1901, 1948, 1988 -- Dead is Dead

On December 2, 1901, the body of Rose Lefebre was found in the Chicago apartment of Mary Volbending. It appeared that Rose had died from internal hemorrhage caused by an abortion. Volbending was arrested, but she was later exonerated by a Coroner's Jury. The perpetrator of Mary's abortion was never identified. 

Sharon Hamplton died
from the same injury
that had killed Doris Becker.

On December 5, 1948, Dr. Cyril B. Babb pleaded guilty to performing a fatal abortion on Doris Becker the previous Wednesday in his office. During the abortion , Babb reportedly admitted, he had pulled some of Doris's bowel from her body. This complication continues to happen in modern "safe and legal" abortions, including the death of Sharon Hamplton (pictured left, with son) in 1996. Doris, described in news coverage as a "blonde, 21-year-old Broadway model," died 20 hours later, on December 2, at the apartment of a friend, Anne Martin. Anne and a bartender, George Kutrones, were held as material witnesses. Babb also admitted to performing 30 other abortions.

On December 1, 1998, 22-year-old Tamika Dowdy stopped breathing during a safe and legal abortion performed at  Brooklyn Women's Medical Pavilion. Her fiance, Rudy Alston, was in the waiting room when a doctor began walking in and out, sweating and pacing, before finally telling Rudy what was going on. Staff at the clinic summoned emergency care. The medics worked to save Tamika, performing CPR, as Alston waited. He rode by Tamika's side in the ambulance from the clinic to the hospital. She  never regained consciousness, and was declared dead the following day.