November 11 1909, 1916, and 1929: The Death Cult Can't be Stopped by Laws

I have three Chicago abortion deaths on November 11:

In 1909, homemaker Marian Lang, age 29, died her home on N. 52nd Avenue in Chicago, from septicemia caused by an abortion. Dr. E. L. Pope was indicted by a grand jury. The source document does not indicate that the case went to trial. (Death certificate; Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database)

In 1916, 28-year-old homemaker Margaret "Elizabeth" Winter died at her Chicago home from sepsis caused by an abortion perpetrated by Cecelia Stejskal, whose profession is given only as "abortion provider." Census records indicate that she was a midwife. Though Stejskal was held by the coroner, the case never went to trial. (Death certificate, Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database)

In 1929, 23-year-old Mary Louise Kelly died in Chicago from an abortion performed by an unidentified perpetrator. (Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database)

Abortion was 100% illegal, but was advertised and perpetrated openly. People were getting away not only with killing the babies but with killing the mothers. We need to defeat the Satanic death cult spiritually and put the power to shut abortionists down in the hands of the women they lie to and exploit. 

Watch Defeat the Death Cult Lies on YouTube.

November 10, 1943: Mystery Abortion in Illinois

West Suburban Hospital

On Monday, November 8, 1943, 28-year-old Mary Hosang was admitted to West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, Illinois, ailing from a criminal abortion. The next day her condition was so critical that doctors performed an undisclosed surgery to try to save her life. 

Mary told Oak Park police that a woman "on 63rd street" had done the abortion, but she refused to name the woman. Mary said that she had told her husband, Elmer, a factory worker, that she was doing shopping while he waited for her in the car while the abortion was being perpetrated.

The doctor's efforts were in vain. Mary died on November 10.

Source: "Bares Abortion by Woman and Dies in Hospital," Chicago Daily Tribune, November 11, 1943

November 10, 1870: The Astrologer's Bad Prediction

On November 10, 1870, Eugenie Chauvet died "under circumstances that unquestionably indicated criminal practice. The coroner examined Eugenie's body the following day. He testified, "I found that her death was brought on by injuries inflicted on the womb." Eugenie's uterus was enlarged, indicating a recent pregnancy. The coroner believed that the two injuries had been caused by "a sharp pointed instrument."

He had examined some powders associated with the case, and concluded that they were morphine.

Simon M. Cohen, an astrologer, was charged with arranging the abortion.

At the coroner's inquest, Mrs. Julia Harvey testified that before dying, Eugenie had told her that Dr. Charles C. O'Donnell had performed an abortion on her. Cohen also testified that O'Donnell had admitted to him that he had perpetrated an abortion on Eugenie.

Frederick Downer, a carpenter, said that he had known Eugenie for about five months when she had asked him to arrange a room for himself at Mrs. Harvey's establishment. He saw Eugenie two or three times a week.

Eugenie, he said, became ill with chills and fever and took to bed at Mrs. Harvey's house, where she was visited by a man asking if there was a sick lady there. The person in question, whom Downer pointed out, was Dr. O'Donnell. After being there for about two hours, O'Donnell had sent Downer out to a pharmacy with a prescription for some powders, which Downer had obligingly obtained.

Downer said that Eugenie remained sick with chills and fever for about six weeks.

O'Donnell and Cohen were both charged with murder. However, the case was thrown out because it hadn't been ascertained that Eugenie had known that she was going to die when she told Mrs. Harvey about the abortion, thus her statement was inadmissible as a deathbed statement. Another witness for the prosecution was unable to testify.

A woman named Arabella Knapp was also involved somehow, was arrested, and pleaded not guilty. 

Watch the YouTube video.

Newly added sources:

• "The Abortion Case," San Francisco Examiner, November 18, 1870
• "'Dr.' C. C. O'Donnell," San Francisco Chronicle, December 3, 1870
• "The Chauvet Case," San Francisco Chronicle, December 4, 1870 
• "The Chauvet Abortion," San Francisco Chronicle, September 13, 1871
• "That Abortion Trial," San Francisco Examiner, September 18, 1871
• "Served Him Right," Idaho World, November 16, 1871

 

November 9, 1999: Teen's Death in Louisiana

Grok AI illustration

"Yvonne" Roe is one of the women Life Dynamics notes on their "Blackmun Wall" of women killed by legalized abortion. I have since learned her name and will use the pseudonym "Glynnis Fletcher." 

Glynnis was a 19-year-old student who died from sepsis on November 9, 1999 in at West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, Louisiana, after undergoing a safe and legal abortion. According to her obituary, she had lingered for a long time before her death.

Glynnis had been an All-American cheerleader and a member of the National Honor Society. The abortion intended to keep her bright future open for her robbed her of any future at all.

Life Dynamics cites the Clarion Ledger, November 11, 1999, and indicates that though they have information giving Yvonne's real name, they can not release it due to a confidentiality agreement.

November 9, 1988: Multiple Organ Failure After Safe and Legal Abortion

Grady Memorial Hospital

Demetrice Andrews, age 22, underwent an abortion on October 17, 1988. She became progressively ill, and was finally admitted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. 

Demetrice suffered multiple organ failure. This young black woman died on November 9, 1988. 

