"Lena" had an abortion performed February 28, 1989 by John Roe 57, at what she had been told was two weeks into her pregnancy, which is odd since at that time pregnancy tests could not detect a pregnancy that early -- when the embryo had only just implanted. When Lena returned for her follow-up visit, staff told her that the abortion had been successful. On April 12, Lena went to the hospital due to severe abdominal pain. Doctors told her that she was five months pregnant. She gave birth to a baby boy on July 10. Sadly, the child died two days later due to respiratory problems caused by the abortion attempt. (Ector County Texas District Court Case No. C-88-212)
RealChoice
Preparing for a Post-Roe America
Friday, April 12, 2024
Tuesday, April 09, 2024
April 9, 1935: Newlywed Joins Ranks of Dr. Brewer's Dead
Dr. Guy E. Brewer |
- "Wickline-Gray Vows Monday," Enid (OK) Morning News, July 31, 1934
- "Graduate of Enid High School Dies," Enid (OK) Daily Eagle, April 10, 1935
- "Murder Charges Multiply On Philanthropic Doctor," Miami (OK) Daily News-Record, May 5, 1935
- "Fourth Murder Charge Filed Against Physician," Muskogee )OK) Daily Phoenix, May 10, 1945
- "Two More Murder Charges Are Filed Against Physician," Bristow (OK) Daily Record, June 6, 1935
- "Two New Deaths Laid to Garber's 'Sweet Grouch'," Muskogee Times-Democrat, June 6, 1935
- "Link Doctor in 2 New Deaths," Oklahoma News, June 6, 1935
- "Dr. Brewer Accused of Death of Logan Woman," (Guthrie, OK) Leader, June 7, 1935
- "Dr. Brewer Calm To New Charges," Miami (OK) News-Record, June 7, 1935
- "Dr. Brewer Gets Four Years on Plea of Guilty," Okmulgee (OK) Daily Times, June 8, 1935
- "Garber Doctor Given Four Year Sentence For Abortion Deaths," Muskogee Daily Phoenix, June 8, 1035
- "Marland Hints More Charges Against Doctor," The Oklahoma News, June 9, 1935
- "Mild-Mannered County Doctor Pleads Guilty To Six Charges of Manslaughter and Gets 4 Years," Nowata (OK) Daily Star, June 9, 1935
Sunday, April 07, 2024
April 7, 1896: A Cry in the Night
On the evening of Monday, April 6, 1896, Tillie Karcher heard moaning in the flat of seamstress Millie Meyers, just upstairs of her at 415 Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn. She listened again and heard a young female voice crying out, "Oh, let me go home to my mama!"
Alarmed, Mrs. Karchner sought out a policeman on his rounds, who went to the apartment and found a young woman there, ailing and alone. The girl gave her name as Mrs. Emily Scott and said that her husband, Ollie Scott, was a fireman on a Fulton ferry.
The policeman found prescription bottles in the room, so he copied the information from them and went to the pharmacy that had prepared them. The pharmacist said that the medicines were common ones used in treating fevers.
The policeman considered all these goings-on to be fishy, so he reported the situation to the precinct captain, who began an investigation to identify and round up everybody involved in the young woman's suspicious illness.
Around 5:30 on Tuesday afternoon, April 7, the young woman said that she was going to die soon, told the police that her real name was Emily Binney and gave them her address on Rutledge Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Emily's turn for the worse sent the police rushing for the coroner, leaving the ailing girl in the care of Minnie Meyer. The coroner arrived to find that Miss Meyer had abandoned Emily, leaving her to die alone in the intervening half hour.
Meyer was eventually apprehended and admitted that she'd helped 20-year-old Emily to seek out the abortion services of 33-year-old midwife Mary Schott and had herself been engaged to look after the patient.
A police officer went to the Fulton ferry house and managed to identify "Ollie Scott" as Arthur Robbins, who was arrested when he showed up at Meyer's flat to look for Emily at 10:00 that evening.
While the suspects were being questioned, Minnie said that Emily's baby had been born alive on March 21. Upon hearing that, Robbins burst into tears and told police that about four hours after the child's birth he had wrapped the baby in newspapers weighted down with a piece of iron and thrown it out a porthole in the ferry. He couldn't say if the baby had still been alive when it was tossed into the river.
Arthur Robbins then admitted that he had gone with Emily and Minnie to arrange for Mrs. Schott to perform an abortion.
