo, born in 1931, who came to the United States on December 1, 1968.

The California Board of Medicine learned of Claudia's death on June 22, 1989 when they were notified by his insurance carrier that he had settled a malpractice case. Fahmy blamed Harbor-UCLA for Claudia's death since they had failed to diagnose the ectopic pregnancy two days earlier and justified his failure to perform an ultrasound on the grounds that the facility didn't make this basic piece of equipment available. A three-year-long investigation resulted in the board revoking Fahmy's license for gross negligence, noting that Claudia was showing signs of "impending cardio-vascular failure" which should have prompted an immediate emergency response rather than a suction curettage. 

Fahmy appealed and got the revocation reversed. He was placed on a five year probationary status and required to take a course about pregnancy complications and to pass an oral examination on obstetrics and gynecology. He completed his probation and is showing on the California Medical Board website as still actively practicing in Los Angles. However, the publicly available phone number for his practice is no longer in service.

Watch Empty Reassurance as Woman Bleeds Out on YouTube.
Watch Empty Reassurance as Woman Bleeds Out on Rumble.

Sources: 

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May 8, 1981: The Fourth Death Finally Got Authorities Moving

Twenty-four-year-old Maura Morales was eight weeks pregnant when she went to Women's Care Center in Miami for a safe and legal abortion on May 8, 1981. When she was in the recovery room, her heart went into spontaneous ventricular fibrillation -- irregular heartbeats not capable of effectively pumping blood. Maura was taken to a hospital, but died that day. 

I asked Grok for additional information about this case, and learned about possible causes of the ventricular fibrillation: 

  • Overdosing, inadequate monitoring, or drug interactions during anesthesia for the abortion
  • Instrumentation of the cervix or uterus could  have caused a vasovagal response or fluid shifts, disrupting normal potassium or magnesium levels
  • An underlying heart problem

Other factors that could have contributed to Maura's death include lack of a defibrillator or properly trained staff to respond promptly and appropriately to Maura's ventricular fibrillation. Survival rates for ventricular fibrillation drop by 10% with each minute of delayed defibrillation. 

Maura was the fourth woman to die at the same facility. The others were Shirley Payne, Myrta Baptiste, and Ruth Montero.

Hipolito Barreiro

Women's Care Center was owned and operated by Hipolito Barreiro, an Argentine-trained doctor not licensed to practice in Florida. He was charged with manslaughter, witness tampering, and practicing medicine without a license in Shirley Payne's death. He was sued by Maura's widower, but it's unclear what role Barreiro played in her abortion. He ended up shuttering the facility permanently as he faced the lawsuits and criminal charges.

The string of deaths had already captured the attention of the Florida Abortion Council, a group of abortion clinic owners who organized to fight against health and safety regulations of abortion clinics. Their success in blocking regulation in 1978 left the door open for Maura's death. Their further success in 1980 allowed the quackery that killed Ruth, Myrta, and Shirley, along with other women who died from quackery in other Florida facilities over the years, including:


Sources:

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May 8, 1928: Chicago Mystery Abortionist

On May 8, 1928, 27-year-old Margaret Barnts died from a criminal abortion attributed to 39-year-old midwife Pauline Zickerman. The defendant was indicted for felony murder on May 15, 1928.

According to public records, Margaret had led a sad life. One younger brother died in infancy when Margaret was seven years old, another when when she was eight years old. She had one surviving younger brother. Margaret left behind an 8-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter, both the children of her first marriage, which had ended in divorce. 

Sources:

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Thursday, May 07, 2026

May 7, 1980: "Medical Indications" Abortion Kills Young Woman

Some time in early 1980, Marie Gibson, age 34, was admitted to Anderson Memorial Hospital in Anderson, South Carolina because of an intestinal obstruction. Marie was pregnant at the time. 

Doctors decided that an abortion would improve her condition. 

The abortion had the opposite of the intended effect. Marie's condition deteriorated. She developed respiratory distress system, then went into shock. She died on May 7. Her physician attributed her death to amniotic fluid embolism, but no autopsy was performed to confirm this.