It is sadly ironic that Demetrice was admitted to Grady to be treated for abortion complications. Another woman, Jacqueline Reynolds, died just two years earlier, from complications of anesthesia administered for an abortion performed at Grady.

Source: Georgia Death Certificate #048642-88

November 8, 1994: The Three-Minute Abortion at NAF Flagship Facility

Eighteen-year-old Christine Mora underwent a safe, legal abortion at Doctors' Surgical Center in Cypress, California -- an FPA (Family Planning Associates Medical Group) facility. She was about 17 weeks pregnant and a high school senior. The date was November 2, 1994.

A nurse practitioner inserted laminaria (dried sticks of seaweed which absorb moisture and expand) to dilate Christine's cervix. Christine went home and returned the following day for the abortion. Dr. Thomas Grubbs performed the D&E and sent Christine to recovery.

Preparing to leave the clinic, Christine fell while unattended. Grubbs was called to check her, and noticed slurred speech and inappropriate responses.

Somebody called an ambulance, and Christine was taken to La Palma Hospital, where she spent several hours in the emergency room, attended by her friend Robert. When Christine's father was finally located, Robert had to tell him about the abortion as well as about the hospitalization.

Christine was admitted to the intensive care unit, where her condition deteriorated until she was finally taken off life support at noon on November 8, and pronounced dead. Christine left an 18-month old child motherless.

The autopsy showed acute septicemia and hemorrhage in the brain, along with some small cervical lacerations. It also revealed that Christine had a congenital heart defect called "foramen ovale," in which a connection between the two sides of her heart had not closed at birth as it was supposed to do. Her family filed a wrongful death suit.

Edward Allred

The attorneys for Grubbs, FPA owner Edward Campbell Allred, and FPA claimed that Christine had a heart defect and that it was this defect, not the abortion, that had caused her death. An expert reviewing the case for Christine's family said that the care provided to Christine at the FPA facility "fell below applicable standard" and that the "breach of standard care was the direct cause of Miss Mora's death." In particular, he faulted FPB because:

• Grubbs had never examined Christine prior to the surgery. In fact, he'd had no contact with her at all prior to beginning her abortion.
• "The anesthesia record says that Dr. Grubbs did the entire extraction procedure in three minutes(emphasis in original)," and that this haste caused the cervical lacerations.

The expert concluded that the amniotic fluid entered Christine's bloodstream through the cervical lacerations, causing her death. Oddly, Dr. David Grimes, the expert defending FPA, agreed that Christine's death was due to an amniotic fluid embolism and not to her heart defect. Grimes, however, claimed that the amniotic fluid had entered Christine's bloodstream when the placenta had detached, and not through the cervical lacerations. Grimes considered three minutes to be adequate time for a 17-week abortion. (Grimes had also spoken on behalf of notorious California abortionist Leo Keneally.)

The lawsuit had gone to trial, with Allred himself taking the stand, when prolifers discovered that Allred was being sued and complained that the medical board and news media were ignoring the death. As soon as the prolifers began agitating, FPA quickly settled with the family, stipulating confidentiality as part of the settlement.

Christine wasn't the only young woman to die from abortion at a facility owned by FPA head honcho Edward Campbell Allred. Others include:

• Denise Holmes, age 24, 1970
• Natalie Meyers, age 16, 1972
• Patricia Chacon, age 16, 1984
• Mary Pena, age 43, 1984
• Josefina Garcia, age 37, 1985
• Lanice Dorsey, age 17, 1986
• Joyce Ortenzio, age 32, 1988
• Tami Suematsu, age 19, 1988
• Deanna Bell, age 13, 1992
• Susan Levy, age 30, 1992
• Ta Tanisha Wesson, age 24, 1995
• Nakia Jorden, 1998
• Maria Leho, 1999
• Kimberly Neil, age 38, 2000
• Maria Rodriguez, age 22, 2000
• Chanelle Bryant, age 22, 2004
• "Kyla Ellis," age 23, 2014

Allred's facilities remain members of the National Abortion Federation despite these deaths.

Watch the YouTube video.

Sources:

• California Certificate of Death # 94-180853
• Orange County Coroner's Report # 94-06863-AB
• "Mega-Abortionist Settles in a Hurry," San Diego News Notes, May 1997

November 8, 1879: "A Rather Mysterious Sort of Rookery"

Mr. and Mrs. William J.F. Bullerman ran "a rather mysterious sort of rookery" in Chicago. On November 5, 1879 police discovered a woman named Elizabeth Foley, aka Sarah Monshan, seriously ill with septicemia at that "rookery."

Police suspected that an abortion had probably been perpetrated by Dr. Franklin Brooks, "who, a few years ago, was awarded six years at Joliet for abortion." Elizabeth's sister, Mary Monshan, was also held as an accessory. 

They took Elizabeth to Cook County Hospital, where she died on November 8. To the end, Elizabeth denied having undergone an abortion. She insisted that she'd given birth and that her sister, Mary, and taken the child to their mother's home in Greenbaugh, Wisconsin. Mary denied this, and her employer told police that she'd not been out of town at all.

The post-mortem examination showed that Elizabeth had indeed died from an abortion. The Bullermans were easy enough to find and charge with a crime, since they were in the county lock-up for stealing $250 in gas.

