All I originally had was a single card to commemorate the April 10, 1924 death of 34-year-old Mrs. Katherina Mueller. She died in Rock Springs, Sweetwater County, Wyoming of septicemia following a self-induced abortion.
I have since obtained Katherina's death certificate. Her doctor had cared for her from April 2 through April 9. She died at 5:00 the following morning.
There is no record of why Katherina chose to abort her baby, what resources would have been available to her, or what advice she could have obtained from family or friends. I've been unable to find evidence of abortion rings in Wyoming at the time of her death. It's unknown if she asked a doctor to falsely claim that the pregnancy was life-threatening in order to perform an abortion under false pretenses. However, even had she found a physician, the lack of available antibiotics at the time would have made it difficult to save her once an infection started regardless of who had perpetrated the abortion.
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