May 20, 1934: Third of Five Deaths Attributed to Dr. Justin Mitchell

SUMMARY: On May 20, 1934, 22-year-old Mary Schwartz died from complications of an abortion perpetrated by Dr. Justin Mitchell in Chicago.

Arranging an Abortion

Dr. Justin Mitchell

In May of 1934, 22-year-old Mary Schwartz told Marie Hansen, a coworker at the Illinois Meat Company in Chicago, that she was pregnant. The father of Mary's baby was Joe Henja, who was a foreman at the meat plant. 

According to both marriage and death records, Mary had a husband named Fred. Were they separated? Considering divorce? Or was Mary aborting her baby in an attempt to save her marriage? We have no way of knowing.

Whatever her reasons, Mary asked Marie for help arranging an abortion.

Marie told Mary that she would try to help the best she could. That same day, a Monday, Marie took Mary to Dr. Justin L. Mitchell's office south of Chicago's meatpacking district.

Marie had undergone an abortion at Mitchell's hands three years earlier, and, telling him that her friend “wants to get fixed up,” she negotiated a discount from the usual price of $50 to $30. Marie co-signed on a $25 loan, and lent Mary $5 “in dimes” from her own money.

The Abortion and Complications

The next morning, the two women again went to Mitchell's office. Marie waited outside during the abortion, then took Mary home with her to recover.

That evening, Mary took ill, so Marie called Mitchell and told him that Mary “was bad sick.” Mitchell told Marie to give Mary castor oil, and place warm towels on her abdomen to help with the pain. This did not alleviate Mary's pain, so on Marie took her back to Mitchell's office on Thursday evening and Friday morning. Marie told Mitchell, "Don't forget to scrape her. . . . and do a good job."

Hospital and Death

At 4:00 Saturday morning, Marie was very concerned and called Mary's lover.  Joe complied with Marie's request that he come right away and get Mary. He called his own doctor then rushed Mary to a hospital, where she died on May 20, 1934.

More Deaths Attributed to Mitchell

Mitchell had already been implicated in the abortion deaths of Ethel Vaughan in 1931 and Florence Jordan in 1933.

After Mary Schwartz's death he went on to be implicated in the abortion death of Mary Nowalowski in 1925 and of Alice Haggin in 1936, 

Context

Note, please, that with overall public health 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.

In fact, due to improvements in addressing these problems, maternal mortality in general (and abortion mortality with it) fell dramatically in the 20th Century, decades before Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion across America.

Sources:

• Leslie Reagan, "When Abortion Was a Crime"
• People v. Mitchell, Supreme Court of Illinois, 368Ill.399 (Ill. 1938) (The Mary Nowakowski case goes into some detail about Mary Schwartz's death.)

May 19, 1924: Second Known Victim Attributed to Dr. Lou E. Davis

On April 2, 1924, 26-year-old homemaker Mary Whitney underwent an abortion at the Chicago office of Dr. Lou E. Davis. On May 17, Mary died at St. Mary's Hospital of complications of that abortion. Dr. Davis was held by the coroner on May 19. 

Dr. Lou E. Davis

Davis had already been implicated in the September 9, 1913 abortion death of 27-year-old Anna Adler. She went on to be implicated in another four Chicago abortion deaths:

• November 4, 1928, 22-year-old Anna Borndal
• December 1, 1928, 23-year-old Esther V. Wahlstrom
• May 19, 1932, 24-year-old Irene Kirschner
• February 7, 1937, 27-year-old Gertrude Gaesswitz

In spite of these six dead young woman, David was never jailed. She was convicted of murder by abortion in 1934, likely for Irene's death, but her conviction was reversed by the Illinois Supreme Court.

She was implicated in an abortion perpetrated on 33-year-old Marie Cooper, a married mother of three in January of 1947 but I have found no evidence of a successful prosecution in that case. 

In September of 1947 Davis was charged with an abortion she has reportedly perpetrated on 22-year-old Mary Kaye in late August.

In August of 1947 Davis was performing an abortion on a 22-year-old woman who played accordion in a night club. The patient's hysterical screaming led the neighbors to call the police, who promptly took the woman to the hospital and Davis to jail.

In November of 1947 she was arrested on two charges of abortion and another of attempted abortion based on accusations from three young women, who of whom made their statements from their hospital beds.

Davis was finally stopped on December 14, 1948, when she was convicted of perpetrating an abortion. At that time she had six other abortion charges pending against her. 

A week after this conviction a criminal court adjudged Davis insane and sent her to Kankakee State Hospital, where she died Monday, May 3, 1954 at the age of 77.

Sources: 

• Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database
• Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database
• "Seize Husband and Pair Change Abortion Story," Chicago Daily Tribune, January 18, 1947
• "Woman Doctor Faces Charge of Abortion," Chicago Sunday Tribune, August 31, 1947
• "Nab Ex-Doctor and 2 in Loop Abortion Raid," Chicago Daily Tribune, September 4, 1947
• "Woman Physician Faces Three Abortion Charges," Chicago Sunday Tribune, November 9, 1947
• "Judge Urges Voiding of Woman Doctor's License in Abortion," Chicago Daily Tribune, March 6, 1948
• Death notice, Chicago Daily Tribune, May 8, 1954

May 18, 2001: Two Kids Left Motherless

Dr. Ronald Blatt

Cynthia Quintana-Morales, a healthy 30-year-old mother of two, entrusted herself to the care of Dr. Ronald D. Blatt at Eastside Gynecology in New York City. She reported for her abortion appointment on May 7, 2001.

