Abortion deaths in 1970

The CDC doesn't publish abortion mortality data prior to 1972, but I did find this excellent chart from Physicians for Life. They got their data from the National Center for Health Statistics. I've assessed elsewhere how accurate the data are, looking at an intensive study in Minnesota and another in California, and though they're not 100% complete, they're not radically off, and the trends (falling except for the 1950s) are accurate.

With that said, here's the chart:



The NCHS noted 119 induced abortion deaths for 1970 -- 10 legal, 109 illegal. (Spontaneous abortions are miscarriages.)

I have been able to document 13 deaths -- all from legal abortions in 1970. This means the NCIS missed at least three deaths.

Denise Holmes died when bits of fetal bone marrow got into her bloodstream and were carried into her lungs. She was the first of at least a dozen deaths at one of Edward Allred's chain of for-profit abortion mills.

Sara Lint was the first death I know of at San Vincente abortion hospital.

Sharon Margrove died from a safe, legal abortion in California.

Katherine Morse, a Texas woman, bought an abortion tourism package to go to California for the abortion that killed her.

Maria Ortega underwent an outpatient abortion in New York; her doctor pushed the fetus through the back of her uterus into her abdomen without realizing that she'd done so, then sent Maria home thinking she hadn't actually been pregnant.

Barbara Riley submitted to a "therapeutic" abortion because of her history of sickle cell disease; the abortion triggered a fatal sickle cell crisis.

Carmen Rodriguez was subjected to a dangerous saline abortion even though it was counter-indicated due to her history of heart problems.

"Amanda" Roe travelled from Indiana to New York for a safe, legal abortion. She was sent home with the fetus rotting in her uterus, and died of sepsis.

"Judy" Roe went into cardiac arrest during her abortion, lapsed into a coma, and died days later without regaining consciousness.

"Kimberly" Roe went into cardiac arrest and died during her abortion, leaving two children motherless.

"Lori" Roe, age 16, was admitted to a Maryland hospital for a legal abortion that caused a fatal infection.

"Faye" S., age 16, was admitted to a hospital for a safe, legal abortion in 1969; she developed lingering complications and died seven months later, in March of 1970.

Pearl Schwier reacted to the anesthesia during an abortion at a New York hospital.

For more abortion deaths broken down by year, see this post. Or you can place them in the context of other abortion deaths in the 1970s, and the years surrounding the 1970s:



For more abortion deaths, visit the Cemetery of Choice:



To email this post to a friend, use the icon below.