Minnie Meyer was found guilty of manslaughter. I've been unable to determine the outcome of the case against the midwife.
Watch A Cry in the Night on YouTube.
Sources:
- “Criminal Malpractice,” undated clipping from North Towanda Evening News
- “Criminal Malpractice,” Courtland Standard, Apr.9, 1896
- “Four Arrests,” Bay City Times, Apr. 8, 1896
- “Four Under Arrest,” The New York Herald, Apr. 9, 1896
- "Caused a Rich Girl's Death," Salem (OHO Daily News, April 9, 1896
- “Mrs. Meyer Found Guilty,” New York Herald Tribune, Oct. 16, 1896
- “Died Among Strangers,” New York Herald, Apr. 8, 1896
- “A School Girl’s Fate,” York (PA) Semi-Weekly Gazette, Apr. 11, 1896
- “Robbins Goes Free,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Nov. 27, 1896
April 7, 1940: Self-Induced in Wyoming
According to her death certificate, Inez Stella Smead Harpham, wife of George Harphan, lived in Rowlins, Carbon County, Wyoming and worked as a housekeeper. The daughter of Marion and Nancy Driscal Smead, she was born in Lyons, Colorado in 1906.
On April 4, 1940 she was admitted to Carbon County Memorial Hospital. She was treated there by Dr. Myron L. Crandall until her death shortly after midnight the morning of April 7.
Her death was attributed to self-induced abortion with infection. She had been about 6 weeks pregnant.
Saturday, April 06, 2024
April 6, 1906: Malpractice Prompts Midwife's Suicide Attempt
SUMMARY: On April 6, 1906, 22-year-old homemaker Bessie Braun died in Chicago from an abortion perpetrated by midwife Julia Gibson.
Michael Reese Hospital |
Were there really wards full of women dying from botched septic abortions in the days before legalization? Dr. Julius Lackner of Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago reflected on what he saw there from 1900 to 1914. Five hundred women were treated at this charity hospital for septic abortions — both criminal abortions and miscarriages — during those fifteen years. Of those 500 women, there were only four deaths.
I have verified that two of them were indeed criminal abortion patients: Lizzie Orenstein and Bessie Braun.
Bessie's Death
Bessie, a 22-year-old homemaker, mother of two, and immigrant from Austria, died at Michael Reese on April 6, 1906. Both verbally and in writing, Bessie named midwife Julia Gibson as the person who had perpetrated the abortion, for a $5 fee, on March 20. It was hardly surprising that Bessie’s abortion had been perpetrated by somebody with medical training, since the majority of Chicago abortions in that era were done by either doctors or midwives, who ran thinly veiled advertisements in the newspapers.
Bessie’s husband, Abraham, testified at the inquest. He said that he had not known anything about an abortion until Bessie became seriously ill on Sunday, though she remained at home until Thursday, when she finally was hospitalized.
He also said that prior to her death, Bessie told him that she had written the guilty midwife’s name and address on a piece of paper which was in the bed at their home. Abraham found the paper and turned it over to authorities during the inquest.
Attempted Suicide
Gibson, who had been at Bessie’s bedside during the declaration, was being escorted out of the hospital by police when she asked to go to the women’s dressing room in the hospital basement. She was permitted to go in while a police officer stood guard outside the door.The officer soon heard a shot, then forced the door and found Gibson lying on the floor suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. She was admitted to the hospital for treatment and was kept both under arrest and under suicide watch. As she lay near death, Gibson confessed her guilt. She later recovered.
Not Her First Dead Patient
Gibson had previously been indicted for the November, 1905 abortion death of 18-year-old Dorothy Spuhr, who had died at County Hospital.
Watch Midwife Attempts Suicide, Admits Guilt on YouTube.
Sources:
- Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database
- Death certificate
- “Seeks Death to Escape the Law,” Chicago Tribune, Apr. 7, 1906
- “Midwife is Held; Murder Charged,” Chicago Tribune, Apr. 8, 1906
- “Wife Dead; Midwife Dying,” Chicago Inter Ocean, Apr. 8, 1906
- “Attempt at Suicide Fails,” Chicago Inter-Ocean, Apr. 9, 1906
Friday, April 05, 2024
April 5, 2001: Haley's Post-Abortion Journey Ends Tragically
Dear Lord,
I sit here alone with my thoughts wondering if you will ever forgive me. Why do I continue to fail you? I'm failing you because I‘m turning away from the precious gift of having a child. A child. A breathing, living, beautiful life that I created but too selfish to accept from you. Will you still love me as a child of yours? Will I still love me after today?On April 5, 2001, Donetta Robben‘s 22-year-old niece didn't show up for work. Her friend Rosa drove over to check on her, and her car wasn't there. Rosa called the girl‘s father, Edwin. Had she gone home to visit her family?