The facility administered Brevital to sedate Cynthia, and she went into cardiac arrest. She was transported to Lennox Hill Hospital, where she died of anoxic encephalopathy on May 18. 

She left a 16-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter motherless.

Cynthia's husband of ten years, Andrew, sued Blatt and the practice, citing failing to use reasonable care, neglecting to heed Cynthia's condition, departing from accepted practices, performing contraindicated procedures, and lack of informed consent. Andrew asserted that his wife never would have consented to the abortion had she been adequately informed of the specific risks to her.

Blatt promptly closed the practice and reopened it as East Side Gynecology Services, effectively protecting his practice from financial liability.

Cynthia's husband settled with Blatt on March 30, 2008 for $1.25 million. Blatt's insurance covered the settlement.

Other women who died from Brevital mishaps include Susanne Logan, Kia Jorden, Melissa Heim, Donna Heim, Delores Smith, Gabriella Alonso, Venus Ortiz, Deanna Bell, Tanya Williamson, Suzanne Logan, and Debra Gray.

Watch Two Children Left Motherless on YouTube.

Thanks to Operation Rescue for these sources:

• Andrew Moraless v. Ronald Blatt, Index #13093/03
• Order of Compromise, Index #13093/03
• Order to Show Case, Index #13093/03

May 18: Happy Birthday Yamile Munoz

Yamile in the lap of her mother, Maggie Munoz,
with Mrs. Magaly Llaguno, Latin America Coordinator
for Human Life International

When Maggie Munoz learned that she was pregnant, she thought her only option was abortion. She was already an unmarried mother of four, and her friends and relatives told her that she already had "too many children" and that abortion was the "suitable solution." 

Ultrasound prior to the abortion revealed a normal 11-week pregnancy. 

Maggie underwent an abortion by D&C. After returning home, she was ill and depressed. 

Two weeks later, staff at the abortion facility called Maggie to tell her that the pathology report showed that the abortion was incomplete. Maggie returned to the clinic, where an ultrasound revealed a healthy fetus, still very much alive. But the employee told Maggie that there was "retained tissue" and gave her an appointment to return in a week for a second abortion procedure. 

Maggie didn't trust the clinic staff, and decided to go to her own doctor, who ordered an ultrasound showing a healthy 15-week fetus. 

Yamile was born May 18, 1992, perfectly healthy. Every day Maggie thanks God for her perfect daughter. 

Watch Happy Birthday, Yamile on YouTube.

(Source: Abortion Survivors [translation by Babelfish], from Right to Life League of Southern California, Fall 1992)

May 18, 2022: Suicide After Abortion Drugs

"Talia" was 26 years old when she went to an American facility for the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol on an undetermined date.

On May 18, 2022, Talia committed suicide by shooting herself in the head. 

Killed-by-choice cites FAERS Case 21177969 as the source for information about Talia's death.

May 17, 1876: Midwife Confesses to Fatal Abortion

Matilda Beringer, age 34 arranged for an abortion, which was perpetrated by midwife Johanna White at her New York practice in mid-March of 1876. 

Immediately Matilda began to experience severe pain so she went straight home and took to her bed. 

On Saturday, May 14, Dr. William Fayner was called on to care for her and found her suffering from peritonitis. When his efforts to treat her did not have the desired effect he brought in a second physician, Dr. Samuel Gluck, to consult. The two continued to treat her until her death on May 17.

Matilda's husband, Edward, told authorities the he'd heard gossip about his wife but that she had never said anything to him about the abortion. The police evidently had no reason to doubt him, since he was not charged as an accessory in his wife's death. When arrested, White admitted to having perpetrated the abortion and was held on $2,000 bond.

While looking for additional information about Matilda's death, I learned that While was implicated in the death of another woman, Mary Heinemann, less than six months later.

Watch Midwife Confesses to Fatal Abortion on YouTube.
Watch Midwife Confesses to Fatal Abortion on Rumble.

Source:

• "Death from Malpractice," New York Times, May 23, 1876

May 17, 1919: Unidentified Chicago Midwife

On May 17, 1919, 27-year-old nurse Gertrude Schaefer, a widow, died at Chicago's Wesley Hospital from septicemia caused by an abortion.

According to public records, Gertrude married her husband, John, in September of 1912, when she was 21 and he was 30.

At first police were told that Gertrude had committed the abortion on herself. However, during an inquest held at the hospital, police concluded that a midwife had perpetrated the abortion.

I have yet to find any sources that name the midwife in question.

