Patterns of Abortion Deaths and a Girl on a Train

Early 20th Century Illinois

Two Deaths in Two Days Linked to Dr. Thomas Eade



Gladys Anderson

During an inquest into the March 30, 1930 death of Gladys Anderson, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Illinois, word came that Cleo Hinton, a 24-year-old stenographer, had also died from a botched abortion. Both deaths were linked to Dr. Thomas Eade.

Chicago Midwife Held for Death

On March 31, 1926, 24-year-old Louise Maday died at Chicago's West End Hospital from complications of an abortion performed at an earlier date. Midwife Amelia Becker was held by the coroner on April 27.

One of Two Deaths Linked to Dr. Struble

On March 31, 1914, 24-year-old Frances Fergus died at Chicago's German Evangelical Deaconess Hospital from peritonitis caused by an abortion.  Dr. James R. Struble was implicated but released after the coroner's jury inquest.  Two years later Struble was implicated in the abortion death of Augusta Bloom.


The Girl on the Train

On March 31, 1891, a sickly young woman boarded a train out of San Francisco, aided by a dapper middle-aged man with enormous muttonchop whiskers. Soon after boarding the train, the young woman fainted. One passenger on the train indicated that the young woman was unresponsive and that her eyes were rolling wildly.

At Benicia, California, fellow passenger James Riley helped the young woman to leave the train and get into a carriage. She died in the carriage just a few minutes later. Her body was taken directly to the morgue for examination.

Investigators found letters in her possession signed by locomotive fireman John "Jack" McCarville. The letters indicated a romantic attachment, but didn't indicate any intimate involvement between McCarville and the woman, who was identified as 18-year-old Ida Shaddock of Colusa, California. The man who put her on the train was eventually identified as Dr. Samuel Hall.

Dr. H. Janeway, who had been a passenger on the train, observed the autopsy on Ida's body. The physicians found massive infection and damage from a sharp instrument used to perpetrate an abortion. The injuries were so extensive, and in such a location in her body, that Dr. Janeway and other physicians including Dr. Edward Gray said that it was highly improbable if not impossible that Ida could have caused them herself.

The San Francisco Call noted in coverage of the doctors' testimony that "A day before her death it would have been impossible for her to have left her bed of her own will, and her removal hastened teh end at least twenty-four hours and must have caused her untold agony. The slightest motion would have given her excruciating pain. Gangrene set in three days before her death."

Dr. Samuel Hall was arrested and charged with murder in her death. At first he admitted that she'd given birth to a stillborn child at his house, but denied any criminal culpability in her death. Then he admitted that he had performed an operation on her less than a week prior to her death.
Hall was tried twice for murder in Ida's death. The first trial ended in an evenly split hung jury after twenty-two hours of deliberations. The second, three years after Ida's death, ended in an acquittal after the jury had deliberated for four hours. Hall had obtained over sixty continuances between the two trials, and during that time many key witnesses had moved away or died.

Septic Abortion in New Jersey, 1986

Gail Wright was 29 years old when she underwent a legal abortion. She was 20 weeks pregnant.  After her abortion, she developed sepsis.  She died of adult respiratory distress syndrome on March 26, 1986, in Maplewood, Essex County, New Jersey, leaving behind a husband.

From a Risky Legal Procedure to Chicago Criminal Abortionists

Saline Abortion Proves Fatal, as Warned

Lynn McNair, age 24, was 23 weeks pregnant when she went to Jewish Memorial Hospital in New York for an abortion in March of 1979. Her doctor, Edward Rubin, chose the saline abortion method, in which amniotic fluid is removed with a large syringe and then replaced with a sterile salt solution strong enough to be toxic. Because of risks to the mother, Japan, Sweden, and the Soviet Union all banned the saline abortion method before abortion was even legalized in the United States.

The first injection of saline failed to kill the fetus, so Rubin injected a second dose of saline. Lynn went into convulsions and slipped into a coma. Amniotic fluid, tainted with the strong salt solution, got into her blood stream and damaged her lungs. She died on March 23, leaving two children motherless.

