In loving memory of the 1973 victims of "safe" and "legal" abortion:
The following data regarding the deaths from abortion
come mainly from an excellent internet source site that has catalogued deaths to women by
abortion: http://www.realchoice.0catch.com
1973
Evelyn Dudley, IL, 38
Julia Rogers, 20
Kathy Murphy, 17
Linda Padfield, 28
Donna Roe, 18
Dorothy Roe, 44
Eleanor Roe, 20
Vanessa Roe, 35
3/16/1973 Ms. Dudley died after abortion at Friendship Medical Center,
IL
Evelyn Dudley
went to Friendship Medical Center in Chicago, IL on March 16, 1973 for an
abortion. According to her
abortionist, T.R. Mason Howard, she allegedly underwent an abortion in Detroit
and was seeking treatment for a botched abortion she received. However, a
report from Ms. Dudley’s brother stated that she had come to Chicago to have
the original abortion. She left
the Friendship Medical Center only to arrive at her home where she collapsed in
the driveway. She was taken
immediately to the hospital, but they could not save her.
Her cause of death was the shock caused by hemorrhaging
from a ruptured cervix and vagina
from abortion.
4/28/1973 Ms. Rogers died after abortion at Friendship Medical Center,
IL
Julia Rogers, 20,
also died at the hands of a botched abortion by T.R. Mason Howard at Friendship
Medical Center in Chicago. Julia
went for a safe and legal abortion on April 21, 1973. However, a hole had been poked in her uterus, causing an
infection that made the muscle tissue of her uterus begin to rot. Her death
certificate indicates that she died of “bronchopneumonia and generalized
peritonitis complicating extensive peritonitis complicating extensive
necrotizing endometritis and mymoetritis with sealed perforation.”
9/8/1973, Ms. Murphy died after abortion at Inglewood Women’s Hospital,
CA
Kathy Denise Murphy,
17, sought a safe and legal abortion on August 24, 1973 at Inglewood Women’s
Hospital in Los Angeles. The days
right after her abortion, Ms. Murphy had increased breathing complications and
became semi-conscious . She went by ambulance to Centinela Hospital on
September 7, 1973. Centinela
transferred Kathy back to Inglewood, where Inglewood abortionist John Dupont
pronounced her dead at 1:20 on the morning of September 8, 1973. Ms. Murphy’s autopsy revealed that she
died of sepsis from the abortion, fatally infecting her cervix and uterus.
6/18/1973 Ms. Padfield died after abortion at a South Dakota abortion
clinic
Linda Padfield,
28, went to Benjamin Munson’s abortion clinic in South Dakota where he
performed a safe and legal abortion on her on June 15, 1973. Shortly after she was discharged, she
went to the hospital where she died of massive infection three days later. A
pathologist testified to finding the remains of a five-month fetus in Linda’s
uterus, missing a leg, arm, part of its skull and part of its torso. The dismembered fetus caused the
massive infection that killed Linda.
This case went to trial where the jury accepted the defense’s argument
that Dr. Munson did not mean to harm M. Padfield and that infection is an
“accepted risk” of abortion. Dr.
Munson went on to become a member of NAF (National Abortion Federation). In
1985, a teen patient Yvonne Mesteth suffered the exact same fatal infection as
Ms. Padfield, dismembered fetus having remained in her uterus after the
abortion. Dr. Munson was prosecuted for manslaughter and acquitted once again.
1973
“Donna” Roe, 19,
was 17 weeks pregnant and sought an abortion in 1973. She had no pre-existing
conditions, however, her doctor suspected she was an IV drug user. After she
passed the dead fetus, she went into cardiac arrest. The autopsy found a microscopic pulmonary embolism and an
electrolyte imbalance.
[Source: Life Dynamics “Blackmun Wall”]
1973
“Dorothy” Roe,
44, was a mother of four. She sought an abortion at 10-weeks pregnant. Dorothy had a hysterectomy abortion,
removing the 10-week old fetus along with Dorothy’s uterus. She developed a pulmonary embolism from
which she died eight days after the abortion.
[Source: Life Dynamics “Blackmun Wall”]
1973
“Eleanor” Roe,
20, was 19 weeks pregnant when she had a saline abortion. She suffered from amniotic fluid
embolism and developed a clot, causing her death.
[Source: Life Dynamics “Blackmun Wall”]
1973
“Vanessa” Roe, 35,
was 12 weeks pregnant when she had a suction abortion in 1973. Vanessa suffered a fatal pulmonary
embolism after the procedure and died.
[Source: Life Dynamics “Blackmun Wall”]