As for Brooks, even after getting out of Joliet for abortion, and after Elizabeth's death, continued to practice in Chicago. On December 22, 1891, a Swedish girl named Tillie Thom was found dead from an abortion at Brooks' office.

Watch Abortion at the Mysterious Rookery on YouTube.

Sources:

• Untitled clipping, The Inter Ocean, November 5, 1879
• "Dying From Malpractice," The Inter-Ocean," November 8, 1879
• "Pre-Natal Murder," The Chicago Tribune, November 9, 1879
• "Local News," The Chicago Tribune, November 10, 1879
• "The Abortionists Victim," The Inter-Ocean, November10, 1879

November 7, 1979: Happy Birthday to "Kimala's" Baby

John Roe 481 performed an abortion on "Kimala" in March of 1979. 

On November 7 she gave birth to an infant daughter born disfigured and with cerebral palsy. 

Source: Cook County Illinois Circuit Court Case No. 81L 26210

November 7, 1953: Doc Arrested When About to Repeat Crime

On November 6, 1953, Joyce Helen Ross, an unmarried 25-year-old woman from Spindale, North 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, a 73-year-old general practitioner in Aiken County, South Carolina, for an abortion which had been perpetrated that day. 

Joyce 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.

Grok AI illustration of Ballenger's arrest

Police went to Ballenger's home to arrest him. In his home he had room dedicated to his medical practice, with a makeshift operating table and outdated medical supplies. He had no running water, no means of properly sterilizing instruments, and no recovery area. When police arrived, they found "a beautiful 17-year-old girl on the operating table." The girl was taken to a hospital for examination and aftercare.

A search of Ballenger's home found records showing records of dozens of abortions perpetrated on women, many from out-of-state. He charged $100 to $200 ($1,100 - $2,200 in 2025) for an abortion. He had graduated from The Medical College of South Carolina in 1905 and practiced for nearly 50 years before crossing paths with the unfortunate Joyce Ross. 

Ballenger was indicted for manslaughter in November of 1953. His three-day trial started on January 12, 1954. The defense claimed that Ballenger was providing aftercare for a miscarriage. The prosecution said that the lacerations in Joyce's uterus had been caused by instruments. Ballenger was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to five years in the South Carolina Penitentiary. Citing Ballenger's age and lack of prior arrests, the judge suspended the sentence to a three year probation and a $1,000 fine. Ballenger was released pending appeal but died of a heart attack in March of 1954 before the case could be retried.

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
• Grok AI summary, October 25, 2025

1980: Minimal Information On Michigan Woman’s Death

Kevin Sherlock’s data analysis and research in The Scarlet Survey recorded the death of a woman he called “Jane Roe of Michigan” and who will be referred to here as “Michelle” Roe.

Michelle was recorded in state statistics as having died from an abortion. However, her death was apparently not reported to NCHS as abortion-related, and Sherlock noted that this makes it unlikely that the CDC counted her death in their annual statistics.

Because of the way the state recorded Michelle’s death, no further information is known.

November 6, 1914: An Unknown Perpetrator

On November 6, 1914, 25-year-old Genevieve Tatar died at Cook County Hospital in Chicago from complications of an abortion performed by an unknown perpetrator.

Source: Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database

November 6, 1919: Unable to Undo the Damage

On November 6, 1919, 28-year-old Ms. Anna "Annie" Merriman died in Union Hospital in New Philadelphia, Ohio.  

Grok AI rendition

Dr. C. L. Tinker testified that a man had come to his office on November 2 asking him to come quickly to Annie's bedside. Dr. Tinker found her deathly ill, with her heart racing at a staggering pulse rate of 190. Annie told him that she was ailing because of an abortion that had been performed by 66-year-old Dr. L. H. Hughes at his practice in Dennison, Ohio.

Dr. Tinker told Annie that her only hope of survival was to be hospitalized, and she consented. She was admitted to Union Hospital in Tuscarawas County. The next day she told a hospital employee that she'd gotten pregnant by a friend, rather than by her husband, Roy, from whom she had been separated for about two years. She had only been 16 years old when they had married. 

Annie also told this woman, in front of two other witnesses, about the abortion, saying that he had been performed on October 25.

Annie's condition never improved, and she died at 7 p.m. on November 6. She left behind three children. 

Two physicians who performed a post-mortem examination concluded that Annie had died of general septic peritonitis from the abortion. Hughes was arrested in her death and released on $2,000 bail. He was able to get trial postponements due to difficulty in locating witnesses. The case was eventually dismissed, leaving it open to pursue later.

Watch the YouTube video.

Sources:

• Death certificate
• "Woman Dies at Union Hospital Thursday Night," (New Philadelphia, OH) Daily Times, November 7, 1919
• "Doctor Held in Death of Local Woman," Dennison (OH) Daily Times, December 9, 1919
• "$2000 Bond is Required of Physician," Daily Times, December 10, 1919
• "Doctor's Trial is Postponed; Seek Witness," Daily Times, February 28, 1920
• "Dennison Doctor Goes on Trial on a Serious Charge," Coshockton Tribune, November 16, 1920
• "Indictment is Nolled," Cincinnati Enquirer, November 16, 1920

November 5, 1939: No New Information on Bronx Death

On November 5, 1939, 22-year-old Jean Johnson of Bristow St., New York, died at Fordham Hospital in the Bronx.

