A March 6 Litany of Death

Filthy in Florida, 1985

Ellen Williams, age 38, died March 6, 1985 after an abortion performed by Chartoor Singh at Dadeland in Miami, FL. Her death illustrates so much of what's wrong with the abortion lobby that I'm addressing it separately.

Lingering Death After Safe, Legal California Abortion, 1969 into 1970

A 16-year-old girl underwent a safe and legal second-trimester saline abortion on August 26, 1969. At that time, California allowed abortions as long as they were performed by doctors in hospitals. A journal article on her death identifies her as "F.S." I'll call her "Felicia." Felicia developed an infection and symptoms of meningitis after her abortion. She continued to be treated for ten days before she was transferred to another hospital in San Francisco for further treatment. Doctors performed two heart valve replacements on Felicia, and had scheduled her for yet another before she died on March 6, 1970. The cause of death was severe congestive heart failure and pneumonia.

Abortion-Rights Group Cites Sources for 1967 Seattle Death

The Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project -- unlike most abortion-rights publications -- actually cites specific sources for their stories of illegal abortion deaths. For the March 6, 1967 death of Elizabeth Staley, they cite the Daily Olympian (March 8 & 9 and May 3 & 4, 1967) and the Seattle Times (May 5 & 6 and July 18, 1967). They also include a clipping from the March 8 Daily Olympian, "Manslaughter, Abortion Charges Filed Here In Young Wife's Death." The clipping notes that the investigation into Elizabeth's death had begun on March 6, a Monday, when Ronald showed up at St. Peter Hospital with his wife's lifeless body. County Coroner Hollis Fultz began in investigation beginning with an autopsy, showing that Elizabeth, who had been about four months pregnant, had suffered an air embolism (air in her blood stream) during the abortion. I've been unable to determine if the woman charged in Elizabeth's death was the abortionist or only an accomplice.

A Seattle Doctor in 1945

Beatrice Fisher, age 36, died on March 6, 1945 after an abortion perpetrated by Dr. Frank Hart in his Seattle, WA practice. Given the abundance of information on Beatrice's death, I'm devoting another post to her story.

The First of Two Deaths Attributed to Chicago Midwife, 1928

A typical Chicago abortion death in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was perpetrated by a physician or midwife at the practitioner's office. The woman would take ill and her family would bring her to a hospital, where she would die after naming the guilty party. Such was the abortion that killed 24-year-old Lucille Smith on March 6, 1928. Lucille, a store clerk and homemaker, died at Chicago's Burrows Hospital from complications of an abortion performed that day at the office of 68-year-old midwife Emma Schulz. Schulz was indicted for felony murder on April 1, 1929. The following year, Schulz was arrested after the death of 23-year-old Gladys Schaffer.

Second of Three Deaths Attibuted to Lima, OH Doc, 1921

The March 21, 1921 Lima (Ohio) News notes that Dr. Charles W. Milliken was charged with performing a fatal abortion on Florence Cobb. Ohio records indicate that Florence died on March 6 and was about 23 years old. It turned out to have been quite a month for Milliken -- or, more to the point, for his patients. Iva Triplett had died under his care on March 9. Milliken was held on $10,000 bail in each case, Iva's and Florence's. An earlier patient, 19-year-old Francis Karies, had died in Chicago in 1920 after undergoing an abortion at Milliken's Ohio practice.

An Unidentified Perp in Chicago, 1915

Bessie Wallace, a 35-year-old homemaker and Russian immigrant, died on March 8, 1915 after an abortion perpetrated in Chicago by an unidentified person.

Deathbed Implication Fails to Produce Indictment, 1896

On February 29, 1896, Dr. Jacoby was summoned to the Brooklyn home of Mrs. Lena Schott, variously identified as a midwife and as a "doctress" in news coverage of what was to follow. Jacoby had been asked to attend to Mary Gibson, a 22-year-old domestic servant. Concluding that Mary was suffering the effects of a botched abortion, Jacoby didn't want to deal with the case himself and instead had Mary taken to Bellevue hospital.

Once she was there, Mary gave a statement saying that Schott had indeed perpetrated an abortion on her. Since Mary was expected to die soon, Schott was arrested and held until Mary's fate played out. On March 6, 1896, Mary Gibson died.

During the inquest into Mary's death, things got heated between Schott's attorney, William Howe, and Coroner Hoeber, with the two of them bickering, Hoebner leaving the room, Howe pursuing him, and somebody having to bring the Assistant District Attorney in to referee.

Finally a police detective was able to testify that they had found Mary at Schott's house prior to her transfer to Bellevue.

Almost immediately afterward, Howe and Hoebner resumed their bickering, with Howe complaining about Hoebner's "confounded eccentricities" and Hoebner accusing Howe of owing "everybody" money. Howe countered that Hoebner owed the clerk $300. It looked as if the two were going to come to blows before the ADA managed to call things to order. The coroner's jury eventually decided to rule that Mary had died "from causes unknown," and Mrs Schott was released.