Edwin later said he just knew that his daughter was dead. He called the Omaha police, and he called his daughter's landlord. They went to the apartment. They found her body.
Though the coroner estimated that the young woman had been dead for several days, all official documents, and the young woman‘s tombstone, use the April 5th date. So will I.
In telling her niece's story, Donetta decided to use the name ‘Haley Mason‘ rather than her niece‘s real name. In respect for the family‘s desire to grieve privately, I‘m using the name Donetta uses. Likewise, I use the pseudonyms Donetta uses for friends and family members.
The official ruling was that Haley‘s death was an accidental overdose. Her family was stunned as the investigators spoke with them, revealing the discoveries made while looking into the young woman‘s death. Isolated words echoed in their minds: death, journals, death, pills, death, drinking, death, hurt, death, abortion...
Abortion.
The answers to how Haley went from happy-go-lucky college student to suicide statistic weren't in the official reports. They were found in Haley‘s journals, where she poured her heart out in the final months of her life.
The story of how Haley died begins when she fell in love with Todd. She found out she was pregnant and told him. He wanted her to get an abortion.
LeRoy Carhart's clinic in Belleview, Nebraska |
Haley wrote of Todd‘s attitude: "I must let him abandon me. He doesn't care about me. I know he‘s only agreed to pay for it to ease his own guilt."
Haley found the abortion stressful: the wait, the sounds, the crude and uncaring behavior of the doctor. Haley had been told to arrive at the clinic at 7:00 in the morning, but it was ten hours before she was finally on the table, ready for the abortion. Carhart walked into the room, clad in a dirty coat and glasses so smeared that Haley‘s friend, who had accompanied her, wondered how he could even see through the lenses.
Haley, in her fog of medication, tried to make a joke. "Don‘t hurt me down there?" she said.
While performing the vacuum abortion, Carhart spouted profanities. He told Haley and her friend that he was tired. He‘d been speaking in California the day before, and had just flown into Omaha that morning.
After the abortion, Haley felt violated, as if she‘d been raped. She also experienced continued spotting into January. She'd not been given a follow-up appointment, and didn't know if the bleeding was normal or not. She didn't want to go to another doctor, because she‘d have to tell him about the abortion, and that was just too painful to talk about. The bleeding was a constant reminder of the death of her unborn baby.
Haley told few people about the abortion: three close friends and two relatives. But she didn't tell them of her struggle to cope with the emotional pain. She kept telling herself that she‘d done the best thing. But she started punishing herself, and pushed away anybody who tried to love her. She didn't feel that she deserved their love.
Haley longed for a knight in shining armor to rescue her from the prison of her grief, but she no longer felt comfortable with men. She had to get drunk to be able to endure sex. And even then, it reminded her of the abortion. Todd came by at early hours, looking for sex. Haley submitted, but her heart wasn't in it. She no longer felt loved. She felt used.
The drinking got worse. Hot baths and quick jogs provided temporary relief from the anguish, but it always returned.
Finally, Haley could stand it no more.
First, she drank plenty of numbing alcohol. Then, she went into her living room and grabbed a precious photo of her late mother and maternal grandfather. Next, a bottle of vodka. A bottle of aspirin. An old prescription bottle of Benadryl. Haley washed the drugs down with the vodka, leaving the three bottles next to the photograph.
She went into the bedroom. She put her rosary around her neck. She set an empty holy water bottle on her dresser. She opened her journal to the day of the abortion. She lay down, head on her pillow, looking for the rest she couldn't find any more in living, leaving her family to sort out their own pain.