Rubin continued to perform abortions, performing a fatal abortion on 28-year-old Dawn Mendoza at Women's Medical Pavilion in Dobbs Ferry, NY in 1988. Dawn also died from getting abortion material in her lungs, though in her case the abortion was done by dismembering the 22-week fetus, allowing both amniotic fluid and bits of the placenta to travel to the mother's lungs.


An Unknown Chicago Abortion Perpetrator

On March 23, 1917, 19-year-old Mary Conners died at Chicago's County Hospital, refusing to name the abortionist who had fatally injured her that day.


First in a String of Deaths Attributed to Dr. Achtenberg of Chicago

In March of 1907, Dora Swan, the 24-year-old wife of a railroad worker, was living with her mother in Chicago. On March 16, Dora underwent an abortion, reportedly at the hands of Louise Achtenberg. Achtenberg came to the home several times to care for Dora, but her condition was not improving.

Dora's family called the family physician, Dr. C. S. Friend. He had her admitted to Englewood Union Hospital in Chicago to be treated. Dora died from post-abortion infection on March 23.

Actenberg, whose profession is listed as doctor, midwife, or unlisted at the Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database, was held responsible by the coroner, but there is no record that charges were filed.

Achtenberg, most likely misidentified as a midwife due to her obstetric work, went on to be implicated in the 1909 abortion deaths of Stella Kelly and Florence Wright. She was also implicated in the 1921 abortion death of Violet McCormick. Later, in 1924, it was Dr. Louise Achtenberg who was held responsible for the death of Madelyn Anderson. In spite of all of these deaths, I can find no record that Achtenberg was ever incarcerated.


Was the Deadly Mrs. Heinle a Doctor or a Midwife?

On March 23, 1905, Mrs. Ida Pomering, a 30-year-old German immigrant, died in Chicago from an abortion performed earlier that day. Apollonia Heinle was held by the coroner's jury for Ida's death.

Heinle was identified in a death record as a doctor, but is elsewhere identified as a midwife. This does not rule out her being a doctor, since female obstetricians were, at that time, typically called midwives.

Heinle suffered no long-term ill effects from Ida's death. She was still a practicing midwife-abortionist in 1909, when the Illinois State's Attorney declared "war on midwives" as an approach to stamping out abortion in the state. Doctors, however, were also quite commonly identified as the guilty parties after abortion deaths in Chicago in that era.

Accidental Poisoning, 1926

Ida Bosen, age 35, died in Chicago March 22, 1926. The mother of six had accidentally poisoned herself while trying to induce an abortion with an abortifacient.

A High Risk Abortion and Four Other Deaths

Lack of Due Diligence


Tyrone Maloy

On March 21, 2008, 23 year old Sherika Mayo went to Summit Medical Associates in Atlanta, Georgia for the elective abortion of her 25 week unborn child. Sherika had sickle cell trait along with low levels of hemoglobin in her blood -- only 7.3 gms when a normal range for an adult woman is between 12 and 16. Abortionist Tyrone Maloy proceeded with the abortion anyway.

While in the recovery room, Sherika went into cardiac arrest and was transferred to Atlanta Medical Center while EMS workers continued CPR. Upon arrival, Sherika had a distended abdomen and vaginal bleeding, so ER workers called for a gynecology consult.

Emergency surgery was performed to remove Sherika's damaged uterus and repair an injured bowel. Malloy holds that her bowel was injured during this surgery, not during the abortion.  After surgery, Sherika showed symptoms of DIC (disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, a life-threatening clotting disorder sometimes caused by trauma or infection). She was treated with blood products but died in the I.C.U.

The Georgia State Medical Board reviewed the case and determined that abortionist Tyrone Malloy, “failed to conform to minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing medical practice.” He failed to follow proper standards of care in the following ways:

1. Sherika's blood count was low; since this was an elective procedure, she should have been provided with a transfusion to bring her blood hemoglobin level up to at least 9 gm.

2. Blood clotting tests should have been performed prior to the abortion.

3. Malloy should have more accurately determined the gestational age of Sherika's pregnancy because the risk of amniotic fluid embolism (which can cause the clotting disorder that ultimately killed Sherika) increases with increased gestational age and additional "intrauterine manipulation."

