March 21, 1959: The Fatal Work of a Practical Nurse

SUMMARY: Brenda Emerson, age 16, died on March 21, 1959 after an abortion perpetrated in Burbank by practical nurse Ruth Haskins.

Brenda Emerson

Brenda's body was found on the lawn of a Burbank hospital. She had died of an overdose of sodium pentothal administered as abortion anesthesia.

She had been married nine months and was six to eight weeks pregnant.

Edgar Schrater age 36 had arranged the abortion.

Also arrested (at the Tijuana airport): was 42-year-old practical nurse Ruth Haskins, who had an abortion conviction the previous year.

Sources:

• "Salesman Held After Death Of Young Housewife," (Marysville, CA) Appeal Democrat, Mar. 26, 1959
• California Death Index, 1940-1997