Jean died from septic endometritis, perforation of the uterus, and pelvic peritonitis due to a criminal abortion.

I've been unable to learn any more information about this young woman's tragic death.

November 4, 1977: What the Hell Was He Thinking?

Louchrisser Jackson, a 23-year-old married homemaker and mother of five, was 12 weeks pregnant when she went to Dr. Robert L. Gardner for a safe and legal abortion at Reproductive Services in Dallas on November 4, 1977.

According to public records, Louchrisser had lead a tragic life. Her father had died when she was only 2 years old, her mother died when she was 16, and her half-brother died when she was 19. As a young black woman, Louchrisser was also at higher risk of death from an abortion than a white woman.

After the abortion, Louchrisser began hemorrhaging. Gardner said that he ordered blood for a transfusion, but it didn't arrive so about an hour before her death he attempted to give her a transfusion with his own blood -- which turned out to be an incompatible type.

A private ambulance was called but was not informed of the nature of the transport. In that jurisdiction, private ambulances are only permitted to transport stable patients; they are prohibited from responding to emergency calls. Because the ambulance service had no reason to expect an emergency, they did not respond promptly, nor did they refer the transport to the fire department's ambulance service.

When the ambulance crew arrived, Louchrisser had gone into cardiac arrest. The crew, upon discovering that they'd been called for an emergency transport, rushed Louchrisser to the hospital immediately rather than calling for a fire department ambulance.

Louchrisser was transferred to Oak Cliff Medical and Surgical Hospital, where she died that day. Gardner requested that the body be released without an inquiry. Another physician at the hospital learned of the case and requested an inquiry.

The autopsy found massive hemorrhage of at least two liters of blood, and a "1.8 x 2 cm. ragged perforation in the right lateral wall just above the internal os of the cervical canal. This perforation communicates freely with the retroperitoneal space on the right side. The endometrial surface of the uterus is ragged and hemorrhagic." Death was attributed to "massive retroperitoneal hemorrhage due to perforation of the uterus during a therapeutic abortion."

After another patient, 21-year-old Claudia L., petitioned the state to close the clinic, it was revealed that:

• The clinic was allowing counselors with no medical degree to give medical advice and perform medical procedures.
• Staff were not informing patients of risks.
• There was not emergency equipment on hand.

Gardner himself testified against the clinic, stating that they ran "an assembly-line operation." "Gardner admitted the clinic took only one or two minutes between operations, and used black-tarnished surgical instruments and 'switched sterile gloves between operations but never scrubbed down.'"

Watch the YouTube video.

Sources:

• Texas death certificate #32309
• Dallas Times Herald June 20, 1978
• Dallas Morning News June 20, 1978; 
• Texas Autopsy Report No. 2262-77-1103
• "A Dallas abortion turns to gruesome death," Dallas Morning News July 28, 1978
• Autopsy Report Case No. 2262-77-1103
• "Injunction issued to halt activity at abortion clinic," Dallas Morning News, June 23, 1978

November 4, 1928: Third of Six Dead Woman Attributed to Dr. Davis

                 Dr. Lou E. Davis                    

On November 4, 1928, 22-year-old Norwegian immigrant Anna Borndal died at the office of Dr. Lou E. Davis of Chicago, from complications of an abortion performed there that day. Davis was held by the coroner for unintentional manslaughter. She was indicted by a grand jury for homicide.

Anna's abortion was typical of illegal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.

Anna was not the only women to have died at the hands of Dr. Davis.  

Davis had already been implicated in the 1913 abortion death of 27-year-old Anna Adler and the 1924 abortion death of 26-year-old homemaker Mary Whitney. 

On December 1, 1928, yet another Davis patient, 23-year-old Esther V. Wahlstrom died from an abortion. This time Davis was at last convicted for her crime. she was free before long, however, and on May 19, 1932, 24-year-old Irene Kirschner died after an abortion perpetrated by Davis, who later faced three trials in three years over the February 7, 1934 abortion death of Gertrude Gaesswitz.

According to AI research by Grok, Illinois revoked Davis's medical license in 1937. Davis then relocated to Indiana and practiced under a false name until her death in 1945.

During the first two thirds of the 20th Century, while abortion was still illegal, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality, including mortality from abortion. Most researches attribute this plunge to improvements in public health and hygiene, the development of blood transfusion techniques, and the introduction of antibiotics. Learn more here.

Watch The Bloody Hands of Dr. Lou Davis on YouTube.

Source: Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database

November 3, 1876: Third Death Attributed to New York Midwife

While I was looking for more information about the May 17, 1876 abortion death of Matilda Beringer, I found that less that six months later her abortionist -- midwife Johanna White -- was implicated in  the abortion death of Mary Heinemann.

White confessed to having perpetrated Matilda's abortion and was held on $2,000 bond. There is no coverage of how White managed to remain free to kill again. But free she clearly was.

