Wednesday, February 10, 2010

1957: Abortion by vet proves fatal

On February 10, 1957, veterinarian Ira Ledbetter performed an abortion on Alice Kimberly. Ledbetter used a veterinary instrument called a milk tube on Alice, causing lacerations and an embolism. She quickly died of her injuries, leaving her husband with five minor children to raise alone.

Alice's abortion was unusual in that it was not preformed by a physician, as was by far the most typical scenario. Still, it was performed by somebody with medical training, which was unusual but still more common than amateur or self-induced abortions.



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

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2 comments:

Jennifer said...

This is exactly why legalized abortion is necessary. If it's not, people will do crazy back-alley things like this. If abortion was legal then, Alice Kimberly might still be alive today. Her children would have grown up with a mother and her husband would not have been a widower.

Christina Dunigan said...

Precisely how did legalization help Edrica Goode, Karnamaya Mongar, and the other women dying nowadays? How did removing the fear that you'd go to jail for killing your patients motivate abortionists to take more care to protect their patients' lives?