Watch "Medically Indicated" Abortion Kills Mom on YouTube.
Watch "Medically Indicated" Abortion Kills Mom on Rumble.

Source: State of South Carolina, Certificate of Death, # 80-8427

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May 7, 1905: This Time the Mystery is in Peoria

SUMMARY: Hannah Calhoun died May 7, 1905 after an abortion performed by herself or an unknown perpetrator in Peoria, IL.

On May 7, 1905, 21-year-old Mrs. Hannah Spillman Calhoun died in Peoria, Illinois, from fever and blood poisoning attributed to an abortion.

At first, Dr. J. W. Parker and his assistant, Dr. John Peattie, were held in the death. Then the Grand Jury heard from Sophia Spellman, Hannah's mother. Her testimony, to the effect that Parker had only been called in to attend to Hannah after she had taken ill, was enough to lead the Grand Jury to exonerate the men, though they were reputed abortionists. Parker had been charged in another abortion, evidently not fatal, several years earlier.

Hannah's mother would not concede that Hannah had aborted the pregnancy, but said that if there had been an abortion performed, Hannah must have done it herself.

Note, please, that with issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, see Abortion Deaths 1900-1909.

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

Sources:

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May 7, 2020: Last Photo Before Dying

On May 7, 2020, prolifers outside West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa photographed a pale and weak woman being supported by a companion as she walks out of the clinic to a waiting vehicle. 

This is the last photograph taken of 29-year-old April Lowery before her death later that same day. 

Evidently April's companion believed that it was safe to drive her 59 miles home to Birmingham. She never made it there. 

Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue noted that April's autopsy showed that April had "led a difficult and tragic life." She appeared older than her 29 years. Calcium deposits were found on one of her heart valves. She had transverse scars across her left wrist, indicating at least one suicide attempt. This was a young woman who needed a lot of loving, supportive care. Instead, she was sent home with fatal injuries. As described in the autopsy:

There is a perforation of the left portion of the cervix below the cervical os. The perforation extends into the broad ligament with maceration of the lower uterine segment and vasculature of the broad ligament. This is associated with a massive hemoperitoneum (approximately 1-1/2 liters). The uterus contains an intact fetus (see 1068). 

In layman's terms, there was a hole in April's cervix that led to a severely damaged large ligament. The damage to the ligament included extensive damage to the blood vessels there. April died with about 1 1/2 liters of blood in her pelvic cavity. April's unborn baby was dead in her uterus. Operation Rescue provided an image illustrating the damage.

       Payne           

Operation Rescue concluded that the doctor who performed April's fatal abortion was octogenarian Louis T. Payne. Payne had been called out of retirement by the clinic operator. Gloria Gray, who had been unable to find a doctor to replace him. Payne, who reportedly would bring his little pug dog to work with him, retired again a few weeks after April's death. He voluntarily surrendered his license during the investigation. This move would halt any action of the medical board to look into his actions.

According to Operation Rescue, there was a criminal investigation of April's death.

Operation Rescue extensively covers the convoluted history of West Alabama Women's Center. They had a history of deficiencies such as failure to document that their doctors were competent, rusty instruments, and failure to ensure that instruments were properly sterilized.

Hemorrhage deaths from abortion simply shouldn't happen, according to a study published by David Grimes of the abortion-friendly Centers for Disease Control. Grimes long since stated that there was never any legitimate reason for an abortion patient to bleed to death. ("Fatal hemorrhage from legal abortion in the United States," Surgical Gynecology and Obstetrics, November, 1983) The articles states:

Deaths from hemorrhage associated with legal induced abortion should not occur. Yet hemorrhage was the third most frequent cause of death from legal abortion in the United States between 1972 and 1979.  .... Twenty-four women died from hemorrhage after legal abortion in the United States from 1972 to 1979.... Deaths from hemorrhage can be eliminated by preventing uterine trauma during abortion and by rapidly diagnosing and treating hemorrhage if it occurs.

To add to the tragedy, the clinic where April was fatally injured stands next door to a prolife pregnancy center where she could have gotten holistic help with whatever struggles she was facing.

The deadly facility was a member of the National Abortion Federation.

Thanks to Operation Rescue for these sources:

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