On March 20, 1916, 19-year-old housemaid Bertha Carlson died at South Park Hospital in Chicago from septic infection as a result of a criminal abortion.
On her deathbed, Bertha identified Dr. A. F. Butler as her abortionist. At the time of Bertha's death he was suffering from some sort of paralysis that kept him from testifying at an investigation into her death.Note, please, that with issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good.
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.
Sources:
- Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database
- "Doctor, Accused by Girl, Ill," Chicago Tribune, Mar. 22, 1916
- death certificate
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