Mary Heinemann was admitted to New York's Mount Sinai Hospital on November 2, clearly dying from peritonitis. That evening Coroner Eicbhoff and Dr. Walsh took her deathbed statement:

I believe I will not live, and make this statement. I was a servant for S. Molizner, living at 100 East Sixtieth street. I am not a married woman. After I found I was pregnant, I wanted to get rid of the child. I went to Mrs. White, of 269 Allen Street, to have an operation performed. I went there on the evening of October 23 and she operated upon me. It pained me very much and I went home. On October 26 I went again to Mrs. White, as I had not been relieved. She then applied a rubber instrument and I left. On the evening  of October 27 I went again, as nothing had passed from me. She again used instruments. On Saturday evening hemorrhage took place. On Sunday I had a great deal of pain, and last Tuesday morning Dr. Hirsch came to me and attended me, but I did not tell the doctor what was the matter with me. By his advice I was sent to Mount Sinai Hospital this morning. No one was in the room with me except Mrs. White. No one advised me to go to Mrs. White to be operated upon. I read the advertisement in the newspapers. The father of my child is a steward on board of a steamer, and is not now in New York.

Mary's condition deteriorated and she died on the morning of November 3. To the end she refused to name her baby's father. 

An autopsy confirmed the diagnosis of peritonitis and supported Mary's assertion that the source of the infection had been an abortion performed with instruments.

White was taken to the coroner's office and questioned. She said that a woman fitting Mary's description had come to her about a month earlier requesting an abortion but she had sent the young woman away. 

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said that Mary, in spite of her Christian name, was Jewish. She was about 19 years old, "of respectable parents in New Haven, Conn." She was working as a caregiver for the children of a Mrs. Weitzner "and was highly esteemed." 

I don't know how to reconcile the deathbed statement that Mary worked for S. Molizner with the investigators' finding that she worked for Mrs. Weitzner other than possible poor penmanship leading one of the names to look like the other to the person reading them.

White had also been tried in 1874 for the abortion death of Christine Seifreid, but just as was the case after Matilda's death, she seemed to have been able to get away with it.

Watch Had He Abandoned Mary? on YouTube.
Watch Had He Abandoned Mary? on Rumble.

Source: "Death From Malpractice," Brooklyn Eagle, November 3, 1876.

November 3, 1983: Peritonitis Treated with Laxatives

Twenty-six-year-old Moris Helen Herron* went to Bakersfield, California Dr. William D. Stanley for a tubal ligation in October of 1983. When Stanley examined Helen, he informed her that she was pregnant and asked if she wanted him to perform a safe, legal abortion when he did the tubal ligation.

Grok AI image

Helen consented, and on October 23, Stanley operated on her. After Helen went home, she suffered weakness, vomiting, and severe pain. She called Stanley, who instructed her to take a laxative.

Helen developed a high fever, and died on November 3. An autopsy found feces and feculent fluid in Helen's abdominal cavity from a hole in her intestines. Helen's mother, Inez Herron, sued Stanley on behalf of her two surviving children, and Stanley settled out of court for $200,000.

When a local pro-life group wrote to Stanley to chastise him for his treatment of Helen, he wrote back, saying, "Elective abortion refers to termination of a live viable pregnancy upon the request of the mother. I have never performed this service or even offered it." He asserted that he was merely performing a D&C on Helen after a miscarriage.

As a young Black woman, Helen was at higher risk of abortion death than a white woman.

Watch the YouTube video.

Sources: Kern County (CA) Death Certificate No. 2665; Kern County Superior Court Case No. 85936

NOTE: A previous researcher evidently became confused when reading the name "Moris" on the lawsuit filed by Helen's mother, Inez. Therefore, some reports of this case mistakenly identify the dead woman as being named Inez Herron. Helen's Social Security records also show her name listed as Marsh Helen Herron.

The US Social Security Applications and Claims Index shows Helen has having been born in Clarkesdale, Mississippi and having used the Marsh Herron as well as Moris Helen Herron. As a Black woman, Helen would have been twice as likely to die from abortion complications as a white woman.

1975 - 1985: Mysterious Teen Death at 27 Weeks

An 18-year-old girl dubbed "Rhonda" on Life Dynamics Blackmun Wall was 27 weeks pregnant when she underwent an abortion somewhere in the United States on an unspecified date during the period 1972 through 1985.

She died from an amniotic fluid embolism.

Life Dynamics cites "Fatal Pulmonary Embolism During Legal Induced Abortion in the United States from 1972-1985," American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, April, 1990.

July 23, 1965: Socialite's Abortion Later Declared Retroactively Legal

Killed by Choice tells the story of 24-year-old Sara Mongague Carr, whose fatal abortion under the care of 50-year-old Dr. Jesse Williams Jr. was retroactively declared legal after Roe vs. Wade struck down the state's law. She is described in the newspapers as a tall, attractive blue-eyed blond, but I've been unable to find a photograph.

News of the time focused on the racial angle that Sara, a white socialite from Long Island, went to a black doctor for her abortion. Williams, however, lived with his wife at 382 Central Park West. Sara did not seek out a doctor in the slums. 

Sara was from a wealthy family. Her mother and stepfather, John McMaster, lived in Sharon, Connecticut and kept a second home at 470 Park Avenue in New York. Sara and her close friend, 22-year-old Martha Pietrewicz, spent their summers living in a small cottage on the beach at Wainscott. Sara lived the rest of the year with another friend, Sandra White, in an apartment at 340 E. 80th Street and sometimes made extended visits at her mother's Park Avenue apartment.