Malloy was reprimanded. He was ordered to pay a $10,000.00 fine and to take continuing education classes. He is allowed to continue to practice medicine in general and abortions in particular.


A Newlywed Teen


Brenda Emerson

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


Three Deaths in Chicago

On March 21, 1927, 25-year-old Nancy Dawson died on-site from a criminal abortion performed that day. Dr. J.F. Peck and midwife Christine Sedwig were indicted for felony murder on April 1.
On March 21, 1916, 30-year-old Anna Krauz died at her home on Union Avenue in Chicago from infection caused by a perforated uterus. An abortion had been perpetrated by midwife Anna Vidicas, who was held by the Coroner but acquitted on trial.

On March 21, 1911, 33-year-old homemaker Katherine Kammer died of septic peritonitis at German Hospital in Chicago from an abortion perpetrated by a "midwife" around 5 days earlier.  For reasons not given in the source document, there was never any prosecution for Kate's death.

Early 20th Century Deaths

Professionals in Chicago in the Early 20th Century

On March 20, 1926, 19-year-old Alice Annalora died at the County Hospital in Chicago from complications of an abortion performed that day.  Dr. Wilford Vine was booked for Alice's death, as was her husband, Joseph Annalora. Vine was indicted for felony murder. Ultimately, the coroner was unable to determine the legal status of the abortion that killed Alice, so Dr. Vine and Mr. Annalora were released.

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.

That very same day, Caroline Repritis of Lime Street, Chicago, died in Chicago's Englewood Hospital from complications of an attempted abortion.  Midwife Pauline Urbanos was held by the coroner.


A Boyfriend's Deadly Help in Nebraska, 1906

It was Spring of 1906 in Nebraska. Anna Gosch called her boyfriend, Mr. Edwards, admitted that he knew Anna, that they'd had a sexual relationship, and that she had called him to tell him that her period was late. He admitted that he went to the town of Kearney, and got a hotel room with the intent of perpetrating an abortion.

Edwards wouldn't say what happened in the hotel room. He did say that the next day he took her to her home, and using a speculum he tried to insert a catheter into her uterus, which at the time was a method often used by doctors to cause an abortion. Edwards, however, couldn't get the catheter inserted.

He said that Anna went upstairs and returned with a catheter with a wire in it, which would stiffen it for insertion. He said that the wire did its job in allowing him to get the catheter inserted. He then bent the wire and threw it away.

A witness in the later trial, however, said that Edwards denied having done the abortion himself. He said that Anna had gone upstairs, then come down and told him that she thought "she had done it." Physical evidence suggested otherwise: a speculum and three catheters were in Edwards' valise when he was arrested.

A physician, Dr. Cameron, was called on Thursday, March 15, to care for Anna. He saw her twice a day until the Monday before her death. During that time he consulted with another physician and concluded that Anna was going to die.

Dr. Cameron testified, "I asked her what had been done to make her sick, and she said there had been a man had passed an instrument into her with a wire in it, rubber with a wire in it. I asked her when that had been done, and she said Monday; she thought it was Monday night." When asked about who the man was, "She said he was a man who traveled for rubber goods or instruments of some kind, said he was a traveling man."

Anna Gosch died on Tuesday, March 20, 1906, at 6:10 PM.  Edwards was convicted of homicide.

Anna's death is similar to the death of "Daisy" Roe, a systems analyst who died in 1990 after allowing her boyfriend to attempt to perform an abortion on her with a piece of aquarium tubing.  It was also unusual in that it was performed by an amateur, rather than by a doctor, as was the case with perhaps 90% of criminal abortions.

Playing Hardball Against Pregnancy Center Haters

The abortion lobby keeps trying to pass legislation to correct what they see as "false advertising" by pregnancy help centers. They claim that the full weight of law needs to go into making it clear that CPCs do not do abortions, because women wanting abortions might go there by accident and be really annoyed.

