Sunday, May 11, 2025

May 11, 1907: Death of Newlywed Mom

Mrs. Florence Zeck Porter, age 18, was admitted to Saint Luke's Hospital in Chicago on Saturday night, May 11, 1907. 

In spite of doctors' best efforts, she died on Monday morning, May 13. 

An inquest held at the hospital determined that she had died from a botched abortion.

According to public records, Florence and her husband, Harvey, had only been married for a little over a year and had a young son.

Sources:

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May 11, 1884: Protecting a Deadly Abortionist

On May 11, 1884, a young woman who had given her name as Alice Brown died at the Chicago residence of Mrs. R. A. Hough. She was quickly identified as 20-year-old Lottie Hudson of Austin, Illinois. 

Lottie had gone to Chicago to live with a man identified as C. O. Owen, "a printer who already had a wife and family." He had been boarding with Lottie's mother, Mrs. Hudson.

Mrs. Hough insisted that she hadn't known anything about Lottie's background but had just taken her in out of the goodness of her heart. Lottie's mother visited her twice at Mrs. Hough's home during her illness. 

Lottie had sent two letters to her mother during her illness:

May 5, 1884
My Dear, Darling Mamma:
It is very hard for me to write, for I am very weak, but I know you would be glad if only to get a few words. I am getting along as well as I can. Won't be able to sit up for a week. I don't think I will write as often as I can. I will have to have some more money. Will write about that when I am stronger. Love to all, and May and Willie. Lovingly,
Alice

Chicago, May 8
My Darling Mamma:
Inclosed you fill find a letter for him [likely Owen]. I want you to send it to him immediately; you know his address. I am getting along very well now, though slowly. I sat up a short time yesterday. I can't write any more. I am all tired out now. Mamma, you write to me as 'Auntie.' I will be so glad to hear from you. My address is 'Alice brown, care of Mrs. R. A. Hough, No. 300 garfield avenue, Chicago.' give my love to every one, and keep lots of love and kisses for your own dear self. Yours lovingly,
Alice

On the day of the funeral, Mrs. Hough went to Mrs. Hudson's house and "was decidedly uneasy during the forenoon." At 11 a.m., Hough asked Mrs. Hudson to leave with her because the police would soon come to arrest them since they'd not called in a doctor to attend to Lottie as she was dying.

It was determined that Lottie had died from blood poisoning due to an abortion, believed to be perpetrated by a doctor whose name neither Lottie nor Mrs. Hough either could or would divulge. 

Lottie's family situation had been sad. Her mother had been widowed after her husband had dropped dead in a street car somewhere back East when Lottie and her sibling were very young.

Watch Protecting a Deadly Abortionist on YouTube.
Watch Protecting a Deadly Abortionist on Rumble.

Sources:

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May 11, 1915: Home Abortion Leaves 8 Children Motherless

Homemaker May Johnson, age 36, of Melrose Street in Chicago died on May 11, 1915 from a self-induced abortion "after advice from quack."

According to public records, May (also spelled Mae) and her husband, Frank, had 8 children who ranged in age from 2 to 18. According to the 1910 Federal census, Frank was a laborer who did odd jobs. 

Sources:

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Saturday, May 10, 2025

The Deadly Career of Dr. Lou E. Davis

Dr. Lou E. Davis was a Chicago abortionist who seemed to be trying to give Lucy Hagenow some serious competition. 

The deaths attributed to Davis are:

  1. September 9, 1913 27-year-old Anna Adler
  2. April 2, 1924, 26-year-old Mary Whitney
  3. November 4, 1928, 22-year-old Anna Borndal
  4. December 1, 1928, 23-year-old Esther V. Wahlstrom
  5. May 19, 1932, 24-year-old Irene Kirschner
  6. February 7, 1937, 27-year-old Gertrude Gaesswitz. 

In spite of these six dead young woman, David was never jailed. She was convicted of murder by abortion in 1934, likely for Irene's death, but her conviction was reversed by the Illinois Supreme Court.

She was implicated in an abortion perpetrated on 33-year-old Marie Cooper, a married mother of three in January of 1947 but I have found no evidence of a successful prosecution in that case. 

In September of 1947 Davis was charged with an abortion she has reportedly perpetrated on 22-year-old Mary Kaye in late August.

In August of 1947 Davis was performing an abortion on a 22-year-old woman who played accordion in a night club. The patient's hysterical screaming led the neighbors to call the police, who promptly took the woman to the hospital and Davis to jail.

In November of 1947 she was arrested on two charges of abortion and another of attempted abortion based on accusations from three young women, who of whom made their statements from their hospital beds.

Davis was finally stopped on December 14, 1948, when she was convicted of perpetrating an abortion. At that time she had six other abortion charges pending against her. 

A week after this conviction a criminal court adjudged Davis insane and sent her to Kankakee State Hospital, where she died Monday, May 3, 1954 at the age of 77.

