Anniversary: Criminal abortion death in Massachusetts

On February 26, 1924, a woman not named in the Westlaw summary died of septicemia in a Massachusetts hospital. I'll refer to her as "Patsy" Roe. She had been hospitalized since February 11 from complications of an abortion performed on February 6 by Ida Cantor, whose profession I have been unable to determine. A jury found that Ida used improperly sterilized or non-sterile instruments in the abortion.



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

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