I know of how to stop these attacks in a heartbeat: The Full Disclosure to Abortion Patients Addendum Take the text of the anti-CPC bill and announce that prolife legislators will get 100% behind it as soon as an addendum to this effect is added:

1. Any facility that advertises as an abortion facility must provide complete and honest information as to the licensing status of the facility and staff. Physician's offices must clearly state that they are not licensed clinics. If a facility is not licensed by the state as a medical facility, this must be clearly stated. If anesthesia is administered, the qualifications of those administering anesthesia must be posted. The qualifications (or lack thereof) of staff overseeing recovery must be posted. The qualifications (or lack thereof) of any staff providing counseling must be posted.
2. Any negative findings in the five most recent inspections must be posted in layman's terms in a highly visible area of the waiting room. Copies of the five most recent inspection reports must be made available to prospective patients upon request. If the facility is neither licensed nor inspected, a notice must be prominently posted to that effect.
3. Notice of any disciplinary actions currently in force against any licensed staff must be clearly and prominently posted in layman's terms. Full copies of the relevant documents must be made available to patients upon request.
4. If a facility advertises that they provide counseling, they must also provide a breakdown as to what percent of their patients choose abortion, adoption, and parenting.
5. Information about patient deaths, along with deficiencies that led to the deaths, must be prominently posted, along with any other information a reasonable patient would want to know before making a decision about trusting her life to that facility.

Of course, this will be drafted in legalese, but you get the idea.

Here's what one currently operating chain's ads would look like:



A sign posted in a clinic lobby (for a fictitious clinic based on typical inspection deficiencies) might read:

November 2012 inspection deficiencies:
    * 7 instances of outdated medications
    * 11 instances of sanitary deficiencies
    * Re-use of disposable instruments
    * No current CPR certification for 5 of 7 staff records inspected

November 2011 inspection deficiencies:
    * 4 instances of outdated medications
    * 4 instances of sanitary deficiencies
    * Broken autoclave
    * Re-use of disposable instruments
    * No current CPR certification for 4 of 7 staff records inspected
    * Crash cart missing medications

And so on.

The abortion lobby would have two equally unpalatable choices:

1. Agree to the addendum and then watch the prolifers have a field day demanding that the law be enforced against specific facilities.
2. Fight the addendum and then watch the prolifers have a field day holding hearings showing why the addendum is necessary.

They'd drop the whole attack on CPCs like Adrian Monk would drop a milk-covered snake.

I think it's a win-win for us and for the women of America. Why aren't we doing it?

March 19: Scant Info in the Early 20th Century

Another Victim of Eisiminger or Thacker?

Geraldine Easley, age 19, admitted before her death on March 19, 1932*, that she had undergone a criminal abortion. Since Dr. James W. Eisiminger and Dr. Richard E. Thacker had been responsible for a string of other criminal abortion deaths in the Oklahoma City area, suspicion in Geraldine's death naturally leaned toward the two known quack abortionists. However, to my knowledge the specific perpetrator was not identified. (*Her headstone indicates she died in 1931.) Source: "Probe May Show Many Deaths Due to Malpractice," The Fresno Bee-Republican, April 29, 1932


Scant Info on Chicago Deaths

On March 19, 1916, 30-year-old Carolina Petritz died at the Chicago office of midwife Paulina Erlomus, who had perpetrated the fatal abortion there that day. Erlomus was held by the Coroner but the case never went to trial. (Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database)

Olivia Becker, a 34-year-old homemaker and mother of two, died in Chicago from abortion complications on March 19, 1915.  I have been unable to gain any other information about Olivia's death. (Homicide in Chicago Interactive Database)

A Tad More Information in Chicago

At about 4:00 p.m. on March 19, 1907, homemaker Bessie Ruby Simmons, age 30, died at her Chicago home. She left her husband to care for their two young children.

A coroner's jury found that she had died from blood poisoning caused by a criminal abortion perpetrated on February 22. They assigned blame to Dr. Charles D. Hughes (or Hews), who was arrested in the death. Hughes admitted that he had treated Bessie but denied any responsibility for her death. A second doctor, H. Doyle, had been called to attend to Bessie but was cleared of blame by the jury. I can't find any evidence that the case ever went to trial.

