Abortion in the 1940's

During the 1940s, while abortion was still illegal, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality from abortion. The death toll fell from 1,407 in 1940, to 744 in 1945, to 263 in 1950. Most researches attribute this plunge to the development of blood transfusion techniques and the introduction of antibiotics.



Still, some women still met their ends by holding onto the idea that abortion would solve their problems. Here are the ones I have for the 1940s:

Pauline Shirley, 1940: Dubious source, supposedly self-induced

Mary Ann Page, 1940: Fairly reliable source, physician implicated

Helen Clark, 1941: Fairly reliable source, amateur abortionist

Goldie Crow, 1941: Multiple fairly reliable sources, psychologist implicated

Agnes Pearson, 1941: Fairly reliable source, doctors blamed

Madeline McGeehan, 1942: Fairly reliable source, doctor and other medical staff arrested

Cleo Moore, 1942: Fairly reliable source, doctor blamed

Florence Schnoor, 1942: Fairly reliable source, unknown abortionist

Harriet Lichtenberg, 1942: Fairly reliable source, doctor indicted

Naomi Cogdon, 1943: Fairly reliable source, doctor implicated

Amelia Cardito, 1944: Fairly reliable source, doctor implicates self in stupid crook trick

Beatrice Fisher, 1945: Reliable source, doctor responsible

Ilene Eagan, 1947: Reliable source, dentist identified as abortionist

Jane Ward, 1947: Fairly reliable source, doctor charged, committed suicide

Doris Becker, 1948: Fairly reliable source, doctor pleads guilty

Roberta Danks, 1949: Fairly reliable sources, doctor tried to cover up abortion by dumping body

Dorothy Martin, 1949: Fairly reliable source, non-physician identified as abortionist

Here is a breakdown of who performed the fatal abortions I've been able to find information about:

Doctor - 64.71%

Amateur (No medical training, and not a professional lay abortionist) - 11.76

Unknown (Perpetrator unidentified, or perpetrator's profession not given) - 11.76%

Other Medical Personnel - 5.88%

Self - 5.88%

If we look at the cases in which I was able to determine the profession of the perpetrator, the breakdown looks like this:

Doctor - 73.33%

Amateur (No medical training, and not a professional lay abortionist) - 13.33%

Other Medical Personnel - 6.67%

Self - 6.67%



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

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