Sources:

• Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database
• Death certificate
• "Hunt for Midwife," Chicago Daily Tribune, May 20, 1919

May 16, 2014: 18th FPA Death (That I Know Of)

An autopsy report tells the story of yet another young woman I know of now to have died after an abortion at that National Abortion Federation flagship: Family Planning Associates Medical Group.

To preserve her confidentiality, I have given her the pseudonym "Kyla Ellis."

Kyla was 23 years old and about 11 weeks pregnant when she went to Family Planning Associate Medical Group at 601 S. Westmoreland Avenue in Los Angeles for an abortion on May 14, 2014. Like other young Black women, she was at higher risk of death than a white woman would be.

The day after the abortion, Kyla suffered agonizing abdominal pain. Her partner, whom I will call "Benjamin," called an ambulance, which rushed her to Centinela Hospital. She arrived at around 3:30 that afternoon. Kyla rated her pain at 10 on a scale of 10. Bright, fresh blood was flowing from her vagina. She couldn't pass urine at all. Hospital staff used a catheter to drain her bladder of about 200 cc of bloody urine.

Doctors decided that Kyla needed more intensive care than Centinela was able to provide. Kyla rode by ambulance to Kaiser West Los Angeles. She arrived shortly after midnight on May 16. At first she was awake, but at around 1:40 a.m. her gaze turned glassy and she became unresponsive. Staff took her to the lab for a CT scan, but on arrival Kyla went into cardio respiratory arrest. All efforts to revive her failed and she was pronounced dead at 2:45 a.m.

The autopsy found her uterus boggy and enlarged. The endometrium (lining) had been scraped away. 

Kyla had bled to death.

She's the seventeenth woman I'm aware of to have died after abortions at FPA. The others are: 

• 1970: Denise Holmes
• 1984: Patricia Chacon and Mary Pena
• 1985: Josefina Garcia
• 1986: Laniece Dorsey
• 1988: Joyce Ortenzio and Tami Suematsu
• 1992: Deanna Bell and Susan Levy
• 1994: Christina Mora
• 1995: TaTanisha Wesson
• 1998: Nakia Jorden
• 1999: Maria Leho
• 2000: Kimberly Neil and Maria Rodriguez
• 2003: "Imelda Laurence"
• 2004: Chanelle Bryant

Watch 17th Known Abortion Death at YouTube. (I had not yet learned of the 2003 death of "Imelda" when I recorded this video.)

Autopsy pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

May 16, 1916: Was Dr. Albers Actually Guilty?

Anna Albers

On May 16, 1916, 25-year-old Lucile Bersworth died in Chicago's German-American hospital after telling authorities that Dr. Anna Albers had perpetrated an abortion on her.

She also mentioned a man named Fred Krause, so he might have been her baby's father.

Though Albers was held by the coroner and indicted by a Grand Jury, the case never went to trial. She was rather a respectable physician, at least as of 1912, so she seems an unlikely abortionist.

Watch Not a Lot to Go On on YouTube.

Sources:

• "Merely Comment," The [Chicago] Day Book, May 16, 1916
• Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database

May 15, 1972: Sudden Death from Hospital Abortion

Another researcher has a likely identity for the woman Life Dynamics dubbed "Wendy" Roe. Since I have seen no sign that the woman's family went public, I will continue to refer to her as Wendy. 

Wendy was 23 years old and 16 weeks pregnant when she sought an abortion at community hospital in a small North Carolina town in 1972. Wendy was black, which placed her at higher risk of death from safe, legal abortion.

Wendy's physician chose the saline technique, but overestimated the age of the fetus, and administered too much hypertonic saline. The saline got into Wendy's bloodstream. 

Wendy went into convulsions and developed disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC), a clotting disorder. She died within the hour before expelling the fetus, leaving two children motherless.

Sources: 

• "Fatal Pulmonary Embolism During Legal Induced Abortion in the United States from 1972-1985," Lawson, Herschel W., MD, Atrash, Hani K., MD, MPH, Franks, Adele L., MD, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vol. 162, No. 4, April 1990, p. 986-990
• Death certificate

1972–1978: Abortion, Not Cancer, Kills Leukemia Patient

As a leukemia patient, “Selena” was already facing a battle for her life. She didn’t know that her cancer wouldn’t kill her, but a “safe and legal” first-trimester abortion would.

Selena suffered from poorly differentiated lymphocytic leukemia and was discovered to be pregnant sometime between 1972 and 1978. She was likely scared and may have also feared the effects of cancer medications on her child. At the time, it was not uncommon for pregnant cancer patients to be told to have an abortion, so she probably thought she had no choice. At eight weeks pregnant, she was put through a suction abortion and surgically sterilized to prevent her from becoming pregnant again.

Leukemia weakens the immune system, making post-abortion infection more hazardous for Selena than it would have been for a healthy client. Instead of improving her prognosis, the abortion made her sicker. She contracted an infection, developed sepsis and did not survive.

Ironically, research later found that surgical abortion for pregnant cancer patients is not associated with higher chances of maternal survival at all. Today, well-established treatments exist for pregnant cancer patients and doctors are usually able to save babies while still effectively treating the cancer patient.

(Patient 3)