Sources:

• Death notice, Chicago Tribune, March 20, 1907
• "Coroner's Jury Holds Doctor," Chicago Tribune, March 21, 1907
• "Doctor Held for Woman's Death," The Inter-Ocean, March 21, 1907

Over a Century of Abortion Deaths

1981: A Fatal Embolism

Norma Greene, a 34-year-old divorcee, went into cardio-respiratory arrest and died in a Winston-Salem hospital on March 16, 1981. Her death certificate indicates that the arrest was caused by a pulmonary embolism (tissue or air in the lungs) following a recent abortion.

1973: Civil Rights Leader Turned Abortion Profiteer

Dr. T.R. Mason Howard

Reports on death of Evelyn Dudley, age 38, alleged that she was treated at Friendship Medical Center in Chicago on March 16, 1973. Later, at home, she collapsed in the driveway. She was taken to a hospital, where attempts to save her failed.

Her death was due to shock, hemorrhage from a ruptured cervix and vagina, from "remote abortion." Civil rights leader Dr. T.R. Mason Howard (pictured) stated that Evelyn was treated at Friendship for infection sustained in an abortion in Detroit. But Evelyn's brother stated that she had come to Chicago specifically to have the abortion.

Julia Rogers and Dorothy Brown also died after abortions at Friendship Medical Center.


1924: A Mystery Abortion in Chicago

On March 16, 1924, 35-year-old Selma Hedlund died in Chicago's Jefferson Park Hospital (pictured) from complications of an abortion performed that day. The sources says that she died at the crime scene. Nobody was ever positively identified as the abortionist. However, a Carl Carlson, indicated as a person known to Selma, was arrested as an accomplice.


1915: Two Days, Three Deaths

On March 16, 1915, 19-year-old saleslady Hazel Wilcox, who also worked as a cabaret singer, died at a Chicago home from sepsis caused by an abortion believed to have been perpetrated that day by midwife Julia Patera. Patera was held by the coroner on March 20 but the case never went to trial, despite the fact that Elinora Cassidy had died only the previous day after identifying Patera as her abortionist.

In an odd coincidence, a second woman named Hazel died in Chicago on March 16, 1915. Hazel Carr, a 26-year-old homemaker, died in her Chicago home from an abortion performed by an unknown perpetrator.


1905: One of Dr. Lucy Hagenow's Many Victims

On March 16, 1905, 27-year-old seamstress Mary Putnam died at Chicago's Monroe Street Hospital from infection caused by an abortion. May had been brought to the hospital two days earlier, in critical condition, and the police were notified. The party responsible for Mary's death is noted as Dr. Lucy Hagenow, who did her abortions on her own premises and even had a preferred undertaker to haul away the bodies.

Hagenow and a man identified as F. E. MacCordy were arrested by the Coroner's Jury on March 16. MacCordy was president of the MacCordy cigar Company and lived in the same building with Mary. He was about 40 years old.

Louise Derchow, Annie Dorris, Abbia Richards, and Emma Dep in San Francisco, would go on to be linked to over a dozen Chicago abortion deaths:

Dr. Lucy Hagenow

• 1891: Minnie Deering
• 1892: Sophia Kuhn and Emily Anderson
• 1896: Hannah Carlson
• 1899: Marie Hecht
• 1906: Lola Madison
• 1907: Annie Horvatich
• 1925: Lottie Lowy, Nina H. Pierce, Jean Cohen, Bridget Masterson, and Elizabeth Welter
• 1926: Mary Moorehead

1899: "Life of the Mother" Defense Falls Flat

Harriet "Hattie" Reece was a 25-year-old primary school teacher in Browning, Illinois. Her husband, Frank, was also a teacher and principal at the school where Hattie taught. They had been married two and a half years in 1899, when the events unfolded that ended Hattie's life on March 16. And the finger pointed at Dr. James W. Aiken, who seemed to be a bit of a George Tiller precursor -- somebody who would find a "life of the mother" case in any pregnancy. But unlike Tiller, Aiken couldn't just buy his way out of trouble. He was found guilty and sentenced to fifteen years.

1875: Bright Prospects Cut Short

On March 16, 1875, aspiring opera singer Annie Curtis, age 28, died in New York from an abortion perpetrated by midwife Annie Ihl. Her sad story, with many ups and downs over her short life, is long and complex, and can be read in its entirety here.