Sarah was a graduate of Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut, a posh academy also attended by Jacqueline Bouvier before her marriage to John F. Kennedy, and in which the Kennedys had enrolled their daughter, Caroline. Other alumni include Gloria Vanderbilt, Princess Anastasia of Greece, and Denmark, and Gene Tierney.

Sara was 9 weeks pregnant on Tuesday, July 20, 1965 when when she went to Williams at his New York City practice, 104 Lenox Avenue. She requested an abortion, and Williams quoted her a price of $500. Sara dickered the price down to $450 and made an appointment to return on the evening of Thursday, July 22.

When she came back for the appointment, she had a male companion with her. Williams sent the man away. Sara spent the night in a small hospital-like room that Williams had for his surgical practice.

Williams expertly performed the abortion the next morning, assisted by his nurse-anesthetist, 35-year-old divorcee Dolores Douglas, who lived at 32 W. 141st Street. Sara went into convulsions and died at around 11:30 that morning. 

He must have pondered his predicament for a long time about what to do with the dead woman in his office, because he didn't notify officials about the death until shortly after midnight on Saturday. He was arrested at his home later that day. 

Sara's father was identified at the morgue by her stepfather.

Williams, a native of French Lick, Indiana, had already been awaiting trial on indictments for non-fatal abortion. Both he and Douglas had been arrested on February 4, 1964 on an abortion charge, and were arrested twice more for abortions while out on bail. The July 26, 1965 Daily News notes that William's attorney, Nichola Atlas, said that his client would also be facing trial in the fall for another abortion homicide. At the time of his trial in Sara's death he was free on $7,000 bail for his other abortion charges.

At autopsy, the medical examiner could find no fault with Williams's technique, but did fault him for the failure to call an ambulance or to report Sara's death for several hours.

Williams was tried twice for Sara's death. The first trial ended on May 20, 1966 because of a hung jury.

In the second trial, Martha testified that she was the one who had made the original call to Dr. Williams. Twenty-nine-year-old Richard Danzig testified that he had driven Sara to Williams's Lennox Avenue office. A woman named Pricilla Hypps testified that she had gotten Williams's phone number from an unidentified man.

William's defense was that Sara had already been in critical condition when she arrived and he had treated her for convulsions that night. He asserted that she had died in his office without having had an abortion perpetrated there.

Williams was convicted of first-degree manslaughter on October 24, 1966. He faced a possible prison term of 20 years, but was given a sentence of 5 to 10 years. His efforts to get the conviction overturned failed until Roe was handed down and his attorneys successfully argued that the decision should be applied retroactively.

The state had not pursued any other charges related to the abortion, such as criminal negligence for the delay in getting care for his patient, so Williams was freed. 

Sources:

• "Girl Socialite Dies, Harlem MD Accused," Sunday News, July 25, 1965
• "Bail Denied MD Held in Abortion," (NY) Daily News, July 26, 1965
• "Socialite's Death Tags Harlem Doc," N.Y. Amsterdam News, July 31, 1965
• "Dr. Williams Abortion Trial Set," N.Y. Amsterdam News, December 11, 1965
• "Williams Trial Goes To Jury," N.Y. Amsterdam News, May 21, 1966 
• "Medic's Jury Hung," N.Y. Amsterdam News, May 28, 1966 
• "Abortions Trial May End Friday," N.Y. Amsterdam News, October 22, 1966 
• United States Ex Rel. Dr. Jesse Williams, Ii, Petitioner-appellee, v. Peter Preiser, Commissioner of the Department Of Correctional Services of The State of New York, Etal., Respondents-appellants, 497 F.2d 337 (2d Cir. 1974)

November 2, 1989: A Little Noted Death

Life Dynamics lists 24-year-old Karretu Jabbie on their "Blackmun Wall" of women killed by legal abortions. According to LDI, Karretu was from West Africa. She underwent an that was supposed to be safe, since it was legal. However, the abortionist failed to remove all of the unborn baby and pregnancy tissue. Karretu bled to death on November 2, 1989.

LDI Source: District of Columbia, Certificate of Death {with amendments} File # 89-8162

November 2, 1991: The Invisible Girl

Latachie Veal

Claims about the safety of legal abortions rest upon the presumption that the Centers for Disease Control keep track of abortion deaths. The case of Latachie Veal should lay that presumption to rest.

Latachie was 17 years old, and 22 weeks pregnant, when Robert Dale Crist performed an abortion on her at Houston's West Loop Clinic November 2, 1991.

According to Latachie's family, she bled heavily at the clinic, and cried out to the staff for help. They told her that her symptoms were normal, and sent her home. Several hours later, Latachie stopped breathing. Her brother-in-law called 911 while her sister did CPR, to no avail. Latachie was dead on arrival at Ben Taub Hospital.

If Latachie's death certificate had been filled out properly, with the notation of the abortion in the proper box, using the proper ICD-9 code, then theoretically the National Center for Health Statistics would spot the abortion code and report it. But most states send only a statistical sample of their death certificate data to the NCHS. So the CDC would be notified of Latachie's death through the NCHS only if the death certificate was properly filled out, and Latachie's death certificate was among those abstracted and sent to the NCHS.

