Early 20th Century Chicago: Two Typical Abortion Deaths

On March 31, 1926, 24-year-old Louise Maday died at Chicago's West End Hospital from complications of an abortion performed at an earlier date. Midwife Amelia Becker was held by the coroner on April 27.

On March 31, 1914, 24-year-old Frances Fergus died at Chicago's German Evangelical Deaconess Hospital from peritonitis caused by an abortion. Dr. James R. Struble was implicated but released after the coroner's jury inquest. Two years later Struble was implicated in the abortion death of Augusta Bloom. 

 These deaths are typical of abortion deaths in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the bulk were committed in about equal amounts by doctors and midwives.