1869: A Wife's Final Secret and a Change in the Law

On March 16, 1869, Magdalena Philippi died in New York of pelvic infection caused by an abortion performed on her, evidently, by 48-year-old French immigrant Dr. Gabriel Wolff. Her husband, George, said that his wife had told him about the pregnancy about three weeks before her death.'

She had been attending to her usual household chores and helping out in the saloon until March 1, when, George said, she went to see a doctor. She began to feel unwell that evening and went home early. When George got home he found her in bed and suffering from abdominal pain. She told him that she'd gone to Dr. Wolff, saying that she felt too sick to have another child, so he had given her some medicine "to rid herself of it."

Wolff had said that she'd "feel badly for three or four hours" but would quickly recover. When morning came and Magdalena was still sick, George wanted to call in a different doctor, but Magdalena refused. Wolff made several visits to his patient over the ensuing days, trying one useless remedy after the other, including leeches and mustard plasters, none of which could save Magdalena.

Although Magdalena was four or five months pregnant, prosecutors had no way of proving that she had felt movement in the fetus, so they could not prosecute Dr. Wolff. The next day, a bill was introduced in Albany to eliminate the quickening distinction in prosecuting abortion cases. This would make it easier to prosecute abortionists like Wolff.

Historic Chicago Abortion Deaths

1917: An Unknown Perp in Chicago

On March 15, 1917, 24-year-old waitress Celia Steele died at Chicago's Jefferson Park Hospital from septicemia and purulent peritonitis caused by a criminal abortion. The coroner was unable to identify the guilty party.


1915: Two Deaths in Two Days Attributed to Chicago Doc

On March 15, 1915, 22-year-old homemaker Elenora Cassidy died at Cook County Hospital after being treated for two days for septicemia. Before her death, Elinor named Dr. Julia Patera as the guilty abortionist, and indicated that the abortion had been done at Patara's house on March 6.

Patara was indicted for Elinor's death on March 15 by a Grand Jury, but the case never went to trial, even though the very next day another woman, Hazel Wilcox, died after an abortion attributed to Patera.

Victim-Blaming and Planned Parenthood Cover-Up in Offical Documents on Cree Erwin Death

Kudos to activist Lynn Mills for getting hold of Cree Erwin-Shephard's autopsy report, and to Operation Rescue for sharing it. Shame on the Calhoun County, MI Medical Examiner's office for how they redacted the autopsy. Shame on Dr. Elizabeth Douglass, the medical examiner, for how she blamed the victim when completing the death certificate.It's hard to find a more telling case of victim-blaming and of a political cover-up.



Cree Erwin-Shephard

It's also hard to argue that the redaction on the autopsy was in the interests of preserving Cree's privacy. Descriptions of Cree's underwear, breasts, and genitals were not redacted. The presence of methadone in her system was not redacted. Details of the injuries that led to her death, however, are very heavily redacted.

Other documents relating to Cree's death make it clear that she had an abortion at Planned Parenthood and suffered her injuries there during that abortion. The police report redacts Cree's mother's name but doesn't redact the information about Cree's abortion. The final death certificate notes that Cree had a recent vacuum aspiration.* Although noting that she was indeed injured during a combination abortion/IUD insertion, the death certificate claims that the date of her injury is "unknown." This is false -- the police report notes the date of the abortion. The place of injury is listed as "unknown," even though the fact that it was done at a Planned Parenthood was easy enough for Lynn Mills to discover. "How Injury Occurred" is given as "use of unprescribed medications," blaming Cree for her own death even though elsewhere the cause of death is clearly a uterine perforation.

To summarize:

• Medical examiner Elizabeth Douglas victim-blamed on Cree's death certificate. Despite noting the injury to Cree's uterus, the ultimate blame for her death is placed on the injured woman and her "Use of unprescribed medications."
• Medical examiner Elizabeth Douglass covered up for Planned Parenthood on Cree's death certificate. Despite an abundance of evidence available to the general public that Cree's injuries took place during treatment at the Kalamazoo Planned Parenthood, the death certificate claims that the date and location of Cree's injury are unknown or undetermined.
• The redaction on Cree's autopsy report shows that the motive for redaction can't have been Cree's privacy, since descriptions of her underwear, breasts, and genitals were not redacted.
• The redaction on Cree's autopsy report shows victim-blaming in that the presence of drugs in her system was not redacted.
• The redaction on Cree's autopsy report covers up for Planned Parenthood by hiding the extent and nature of the injuries Cree suffered during the procedures performed there.