But still, according to abortion defenders, Latachie's death would nevertheless be automatically reported to the Centers for Disease Control. They're not clear on who is supposed to report the death. Was West Loop Clinic supposed to report it? Was Crist supposed to report it? Was Ben Taub Hospital supposed to report it? Was the medical examiner supposed to report it? Was the Texas Department of Health supposed to report it? The CDC says it gets abortion death information from abortionists, abortion facilities, hospitals, and state health departments, but it does not mention that the reporting is not mandatory.

This does not mean that Latachie's death went utterly unnoticed.

Robert Dale Crist

Latachie's family filed suit, retaining the flamboyant "Racehorse" Haynes as their attorney. The case was highly publicized, both in Texas and in Missouri, where Crist had performed a fatal abortion on Diane Boyd, a 19-year-old developmentally disabled woman who had been raped in the institution where she'd lived.

The mainstream publicity went beyond the usual newspaper articles, with Crist giving television interviews calling the publicity "media hype" and "a political event." Haynes retorted, "I wish he would have a copy of the 911 tape.... If he would talk to the parents, if he would talk to the sister as she gave her CPR or talk to the brother-in-law as she was breathing her last breath and see then if he thinks it's a media event."

With all this mainstream publicity in two states, prolife organizations picked up the story, and it was reported in prolife newsletters around the nation.

A lot of people very quickly found out about the abortion death of 17-year-old Latachie Veal. But did the CDC?

At the 1992 National Abortion Federation Risk Management Seminar in Dallas, Crist spoke openly of Latachie's death. (He did not, of course, mention her name; I've concluded that he's discussing Latachie's death, since there's been no evidence of any another 17-year-old abortion patient of his who died in 1991.) Crist blamed the death not on malpractice, but on disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, a clotting disorder sometimes triggered by injury or infection.

Present at that Risk Management Seminar, where Crist chattered about Latachie's death, were two -- count 'em -- two-- staffers from the Centers for Disease Control's abortion surveillance activities area: Stanley Henshaw and Lisa Koonin.

Henshaw's presence isn't quite as remarkable as Koonin's. It was Lisa Koonin, specifically, whose job it was to "verify" abortion deaths, and obtain copies of death certificates. These she was to pass on to a research fellow, Clarice Green, who would then gather the full information about the case.

Lisa Koonin does what they pay her to do.

In spite of all the publicity, in spite of the lawsuit, in spite of the prolifers shouting from the rooftops, in spite of the abortionist discussing the death at an event attended by the very woman whose job it was to notice abortion deaths, the Centers for Disease Control did not notice Latachie's death. Their 1991 Abortion Surveillance Report, published in May of 1995, did not even make any mention of abortion mortality. And when we at Life Dynamics filed a request for information about abortion deaths, we found that the CDC counted zero -- count 'em -- zero -- abortion deaths among women of Latachie's race in the 15 - 19 age range. In other words, they didn't even notice.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but if the CDC failed to notice this highly-publicized death, discussed openly at an event attended by two of their abortion surveillance staffers, exactly what does it take to get them to notice an abortion death? And how can we even pretend to believe that any serious attempt to accurately count abortion deaths was being made?

Watch The Invisible Girl on YouTube.
Watch The Invisible Girl on Rumble.

Sources:

• "Doctor investigated in post-abortion death," Kansas City Star, November 6, 1991
• "Abortion probe leads to Springfield," (Springfield) News-Leader, November 24, 1991

November 2, 2010: Lack of Diligence Proves Fatal in Brooklyn

Dr. George McMillan

The family of 32-year-old Lisa Marie Fusco sued Dr. George McMillan and Brooklyn Ambulatory Physician Associates on behalf of her surviving child after she died from abortion complications.

Lisa had gone to Ambulatory Surgery Center of Brooklyn on October 26, 2010. Staff performed an ultrasound and did blood tests preparatory for an abortion. She returned on October 27, when staff inserted laminaria for an abortion and packed her vagina with gauze. 

Lisa returned to Ambulatory Surgery Center on October 28 to undergo a D&E abortion. 

According to the lawsuit, the procedure was not performed properly, causing an unspecified injury. Failure to properly monitor and care for Lisa led to her decompensation -- meaning that her body was trying to maintain blood pressure and adequate perfusion but was unable to do so, causing her condition to deteriorate rapidly. The suit also asserted that the abortion was in some way contraindicated, meaning that Lisa had some medical condition that either meant that it was unsafe to perform an abortion in an outpatient setting or that it was unsafe to perform an abortion at all. 

Lisa's condition continued to deteriorate, leading to her death on November 2, 2010.

Nicey Washington had died after an abortion at Ambulatory Surgery Center ten years earlier. 

Sources:

• Kings County Supreme Court Index 2012E

October 2020: Fatal Abortion on Texas Woman

Because of the way that the death of “Opal” was recorded and reported, not much is known about her.

Opal underwent a legal abortion in Texas and died in October of 2020. Even with the new system overhaul for abortion data reporting in the state, very little was recorded about her.

