Joyce Helen Ross, an unmarried 25-year-old woman from Spindale, South Carolina, lay dying in Shelby General Hospital in November of 1953. The young five-and-dime-store clerk told police that she had gone to Dr. Albert L. Ballenger in Aiken County for an abortion which had been perpetrated on November 6. She died on November 7 from hemolytic streptococcus and gas bacillus due to attempted abortion. Extensive uterine lacerations had given the infection easy access to her blood stream.
Police went to the home and office of 73-year-old Dr. Albert L. Ballenger to arrest him. They found "a beautiful 17-year-old girl on the operating table" when they made the arrest.
Watch Whatever Happened to Dr. Ballenger? on YouTube.
Sources:
- Death certificate
- "S.C. Doctor Held in Death Of NC Woman," Columbia (NC) Record, November 10, 1953
- "73-Year Doctor Is Charged With Performing Abortion," Greenville (SC) News, November 11, 1953
- "Aiken Doctor Jailed For NC On Abortion Charge," Charlotte (NC) News, November 11, 1953
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