It's interesting to me that this victim-blaming and Planned Parenthood protection are happening during a period of public and political debate over whether Planned Parenthood deserves continued taxpayer funding.

*Note how the ME carefully avoids using the word "abortion," which would alert public health officials and thus risk Cree's death being counted as an abortion death, instead attributing her death to "complications of intrauterine pregnancy," thus placing the blame on the pregnancy and adding to the "childbirth deaths" statistics.

A Deadly Equation and a Suspected Physician

Hemorrhage + Delay - Ambulance = Death

Survivors of Glenda Davis, age 31, mother of two, said that she underwent a safe and legal abortion performed by Robert Hanson at Aaron Family Planning March 11, 1989. During the abortion, Glenda suffered a 1.5 - 2 inch long wound to her uterine artery and vein complex, causing massive bleeding.

After a delay, staffers decided to transfer Glenda to the hospital. Glenda's husband discovered staffers attempting unsuccessfully to transfer Glenda from a wheelchair to a staffer's car. He helped them get Glenda into the car. With the IV still in her arm, Glenda was driven to HCA Memorial Hospital. She had no blood pressure and almost no pulse upon arrival.

Glenda fell into a coma, and died three days later.

The family's attorney said, "Prior to the aforementioned breaches and negligence of these Defendants, Glenda H. Davis was a happy and healthy woman. ...  [Glenda's children] have suffered and will continue to suffer from the great loss of the care, ...guidance, protection, ... love, affection, solace, comfort, companionship, society and assistance from their mother. [The children] experienced the horror of watching the devastation of their mother's condition on a day to day basis. This horror was further complicated by their having to deal with the anguish of missing the love and attention of their mother. They were too young to understand what and why this had happened. They could only feel abandoned. ... Their family has been destroyed and the loving parent-child relationship they once had has been forever terminated."


Did Dr. Lucas Kill Alberta Beard?

On March 14, 1930, Alberta Beard, age 29, died at the office of Dr. Davis Lucas from an abortion performed there that day. Lucas was arrested on May 24, on recommendation of the coroner. Lucas was indicted for felony murder in Alberta's death on August 7. I have been unable to determine the final outcome of the case.

"California Trusts Women." Can Women Trust California?

California's proposed new abortion-rights license plate is to take an oblique angle, using a  "California Trusts Women" theme.

Proceeds from the plate will benefit the Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment (FPACT) program, which provides family planning services to 1.8 million Californians every year. Currently, the FPACT program is overwhelmingly supported by federal funding, with the federal government picking up 90 percent of the tab. FPACT funding is also a vital source of funding for Planned Parenthood reproductive health care services.

Since the money is going to Planned Parenthood and not to actual women, isn't the issue whether or not California can trust Planned Parenthood? And if so, to do what?

Edrica Goode , a 21-year-old woman who dreamed of becoming an attorney, trusted a Planned Parenthood in Riverside, California, in late January of 2007. Despite clear signs of infection, a nurse practitioner inserted laminaria (seaweed sticks that absorb vaginal moisture and expand, thus dilating the cervix) and sent her home. Not surprisingly, Edrica was quickly struck with an infection so swift and severe that it left her incoherent and unable to communicate the cause of her illness to her family or the medical professionals who tried but failed to save her life.

Diana Lopez, age 25, was 19 weeks pregnant when trusted Planned Parenthood in February, 2002. Had her abortion been performed with due care and diligence, it should have taken between 10 and 20 minutes. The doctor rushed through it in only six minutes, leaving Diana with severe internal lacerations. Before the day was over, Diana had bled to death, and her two young children were left motherless.