It should be noted that even though the law required physicians and hospitals should to report deaths by legal abortion on the form, the total number of abortion deaths under “reported by physicians” was listed as zero. The abortionist who killed Opal did not report her death, and neither did any doctors who may have treated her in an attempt to save her life. Her death would have been entirely unreported if an unknown person at the abortion facility hadn’t submitted a report. This brings attention to the issue of the new reporting system, which seems to still be missing data despite changes.

Less than two years after Opal’s death, the overturn of Roe v Wade allowed the state to strengthen abortion laws, protecting others like her. Unfortunately, this decision came too late for Opal and her baby.

2020 ITOP Complications spreadsheet

November 1, 1992: Likely Fetal Indications Abortion

"Susan" Roe is one of the women Life Dynamics noted on their "Blackmun Wall" of women killed by legalized abortion.

According to Life Dynamics, they obtained confidential information from the CDC and state health officials about this 21-year-old Caucasian woman who died November 1, 1992, after a safe and legal abortion performed in Maine.

I have made a tentative identification of "Susan" which indicates that she was likely having a late abortion due to fetal indications and was keeping the abortion a secret. I will continue to investigate the circumstances of this tragedy.

October 31, 1921: Was Dr. Klinetop to Blame?

Grok AI illustration

During the inquest into Dr. Charles Klinetop's role in the 1923 abortion death of Lydia Nelson, Emma Sales of South Morgan Street, Chicago, jumped to her feet and struck Klinetop in the face. 

Mrs. Sales said that the death of her daughter, Harriet Grimm, was due to an abortion Klinetop had perpetrated. Klinetop had already been implicated in the 1912 death of Minnie Miller and the 1917 death of Edna Lamb.

According to Illinois death records, Harriet had died October 31, 1921 at the age of 20. I've never seen any evidence that Klinetop was prosecuted for Harriet's death.

Klinetop was evidently making bank as an abortionist -- in October of 1923 his wife, Venus, was the victim of a purse snatcher who got away with $12,000 worth of jewels (over a quarter of a million in 2025). According to the American Medical Association, Klinetop graduated from Hering Medical College in Chicago in 1894.

According to public records, Klinetop was born in Iowa in 1864 to Edwin and Emmah Bassett Klinetop. His father was a farmer and his mother was a homemaker. He had one older brother, two younger brothers, a younger sister, and a younger half-brother. He married Vienna "Venus" Waite in Chicago in April of 1903. Klinetop relocated to Pasadena, California after Lydia's death. He died of myocarditis in 1938 at the age of 74, five months after the death of his wife.

Watch Drama at the Inquest on YouTube.
Watch Drama at the Inquest on Rumble.

• "Woman Attacks Doctor Accused of Operations," Chicago Daily Tribune, November 1, 1923

 

October 31, 1946: Scant Information on Young Woman from Puerto Rico

On October 31, 1946, a 24-year-old Puerto Rican woman named Aurora Cruz died at Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx, New York, from a septic abortion. 

This criminal abortion had caused an abscess and general peritonitis.

Aurora might have sought the abortion because she was unmarried. She had worked as an embroider and lived with her parents, Jose and Maria, at 168 Brook Avenue in New York.

I've been unable to find any more information about this unfortunate young woman.

October 30, 1923: Back Alley Butcher Kills Chicago Teen Bride

Englewood Hospital

On October 24, 1923, 19-year-old Lydia Nelson was brought to Chicago's Englewood Hospital by her husband. He was alarmed by her condition, which had deteriorated since October 8, when she had undergone an abortion. In a written statement, Lydia identified her abortionist as by Dr. Charles Klinetop. 

According to public records, Lydia was the daughter of immigrants from England. She was born in Massachusetts. She had married her husband in March of 2021. The couple had a son later that year. 

Lydia died on October 30.

During the inquest held October 31, Mrs. Emma Sales leaped up, slapped Klinetop's face, declared that her daughter, Mrs. Harriett Grimm, had died exactly a year earlier after an abortion he had perpetrated. 

On January 15, 1924, Klinetop was indicted by a grand jury for felony murder in Lydia's death. He admitted that he had treated Lydia once at her home but denied any criminal responsibility for her condition.

Back in 1912, he had been identified by a coroner's jury as the doctor responsible for the abortion death of Minnie Miller. Klinetop was evidently making bank as an abortionist -- in October of 1923 his wife, Venus, was the victim of a purse snatcher who got away with $12,000 worth of jewels (over a quarter of a million in 2025). According to the American Medical Association, Klinetop graduated from Hering Medical College in Chicago in 1894.

According to public records, Klinetop was born in Iowa in 1864 to Edwin and Emmah Bassett Klinetop. His father was a farmer and his mother was a homemaker. He had one older brother, two younger brothers, a younger sister, and a younger half-brother. He married Vienna "Venus" Waite in Chicago in April of 1903. Klinetop relocated to Pasadena, California after Lydia's death. He died of myocarditis in 1938 at the age of 74, five months after the death of his wife.

Lydia's abortion was typical of criminal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.

Sources: 

• Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database
• "Purse Snatcher in Loop Gets $12,000 Jewels," Chicago Daily Tribune, October 6, 1923
• "Arrest Doctor on Charge Made by Young Wife," Chicago Daily Tribune, October 15, 1923
• "Woman Attacks Doctor Accused of Operations," Chicago Daily Tribune, November 1, 1923