Ironic aniversary

On January 21, 1972, 26-year-old Kathryn Strong went to Civic Center Hospital in Oakland, California for a legal abortion that was to be performed by Dr. Harold Van Maren. During the procedure, her uterus was perforated. According to her medical records, she suffered extensive hemorrhage and shock. She died the following day, leaving a three-year-old son.

In a sad irony, on the one-year anniversary of Kathryn’s death, January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide.

Kathryn was one of far too many women whose pre-Roe legal abortion deaths should have served as a warning:
• Cassandra Bleavins
• Twila Coulter
• Margaret Davis
• Gwendolyn Drummer
• Janet Forster
• Doris Grant
• Betty Hines
• Denise Holmes
• Sara Lint
• Natalie Meyers
• Katherine Morse
• Maria Ortega
• Erica Peterson
• "Amanda" Roe
• "Alice" Roe
• "Amy" Roe
• "Annie" Roe
• "Andrea" Roe
• "Anita" Roe
• "April" Roe
• "Audrey" Roe
• "Barbara" Roe
• "Beth" Roe
• "Connie" Roe
• "Danielle" Roe
• "Judy" Roe
• "Julie" Roe
• "Kimberly" Roe
• "Monica" Roe
• "Robin" Roe
• "Roseann" Roe
• "Roxanne" Roe
• "Sandra" Roe
• "Sheryl" Roe
• "Tammy" Roe
• "Vicki" Roe
• LaSandra Russ
• F.S.
• Stella Saenz
• Carole Schaner
• Margaret Smith
• Cheryl Vosseler

Sadly, politics came ahead of women's lives. And women have been paying the price ever since.

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For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



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