- Carol Cunningham, age 21, who shut herself in her garage, ran her car, and died from the exhaust fumes in August of 1986
- Arlin della Cruz, age 19, who hanged herself in the woods near her house in October of 1992
- Laura Grunas, age 30, who shot her baby’s father and then herself in August of 2006
- “Sandra Roe,” age 18, who killed herself using an unidentified means in April of 1971
- Sandra Kaiser, age 15, who threw herself off an overpass into traffic in November of 1984
- Stacy Zallie, age 20, who committed suicide in October of 2002
Thursday, April 04, 2024
April 4, 1985: First of Two Deaths at Hands of Gambling Addicted Doctor
Mary Bradley, an Alabama resident, was 41 and a mother of four when she underwent a 20-week abortion at the hands of Dr. George Wayne Patterson in March of 1985.
Soon after, Mary was losing blood. She was admitted to the University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile and her bleeding was described as “abnormal” and “uncontrollable”. Doctors performed a hysterectomy on March 28, 1985 in an attempt to save Mary, but she had developed a blood clotting disorder and respiratory problems as a result of the abortion. She died on April 4, 1985.
Like a disproportionate number of women who die in safe and legal abortions, Mary was black.
Less than a year after he killed Mary and her baby, Patterson perpetrated a fatal abortion on Janyth Caldwell.
George Wayne Patterson |
Patterson was shot to death in 1993 near his car outside of an X-rated movie theater. At first, abortion-rights groups treated Patterson's death as martyrdom for one who provided "vital reproductive health care." They never mentioned the two dead women. Police confirmed later that the killer, Winston McCoy, was a violent felon who was on parole after serving time for a violent home robbery and sexual assault. Patterson's killing had been a botched robbery attempt. News coverage revealed that Patterson was a rather unsavory character who had accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in debts to illegal bookies. His name gradually vanished from the Rolls of the Holy Martyrs among the prochoice.
Watch Deadly Doc Dies Deplorably on YouTube.
Sources:
- Alabama Certificate of Death # 85-10613
- Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences Autopsy Report # 27(A)-85-31536
- Circuit Court for Monroe County, Alabama Case, CV-85-54
Wednesday, April 03, 2024
April 3, 1935: The Second of Dr. Justin Mitchell's Known Deaths
Dr. Justin Mitchell |
The prime witness in Mary's case was milk wagon driver Stephen Zakes. He and Mary were planning a wedding for the upcoming May. On March 27, Stephen brought Mary to the Chicago office of Dr. Victor J. Neale. He then met with the couple together, telling them that Mary was between two and two and a half months pregnant. Mary began to cry and ask Neale, "What will I do?"
Stephen testified that Neale had referred them to Dr. Justin Mitchell; Neale insisted that he had simply told them they could go to some busy corner and find an abortionist.
Stephen and Mary went to Mitchell's office on the evening of Friday, March 29. Mitchell examined Mary and confirmed that she was pregnant. She was at least eight weeks along, Mitchell said, and if she returned the following morning at 8:00 he would perform an abortion. The fee would be $50. He assured them that there was no danger for Mary to undergo the procedure.
Stephen Zakes went to Mitchell's office at around 11:00 the morning of Saturday, March 30 to see how Mary was doing after the abortion. "She will be all right, she is in a little pain right now." Stephen went to see Mary himself and found her to be in excruciating pain, unable to even sit up. Mitchell insisted to him, "They are all weak after an operation of that kind."
Stephen escorted Mary home. She was weak and chilly. They stopped at a drug store for coffee and toast, then walked to a cab stand where Mary became violently ill. After Stephen took Mary home, she immediately took to her bed. Dr. Neale was summoned to examine her. Neale provided morphine for Mary's pain before leaving. Stephen remained with her until about 1:00 in the morning on Sunday, March 31.
Somebody brought Dr. G. M. Redman to Mary's home between 4:00 and 5:00 that morning. He found Mary in such grave shape that he immediately took her to his car and drove her to the hospital.
Mary was given medicine to contract her uterus but she continued to bleed so Redman contacted the coroner's office then performed a curretage of Mary's uterus. Her cervix had already been damaged, showing tearing and pus. During the curretage, Redman retrieved the head of Mary's fetus along with retained portions of the placenta.
Redman's care notwithstanding, Mary died on Wednesday, April 3. A postmortem examination concluded that Mary's uterus had developed gangrene due to the abortion, and that she had died of hemorrhage and septic shock.
- People v. Mitchell, Supreme Court of Illinois, 368Ill.399 (Ill. 1938)
- “Vote to Indict Physician in 2d Abortion Death,” Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1936