Wednesday, April 06, 2011

1969: Colorado doctor kills woman

On April 6, 1969, 35-year-old Mrs. Catherine L. Barnard of Arvada, Colorado, died of a botched criminal abortion.
Dr. Virgil Jobe, who was later also charged with performing an abortion on a 17-year-old Oklahoma girl, was convicted in Catherine's death.
He was sentenced to five years in prison for the Oklahoma girl's abortion. I have been unable to determine the outcome of any trial over Catherine's death.
Catherine's abortion was typical of criminal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.
external image Illegals.png
In the 1960s, we see the 20th Century downward trend in abortion mortality resumed -- until a brief upturn starting in 1968, when some states first started loosening their abortion laws. For more, see Abortion Deaths in the 1960's.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion.

Source: "Dr. Jobe Guilty, Draws 5-Year Abortion Term", The Oklahoman, October 25, 1969

2 comments:

Leslie said...

Republican Governor John Love signed Dick Lamm's abortion bill into law April 20, 1967 ~ one of the first, if not the first in the nation.

The law was for rape, incest and Life of the mother, if I'm recalling correctly.

Christina Dunigan said...

Without, I might add, any research indicating that abortion would actually benefit the women in question. It was simply assumed.