Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Two anniversaries. Is only one tragic?

Sidney Knight was facing a number of criminal abortion charges in 1973, when Roe v. Wade made them a moot point. He hung out his shingle and began performing abortions legally. In March of 1974, Janet Blaum went to Knight's New Orleans facility for an abortion. Five days later, on March 11, she was dead of brain hemorrhage. Janet's ex-husband sued Knight on behalf of the couple's children, alleging that Knight had administered a fatal dose of anesthesia while preparing Janet for the abortion.

On March 11, 1929, 30-year-old Catherine Mau died from complications of an abortion performed on February 13 at the hands of Chicago midwife Anna Heisler. On July 20, 1929, Heisler was sentenced to Joliet Penitentiary for Catherine's death.

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