Sources: 
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Only One of Four Executions Warrants Attention and Outrage

Mikal Mahdi
Mikal Mahid admitted to killing an off-duty police officer in 2004. On April 11, 2025 he was executed by firing squad. He chose this execution method himself, rejecting the electric char or lethal injection.

His legal team filed a complaint that the execution was botched. Only two of the bullets struck Mahid, and struck him in such a way as to prolong his death. This, his attorneys asserted constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Acceding to a 2024 state Supreme Court ruling, the amount of time a person would be expected to remain conscious after being shot in the heart is no longer than 15 seconds. 

There has been intense scrutiny into this botched exception, with lawyers, medical examiners, and advocacy groups demanding to know why this admitted murderer didn't get a more swift and merciful end. A witness from the Associated Press wrote that Mahdi cried out as the shots hit him, and his arms flexed. The report went on to say, "He groaned two more times about 45 seconds after that. His breaths continues for about 80 seconds before he appeared to take one final gasp. 

"The implications are horrifying for anyone facing the same choice as Mikal," said his attorney, David Weiss. "South Carolina's refusal to acknowledge their failures with executions can not continue." (Sources: "S.C. inmate's firing squad execution was 'botched,' with bullets mostly missing his heart, lawyers say," NBC News, May 9, 2025)

The abundantly lavish coverage of Mahdi's exception doesn't even mention the men Mahdi executed on his own initiative: Christopher Boggs and James Myers. It took doggedness and diligence to find information about them, and even that is scant. I couldn't even find a picture of either victim. 

Christopher Boggs was a 29-year-old clerk in a convenience store. Mahdi, then 21 years old, entered the convenience store and took a can of beer to the checkout. When Christopher was checking Mahdi's ID, Mahdi shot him point-blank in the face, then put another bullet into him after he had collapsed onto the floor. I can find no news coverage expressing any concern about how much Christopher Boggs suffered as his life was taken from him, a man whose only crime was working hard to earn a living. 

While on the run after murdering Christopher, Mahdi decided to relax on a farm owned by James Myers, a 56-year-old off-duty police officer. James had been at the beach with his wife, daughter, and sister having a family birthday celebration. When he returned to the farm Mahdi spotted him and shot him nine times. He then covered his body with diesel fuel and set it on fire. Again, the press show no interest in the suffering of James Myers as he was executed for the crime of walking onto his own property.

But those abortions were illegal. Let's look at a legal execution -- the execution of Sarah Brown in Kansas during the summer of 1993. Two injections of potassium chloride directly into her brain were unsuccessful in causing death. She was then wrapped in a blanket and left unattended for 24 hours before a nurse intervened and said that Sarah should be provided with care. Severely brain damaged, Sarah lost her vision and would never walk or talk. She died five years later, on September 28, 1998.

What crime had Sarah Brown committed that had ended in her being slated for death?

Abortion survivor Sarah Brown
Sarah Brown
Just like Christopher Boggs and James Myers, it had simply been a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sarah had just had the bad fortune of being in the womb of a mother who chose an abortion at 36 weeks. Using Sarah's mother's age -- just 15 years old -- Dr. George Tiller proclaimed the death of Sarah to be vital to preserving the health of her mother.

There was no public outcry over Sarah Brown's botched execution. There were no hearings to determine if it was okay to continue to inject potassium chloride into the brains of healthy, viable unborn babies. In fact, when the Attorney General of Kansas decided to address Tiller's post-viability "health of the mother" abortions, it was he, not Tiller, whose career was destroyed.

Because that's how we do things in America. Just as abortion-rights activists who had power and authority in Pennsylvania moved to protect the interests of Kermit Gosnell, abortion-rights activists who had power and authority in Kansas moved to protect the interests of George Tiller.

Mikal Mahdi's botched execution led to a huge public outcry, a huge public debate, and political wrangling over when and how and why to execute people who have committed a crime and gone through due process. Would that Sarah Brown's botched execution had gotten even a tenth of that attention. But the state-sanctioned killings of children like Sarah will continue as long as we entrust their care to abortion-rights supporters.

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May 10, 1960: Dumped Off the Highway

A Gruesome Discovery 

AI rendition of police at the dump site
At around 6:50 on the morning of Wednesday, May 11, 1960, the body of a young black woman was found in an uncultivated field just off Taylor Road at a spot about 100 yards off Highway 215. Found along with the body were a topcoat, a bundle, and shoes. In the coat pocket was a piece of paper with the dead woman's name. 

Identity and Cause of Death

The dead woman was 30-year-old Miss Corine Lyles of Jenkinsville, SC. She had worked as a domestic servant in Richland.

Dr. C. K. Lindler, who performed the autopsy and signed the death certificate, concluded that Corine had died the previous day from bleeding and shock due to a criminal abortion. The coroner's jury concluded that the abortion had been perpetrated the day Corine died.

The Sister's Story

Corine's sister, Mary Estelle Harrison, was arrested as an accessory before the fact. She stated that Corine had been pregnant and had said that she would "kill herself if she couldn't get rid of the baby." Mary told investigators that 54-year-old Daisy Brown Baxley said that she could "do away with" the baby. Mary said that she paid Baxley $45 as a down payment for the $75 abortion.

Perpetrator or Accomplice?

Baxley, who was also black, was arrested as the principal in the case. She reportedly told Chief Deputy Sheriff J. C. Harrison that she had only referred Corine to Viola Anderson Wheeler, age 44, for the abortion rather than perpetrate it herself. All the parties agreed that regardless of who had wielded the deadly instruments, the abortion had been perpetrated in the Baxter home, 305 Wilkes Road, Columbia.

Daisy Baxley's husband, 53-year-old Herman Baxley, was arrested as an accessory after the fact. 

The Baxleys were evidently a relatively well-off couple. The single-family home in which they lived was only about five years old.

AI image based on actual location of the fatal abortion
Herman Baxley later pleaded guilty, saying that his wife had asked for help dumping Corine's body so he had helped load it into his station wagon and drive to the dump site. 

Wheeler also denied having perpetrated the abortion. Despite her original statement that she had not laid eyes on Corine until after the young woman had died, when her case went to court she admitted that she had been in the room when Corine died. She also admitted that she had helped to dispose of Corine's body and pleaded guilty to her charges.

When the case went to court, Baxley again denied performing the abortion but did admit to having been present when Corine succumbed. She said that Corine "started foaming at the mouth and ... laid back on the bed and died." She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Herman Baxley, who was Daisy Baxley's husband, and Viola Wheeler were charged as accessories after the fact.

Herman was granted a divorce from Daisy in the spring of 1961. She was paroled on September 21, 1961.

Watch "Dumped by the Highway" on YouTube.

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Friday, May 09, 2025

May 9, 1901: Was Bride's Death a "Life-of-the-Mother" Abortion?

The marriage of Miss Jessie Wing, daughter of N. B. Wing, and H. G. Matteson of Chicago was beautifully solemnized at the residence of Rev. Dr. Thompkins, Thanksgiving day at 1 o'clock. .....

After the ceremony the wedding party was driven to the home of the bride's father on Union avenue where they remained until 7:43 and then took the train for Chicago. Later in the week they expect to make a trip into Michigan and visit with friends for a week or ten days, after which they will be permanently located in Chicago.

The bride is a very popular young lady of this city, having spent the greater portion of her life here, and is highly esteemed and respected by all who know her. She is a graduate of South Belvidere High school.

The groom is a promising young man of Chicago and is president of the Syndicate Book Co., on LaSalle street. Their many friends join in wishing them the best of success in their new life.

- Belvidere (IL) Daily Republican, November 30, 1900

The couple's new life didn't last long. Just six months after his marriage, Henry Guy Matteson would become a widower. 

At 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 9, 1901, 22-year-old Jessie May Wing Matteson died of peritonitis from an illegal abortion. She had been sick for about a week prior to her death. 

Guy was arrested, as was Dr. J.B. Butts, who was held by Coroner's Inquest on May 16. 

Jessie had been a teacher in the Witbeck and Hicks schools prior to her marriage. In addition to her father, she left behind her brother, Henry Wing; and her sisters, Hattie and Mattie Wing and Lucy Smith.

Butts held that while he did perform an abortion on Jessie, he had only done so because she had health problems that would have made childbirth dangerous. During their trial, the judge dismissed the charges against both Jessie's husband and Dr. Butts on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence for a conviction.

Watch Death of a Young Bride on YouTube.

Sources:

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Thursday, May 08, 2025

May 8, 1986: Dying Woman's Screams Brushed Off

SUMMARY: Claudia Caventou, age 33, died on May 8, 1986 after a safe, legal first-trimester abortion at Mercy Medical Clinic in Los Angeles, performed by Dr. Hosni Nagib Fahmy.

On May 8, 1989, 33-year-old Hawaiian native Claudia Caventou went to Mercy Medical Clinic in Los Angeles for a safe, legal abortion. She reported severe abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, shortness of breath, and nausea -- all clear indicators of an ectopic pregnancy, likely even one that has already ruptured. She reported that she had passed a bloody clump of tissue, which she had brought with her in a jar. 

Dr. Hosni Nagib Fahmy examined the tissue and determined that it did not contain pregnancy tissue. He attributed Claudia's symptoms to a possible miscarriage in process. He noted that Claudia had low blood pressure and pelvic pain. However, without checking his bleeding patient's hemoglobin levels or performing an ultrasound to verify the location of the fetus, Fahmy performed a first trimester suction abortion. 

After the procedure was completed, Claudia was alert and ambulatory, but about twenty minutes later she collapsed.

Claudia's boyfriend was in the waiting room during the procedure. Staff told him that everything was okay, and suggested that he leave and get something to eat. Since he'd heard Claudia screaming earlier, he decided to stay.

Several hours after Claudia had first been taken into the patient area, he heard the doctor come out and tell his staff to call 911. This was about an hour after Fahmy first examined Claudia.

Claudia was taken to a hospital where she underwent emergency surgery for what doctors thought was a perforated uterus. It turned out that Claudia's pregnancy had been in her fallopian tube, which had ruptured during the abortion. Efforts to save Claudia were futile, and she died later that day.

Even though, in theory, women who choose abortion should be less likely to die of ectopic pregnancy complications, experiences shows that they're actually more likely to die, due to sloppy practices by abortion practitioners.

Fahmy and the Aftermath

According to immigration records, Fahmy is a native of Cairo, born in 1931, who came to the United States on December 1, 1968.

The California Board of Medicine learned of Claudia's death on June 22, 1989 when they were notified by his insurance carrier that he had settled a malpractice case. Fahmy blamed Harbor-UCLA for Claudia's death since they had failed to diagnose the ectopic pregnancy two days earlier and justified his failure to perform an ultrasound on the grounds that the facility didn't make this basic piece of equipment available. A three-year-long investigation resulted in the board revoking Fahmy's license for gross negligence, noting that Claudia was showing signs of "impending cardio-vascular failure" which should have prompted an immediate emergency response rather than a suction curettage. 

Fahmy appealed and got the revocation reversed. He was placed on a five year probationary status and required to take a course about pregnancy complications and to pass an oral examination on obstetrics and gynecology. He completed his probation and is showing on the California Medical Board website as still actively practicing in Los Angles. However, the publicly available phone number for his practice is no longer in service.

Watch Empty Reassurance as Woman Bleeds Out on YouTube.
Watch Empty Reassurance as Woman Bleeds Out on Rumble.

Sources: 

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May 8, 1981: The Fourth Death Finally Got Authorities Moving

Twenty-four-year-old Maura Morales was eight weeks pregnant when she went to Women's Care Center in Miami for a safe and legal abortion on May 8, 1981. When she was in the recovery room, her heart went into spontaneous ventricular fibrillation -- irregular heartbeats not capable of effectively pumping blood. Maura was taken to a hospital, but died that day. 

I asked Grok for additional information about this case, and learned about possible causes of the ventricular fibrillation: 

  • Overdosing, inadequate monitoring, or drug interactions during anesthesia for the abortion
  • Instrumentation of the cervix or uterus could  have caused a vasovagal response or fluid shifts, disrupting normal potassium or magnesium levels
  • An underlying heart problem
Other factors that could have contributed to Maura's death include lack of a defibrillator or properly trained staff to respond promptly and appropriately to Maura's ventricular fibrillation. Survival rates for ventricular fibrillation drop by 10% with each minute of delayed defibrillation. 

Maura was the fourth woman to die at the same facility. The others were Shirley Payne, Myrta Baptiste, and Ruth Montero.

Hipolito Barreiro

Women's Care Center was owned and operated by Hipolito Barreiro, an Argentine-trained doctor not licensed to practice in Florida. He was charged with manslaughter, witness tampering, and practicing medicine without a license in Shirley Payne's death. He was sued by Maura's widower, but it's unclear what role Barreiro played in her abortion. He ended up shuttering the facility permanently as he faced the lawsuits and criminal charges.

The string of deaths had already captured the attention of the Florida Abortion Council, a group of abortion clinic owners who organized to fight against health and safety regulations of abortion clinics. Their success in blocking regulation in 1978 left the door open for Maura's death. Their further success in 1980 allowed the quackery that killed Ruth, Myrta, and Shirley, along with other women who died from quackery in other Florida facilities over the years, including:


Sources:
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May 8, 1928: Chicago Mystery Abortionist

On May 8, 1928, 27-year-old Margaret Barnts died from a criminal abortion attributed to 39-year-old midwife Pauline Zickerman. The defendant was indicted for felony murder on May 15, 1928.

According to public records, Margaret had led a sad life. One younger brother died in infancy when Margaret was seven years old, another when when she was eight years old. She had one surviving younger brother. Margaret left behind an 8-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter, both the children of her first marriage, which had ended in divorce. 

Sources:

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May 8, 2009: A Paper Bag Is Not Medical Care

Antonesha Ross's family described her as a young woman who loved singer Keyshia Cole, wrote poetry, and had a laugh that lifted spirits. She had gone to Evanston Township High School and was pursuing a GED. She wanted to go to college. She had a new job lined up that she was to start in two days. She was working on building a better life for herself and her children, 1 1/2-year-old Antonio and 6-month-old Antwane.


The First Visit

On May 2, 2009, the 18-year-old woman went to Women's Aid Clinic of Lincolnwood, Illinois. She had an ultrasound performed that showed that she was13 weeks pregnant. However, she also had an upper respiratory infection, swelling in her throat, and tonsils described as "beefy red." 

To their credit, the staff at the clinic decided not to go ahead that day with an abortion on an obviously ailing woman -- making them far more responsible than the Planned Parenthood nurse practitioner who had inserted laminaria into the cervix of Edrica Goode in spite of obvious infection, ultimately leading to her sepsis death. Instead, she was instructed to get her throat infection treated by her family doctor.

Antonesha made a down payment for an abortion to be performed on May 8, at which time she would pay the additional $390 that was due.

The Fatal Day

Antonesha returned as scheduled. But the meticulous care from the first visit seemed lacking. Nobody documented checking to verify that the infection had been treated or cleared up.

Dr. Josephine Kamper initiated the abortion at 12:55 pm and finished at 1:00 -- a five-minute abortion performed in the second trimester. CRNA Lawrence Hill administered anesthesia. During the abortion, Antonesha's blood oxygen saturation fell to between 80% and 90%, and she began to cough up blood through her mouth and nose. Kamper or another clinic employee, rather than perform medical care, gave her a bag to breathe into.

Needless to say, this wasn't any help, and Antonesha went into cardio-respiratory arrest. It wasn't until 40 minutes after the abortion was completed that anybody called the ambulance. Medics transported her to Presence St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. She was pronounced dead in the emergency room at 3:05 pm.

A Devastated Family

Antonesha's aunt, Michelle Nicks, told the Chicago Tribune, "It was devastating. The family all met at the hospital where they had taken her body and it was just so bizarre, just to see her there. Still to this day, it doesn't seem real. I just can't believe it."

Antonesha's cousin, Janell Austin Tuft, had been with the family at the hospital. She told the Chicago Tribune that she had trouble leaving Antonesha's side even after her death. "I literally held her hand until her hand turned blue. They had to have security remove me." 

The Ugly Truth

It turns out that not only was Antonesha still suffering a respiratory infection. She had full-blown bronchopneumonia. By the end of the abortion her lungs were filled with fluid. This was something a paper bag couldn't fix.

CRNA Lawrence Hill, the nurse anesthetist, was disciplined and fined $10,000 for failing to "properly assess, evaluate, and treat" a patient who -- unless there was another dead patient at the clinic in 2009 -- was clearly Antonesha. Shockingly, Antonesha was the third abortion death Hill had been involved with. The two previous cases were settled out of court between 2004 and 2006. Another abortion patient under Hill's care had been left in an irreversible coma. It's likely that one of those deaths was Nakia "Kia" Jorden, was, like Antonesha, was not properly monitored nor resuscitated in 1998. The other was probably Maria Leho, who died of anesthesia complications in 1999.

Dr. Kamper negotiated with the medical board for her failure to properly evaluate an abortion patient -- most likely Antonesha -- and to assess and agree to Hill's anesthesia plan. She agreed to two years of probation on her license including requirements for monitoring and education.

State officials cited the clinic for their treatment of Antonesha as well as for 15 health and safety violations. Those included not having a registered nurse to oversee patient care, failing to properly track narcotics and sedatives, and failure to ensure "a sanitary facility with all equipment in good working order." Even though the procedure room hadn't been used for two days at the time of the inspection, inspectors found insulin syringes outside of their protective packaging. There were 28 vials of expired medication on the anesthesia cart. Medications and frozen dinners were stored in a biohazard refrigerator used to store fetal and placental tissue. Inspectors saw a recovery room technician take a paper towel out of the trash and use it to cover a tray used to serve food to patients.

Reaching for Justice

The facility was fined $36,000. However, the corporation's owners managed to avoid the fine by closing "Women's Aid Clinic" and reopening as "Women's Aid Center" with the same website, location, and phone number. 

Janelle Tuft commented to the Chicago Tribune about this evasion. "At the end of the day, there is a young lady that is gone, and she cannot see her children grow up, and her family misses her. And for us to not get justice -- for them not to pay the fine -- it's not right. It's just not right."

Her parents, Maria and Anthony Ross, sued on behalf of the children, and accepted the settlement of annuities offered by the defendants, with $475,000 to come from the clinic and $80,500 from Hill.

Antonesha was the third patient I know of to have died after abortions at Women's Aid Clinic. Kathleen Gilbert and Dorothy Muzorewa had both been sent home to bleed to death. 


Sources:
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Wednesday, May 07, 2025

May 7, 1980: "Medical Indications" Abortion Kills Young Woman

Some time in early 1980, Marie Gibson, age 34, was admitted to Anderson Memorial Hospital in Anderson, South Carolina because of an intestinal obstruction. Marie was pregnant at the time. 

Doctors decided that an abortion would improve her condition. 

The abortion had the opposite of the intended effect. Marie's condition deteriorated. She developed respiratory distress system, then went into shock. She died on May 7. Her physician attributed her death to amniotic fluid embolism, but no autopsy was performed to confirm this.

Watch "Medically Indicated" Abortion Kills Mom on YouTube.
Watch "Medically Indicated" Abortion Kills Mom on Rumble.

Source: State of South Carolina, Certificate of Death, # 80-8427

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May 7, 1905: This Time the Mystery is in Peoria

SUMMARY: Hannah Calhoun died May 7, 1905 after an abortion performed by herself or an unknown perpetrator in Peoria, IL.

On May 7, 1905, 21-year-old Mrs. Hannah Spillman Calhoun died in Peoria, Illinois, from fever and blood poisoning attributed to an abortion.

At first, Dr. J. W. Parker and his assistant, Dr. John Peattie, were held in the death. Then the Grand Jury heard from Sophia Spellman, Hannah's mother. Her testimony, to the effect that Parker had only been called in to attend to Hannah after she had taken ill, was enough to lead the Grand Jury to exonerate the men, though they were reputed abortionists. Parker had been charged in another abortion, evidently not fatal, several years earlier.

Hannah's mother would not concede that Hannah had aborted the pregnancy, but said that if there had been an abortion performed, Hannah must have done it herself.

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. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, see Abortion Deaths 1900-1909.

For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

Sources:

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May 7, 2020: Last Photo Before Dying

On May 7, 2020, prolifers outside West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa photographed a pale and weak woman being supported by a companion as she walks out of the clinic to a waiting vehicle. 

This is the last photograph taken of 29-year-old April Lowery before her death later that same day. 

Evidently April's companion believed that it was safe to drive her 59 miles home to Birmingham. She never made it there. 

Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue noted that April's autopsy showed that April had "led a difficult and tragic life." She appeared older than her 29 years. Calcium deposits were found on one of her heart valves. She had transverse scars across her left wrist, indicating at least one suicide attempt. This was a young woman who needed a lot of loving, supportive care. Instead, she was sent home with fatal injuries. As described in the autopsy:

There is a perforation of the left portion of the cervix below the cervical os. The perforation extends into the broad ligament with maceration of the lower uterine segment and vasculature of the broad ligament. This is associated with a massive hemoperitoneum (approximately 1-1/2 liters). The uterus contains an intact fetus (see 1068). 

In layman's terms, there was a hole in April's cervix that led to a severely damaged large ligament. The damage to the ligament included extensive damage to the blood vessels there. April died with about 1 1/2 liters of blood in her pelvic cavity. April's unborn baby was dead in her uterus. Operation Rescue provided an image illustrating the damage.

       Payne           

Operation Rescue concluded that the doctor who performed April's fatal abortion was octogenarian Louis T. Payne. Payne had been called out of retirement by the clinic operator. Gloria Gray, who had been unable to find a doctor to replace him. Payne, who reportedly would bring his little pug dog to work with him, retired again a few weeks after April's death. He voluntarily surrendered his license during the investigation. This move would halt any action of the medical board to look into his actions.

According to Operation Rescue, there was a criminal investigation of April's death.

Operation Rescue extensively covers the convoluted history of West Alabama Women's Center. They had a history of deficiencies such as failure to document that their doctors were competent, rusty instruments, and failure to ensure that instruments were properly sterilized.

Hemorrhage deaths from abortion simply shouldn't happen, according to a study published by David Grimes of the abortion-friendly Centers for Disease Control. Grimes long since stated that there was never any legitimate reason for an abortion patient to bleed to death. ("Fatal hemorrhage from legal abortion in the United States," Surgical Gynecology and Obstetrics, November, 1983) The articles states:

Deaths from hemorrhage associated with legal induced abortion should not occur. Yet hemorrhage was the third most frequent cause of death from legal abortion in the United States between 1972 and 1979.  .... Twenty-four women died from hemorrhage after legal abortion in the United States from 1972 to 1979.... Deaths from hemorrhage can be eliminated by preventing uterine trauma during abortion and by rapidly diagnosing and treating hemorrhage if it occurs.

To add to the tragedy, the clinic where April was fatally injured stands next door to a prolife pregnancy center where she could have gotten holistic help with whatever struggles she was facing.

The deadly facility was a member of the National Abortion Federation.

Thanks to Operation Rescue for these sources:

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Tuesday, May 06, 2025

May 6, 2009: "Fetal Indications" Abortion Kills Both Mom and Baby

"Yolanda Mantini" was 26 years old and had a congenital heart problem. 

She learned that her unborn baby had an unfavorable prenatal diagnosis and opted for an abortion. 

She suffered "complications of pulmonary hypertension" and died in a Los Angeles hospital on May 6, 2009.

When I asked Grok for more information, I learned that women with pulmonary hypertension face risks during pregnancy due to the added strain placed on the heart by increased blood volume and cardiac output. About 19% of women with this condition suffer life-threatening complications during pregnancy. 

Would anybody like to sponsor the cost of the autopsy so I can learn more about how Yolanda and her baby came to such a tragic end?

Source: LA County Medical Examiner's Office Case Detail




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May 6, 1924: The Last of Four for Dr. Achtenberg?

On May 6, 1924, 24-year-old Madelyn Anderson died at Chicago's Washington Park Hospital from a criminal abortion perpetrated that day. 

According to public records, Madelyn was a native of Norway. She had worked as a manicurist at the Morrison Hotel. 

On May 13, Dr. Louise Achtenberg was arrested for Madelyn's death. Achtenberg was indicted for felony murder on May 15.

Achtenberg already had a bad record as a criminal abortionist. In 1907, Dora Swan had died in a Chicago hospital after an abortion by Louise Achtenberg. "Louisa Achtenberg," identified as a midwife, had been implicated in the 1909 abortion death of Florence Wright. An abortionist identified only as Achtenberg was implicated in the 1921 abortion death of Violet McCormick.

It would seem that the same woman, Louise Achtenberg, was responsible for all four deaths. She was identified as a midwife in 1909 -- a term commonly used to describe obstetricians, particularly if they were female.

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May 6, 1907: The Prolifically Deadly Dr. Hagenow

A poor-quality picture of a middle-aged white woman wearing a sailor-style dark hat and blouse. She has small facial features and is wearing small wire-rimmed eyeglasses.
Dr. Lucy Hagenow
At 6:30 on the evening of May 2, 1907, 26-year-old Austrian immigrant Annie Horvatich asked her new husband, Michael, to accompany her to the home of Dr. Louise Hagenow. It was late by the time they arrived. Though she didn't bring a change of clothes or any type of overnight bag, she asked Mike to look after her 3 children from a previous marriage and to come and see her on Saturday.

Mike, who told his story through a translator, said that he didn't know Hagenow and didn't know what his wife's purpose was in the visit -- a claim that isn't held up by the letter he says he got from her the next day:

Beloved Mike -- I let you know everything is well. Slept very well. Take care of the children. Tell Fanny not to go outside unless she puts a cap and coat on her. If she won't, don't leave her out. You see how she is. You didn't have any coffee at home and you were mad this morning. I will take care you won't be angry. Don't be afraid. There won't be any serious happenings. Will be in the house that day until I go home. Come over Saturday afternoon as you said, and tell the children where you are going, so that they won't go away from the house. Tell them I will come back with you. Nothing else. With love and regards to the children. A.H.
So evidently Mike knew enough about Annie's plans that she would have to assuage his fears that there might be "serious happenings."

Annie Sickens and Dies

Mike went to Hagenow's home on Saturday afternoon and found his wife sitting up in bed. She told him she was unwell and sent him home, saying she would not be returning home until Monday.

On Sunday, Mike got a phone call to go to Hagenow's place. He arrived at 10 p.m. to find his wife very sick and Hagenow armed with a revolver. A Dr. Rasmussen was also present. Mike remained at Annie's side during the night, noting that by morning she appeared to be much worse. He went to the home of Mary Galavitch, who could speak English and thus serve as a translator. When Mike and Mary arrived, Hagenow met them and told them that Annie had died at 5 a.m.

The Business With the Undertaker

Hagenow gave Mike a business card for a neighborhood undertaker. Mike indicated that he'd prefer an undertaker that he knew. He sought out W.J. Freckleton, who went to Hagenow's home to pick up Annie's body at around 5 p.m. He said that Hagenow told him that he should return after dark to take Annie's body out the back way. He returned at about 9 p.m. with an assistant, and found it very difficult to get Annie's body down the narrow staircase. He said that Hagenow told him that her regular undertaker never reported any trouble getting bodies out down that staircase.

The Truth Comes Out

The funeral was held, Annie buried at St. Maria's Cemetery on May 8, and it seemed as if Mike and the children would be getting on with their lives as best they could. That changed on May 13. 

Mike had told Annie's brother, John Sneller, that Annie had been healthy before she'd gone to Hagenow's practice. John went to Cook County coroner Hoffman and alerted him to the suspicious circumstances.

So on May 13 coroner Hoffman went to the cemetery with a crew of people including Annie's brother, Rush Medical College professor Dr. Edwin R. LeCount, coroner's physician Dr. Warren H. Hunter, chairman of the Chicago Medical Society committee on abortion Dr. Rudolph Holmes, and some policemen. They exhumed Annie's body. A post-mortem examination revealed that although Annie's death had been attributed to pneumonia, her lungs had been quite healthy and normal -- as were most of her internal organs. It was in her pelvis that the true cause of death was found. Her uterus was lacerated, with the top of the uterus torn nearly off, causing fatal peritonitis. From the condition of her uterus, the doctors gauged that she had been about four months pregnant, but there was no sign of the fetus, which evidently had been successfully killed, removed, and disposed of.

Hagenow was arrested as the primary guilty party, and Dr. Alois Rasmussen charged with concealing the abortion death. He had been the one who had signed the falsified death certificate. 

Hagenow's Claims Ring Hollow

Hagenow's Ad
Hagenow admitted that Annie had come to her place on the 2nd and died on the 6th, but insisted that Annie had been bleeding vaginally upon her arrival. She insisted that Annie told her she had seen a doctor on the South Side who had "brought her around" (i.e. done an abortion). Hagenow's claim that she hadn't performed an abortion on Annie wasn't very credible, given her history. She advertised consistently in Chicago daily papers, ads reading, "Dr. Louise Hagenow; licensed physician; expert; twenty seven years; female diseases; a new scientific, painless method; no operation; good results...." " In short, she was an open and known abortionist. In fact, she was out on a $10,000 bond for another abortion when Annie entrusted herself to her care.

Also entered into evidence in the trial was the dying declaration of Marie Hecht, who died from one of Hagenow's "scientific, painless" abortions in 1899, as testified to by the police officer who had taken the statement. Likewise entered into evidence was the testimony of a doctor who Hagenow had brought in to help try to save the life of a young woman Hagenow had disemboweled in the process of an abortion sometime ten or fifteen years prior to the trial over Annie's death -- which would mean this woman could have been Minnie Deering (1891), Sophia Kuhn or Emily Anderson (1892), Hannah Carlson (1896), or another as of yet unidentified woman. A police officer also testified about taking the dying declaration of Lola Madison. To top it off, during cross-examination, Hagenow admitted involvement in the abortion death of Hannah Carlson.

An Appeal Denied, a Sentence Pronounced

The appeals court noted, "had the evidence shown that Annie Horavitch was the only pregnant woman whom [Hagenow] had caused to miscarry or abort, it might not have been unreasonable to presume that she did so in good faith and for the purpose of saving the woman's life. .... [but for] 27 years [Hagenow] had been constantly engaged in producing miscarriages and causing abortions... [and] she kept a place for the treatment and care of women upon whom miscarriages and abortions had been caused and performed; ... she was surrounded at her house by men and women engaged in the business of causing and producing criminal miscarriages and abortions, and ... she had caused the death of several women upon whom she had caused miscarriages and produced abortions within a few years prior to her indictment for causing the death of Annie Horvatich ...."

Hagenow, nearly 60 years old at the time of her trial, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for Annie's death.

A Trail of Death

Hagenow was reportedly an 1879 graduate of Missouri Medical College. While operating under the name Dr. Louisa Hagenow she  had already been implicated of the abortion deaths of Louise Derchow, Annie Dorris, Abbia Richards, and Emma Dep in San Francisco, then relocated to Chicago. 

Before Annie died Hagenow, now operating as Dr. Louise Hagenow, was implicated in the deaths of Minnie Deering in 1891,  Sophia Kuhn and Emily Anderson in 1892, Hannah Carlson in 1896, Marie Hecht in 1899, May Putnam in 1905, and Lola Madison in 1906.

Hagenow was freed from Joliet on October 29, 1917, having served less than half of her sentence. She went straight back to business, now calling herself Dr. Lucy Hagenow and landing 22-year-old Pauline Albrecht in the hospital fighting for her life. Pauline, writhing in pain in her hospital bed, told police, “I didn’t know what I was doing. A friend told me of her and I went to see her. I just asked for an examination; and she said she must operate.” With no cash on hand, Pauline gave Hagenow a $400 diamond ring.

In her jail cell and pressed by reporters, Hagenow snapped, “I didn’t do anything to her. There wasn’t anything the matter with her. She asked me for advice and I told her to go home and forget it.”

“Yes, I’ve been arrested before — what’s that to you? Yes, I’ve served time in Joliet — why do you blame me for these things? If these fool girls would take care of themselves they wouldn’t have these things done, would they?”

“There’s lot of midwives in Chicago making a living the way I do. I’ve been performing operations for fifty years. Since I got out of prison this last time, though, business is booming. Everybody’s doing it — no one wants babies; they come to us — it’s our business to help them.”

“I didn’t hurt this girl. She went home and caught cold. Then she called me up and told me she had taken some pills. I don’t know anything about that, do I? Why arrest me?”

Perhaps she had been arrested because Pauline’s ring was found in her possession, which certainly corroborated the ailing woman’s story. Fortunately, Pauline survived her ordeal, and Hagenow lay low for a while.

Then, suddenly in 1925, it was as if something snapped and Hagenow began making up for lost time. Five young women lost their lives at Lucy Hagenow’s hands that year:  Nina H. Pierce, Elizabeth Welter, Bridget Masterson, Lottie Lowy, and Jean Cohen. None of these deaths lost Hagenow her freedom, but her luck ran out with the 1926 death of Mary Moorehead. She was sentenced to prison for Mary's death. However, when she appealed the Supreme Court of Illinois ordered a new trial in 1929. The judge, noting that there was no new evidence, dismissed the case, telling Hagenow, “You had better make your peace with God, Lucy Hagenow. I do not think your months on earth are many.”

Hagenow, the Associated Press noted, was nearly deaf and “may not have heard. She muttered something, and shambled laboriously from the room.”

As near as I can determine, Hagenow died September 26, 1933, in Norwood Park, Cook County, Illinois. Her occupation on her death record was given as “midwife.”


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