Holly Patterson age 18, trusted a Planned Parenthood in Hayward, California in September of 2003. They provided the drugs for a medication abortion. Rather than instruct Holly to administer the second drug inside her cheek to dissolve, which is the recommended method, Planned Parenthood instructed Holly to insert the drug vaginally. For reasons that are still not understood, administering the drug this way had been shown to trigger swiftly-fatal Toxic Shock Syndrome. This is what happened to Holly. By the time she got to the hospital, it was too late to save her.

Vivian Tran, 22 years old, decided in December of 2003 to trust the Costa Mesa Planned Parenthood facility. She died just as Holly Patterson died, from TSS linked to the vaginal rather than buccal (inside the cheek) administration of the second of two medication abortion drugs. Evidently Planned Parenthood had chosen not to learn anything from Holly Patterson's death.

So, California, the question is not whether or not you trust women. It is whether they can trust you. Will you continue to turn a blind eye, or will you stop pumping money into Planned Parenthood and start demanding that they earn your trust before you give them another dime?

California Plate to Proclaim Trust for Women, but Give Actual $$ to Planned Parenthood

California is making a try at an abortion-rights specialty license plate. I have been unable to find any image,

They're planning to be as oblique as possible with a "California Trusts Women? theme.

Proceeds from the plate will benefit the Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment (FPACT) program, which provides family planning services to 1.8 million Californians every year. Currently, the FPACT program is overwhelmingly supported by federal funding, with the federal government picking up 90 percent of the tab. FPACT funding is also a vital source of funding for Planned Parenthood reproductive health care services.

Let's thus start with the obvious: Since the money is going to Planned Parenthood and not to actual women, isn't the issue whether or not California can trust Planned Parenthood? And if so, to do what?

In the mean time, pending release of the actual design, I'd like to take this opportunity to revisit previous proposed and/or existing abortion-rights specialty plates. To be fair, all of these designs start at a disadvantage. Abortion is not exactly an upbeat thing, like the birth of a new baby, so it's hard to come up with a cheery graphic.

Massachusetts. They seem to be struggling pretty hard with the inherent downer that most people find abortion to be. They just drag out the standard non-approved fetus-dislodger, the coathanger. This is the only plate that in any way acknowledges that the topic in question is abortion rather than the market-tested "choice" that everybody else sticks with. As a result, the plate is simultaneously militant and depressing.

Florida. Adorable! Look how the little aborted baby stars fly up to Heaven while the one little lucky "chosen" star ... floats .....  Um.... Mom? You're not even holding that baby. That's a bit disturbing. I'll push that thought away by assuming that Junior is in a snugli. After all, there's no point in getting your hands all tied up with even a chosen child.

Alaska. Like Florida, they go for the floating-baby theme, though it's hard to say if these parents are throwing the baby or trying to catch him as he flies away. Are they letting him go or trying to hold on? Either way, it strikes me as a bit unsettling in the abortion context. Just as an aside, the people also look a bit like sleds, particularly against the snowy background. This is the only plate I've seen that graphically acknowledges the existence of the father.

Virginia. This seems to still be in the proposal stage and not gracing the Prius yet. Featuring minimalist art like the Florida and Alaska plates, this one is utterly childless. It's hard to tell if the checkmark-woman is fleeing or celebrating. Maybe she's not sure herself. Is that elongated arm holding her back or is she unable to let go?

Hawaii. A ballot graphic with the ambiguous word "choice" is dull and boxy. Placing it atop the rainbow background that's on all Hawaii plates leaves the meaning even more ambiguous. Is it a gay rights plate? What's the driver trying to say? Where did the extra money for the plate go? Maybe it's best not to ask too many questions.

Montana. They're not content with mere ambiguity and are going for a total message-flip. They might actually be hoping to sell these plates to people who like the mother-and-child design and who would never dream that they're taking a stand for abortion rights.

Pennsylvania. The straightforward Planned Parenthood logo lets people know up front where their money will be going. Kudos for the honesty in that, PP, especially considering how little honesty your organization is known for overall. Pennsylvania plates typically have much more dynamic designs, so this one took zero effort, as if they just couldn't be bothered.

These are the only plates I've been able to find. I'd love to list more.

*******

This last plate is totally unrelated to the  post but I spotted it and found it amusing, if somehow darkly ironic, considering the search that produced it: