Alice Corbett1930s, newyork, 20s, illegaldoctorOn October 18, 1939, Miss Alice Corbett, age 28, of Brooklyn, New York, died from complications of an illegal abortion.
Dr. Allen F. Murphy was sentenced to 2-10 years in Sing-Sing for Alice’s death.
Alice’s abortion was typical of pre-legalization abortions in that it was performed by a physician.
During the 1940s, while abortion was still illegal, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality from abortion. The death toll fell from 1,407 in 1940, to 744 in 1945, to 263 in 1950. Most researches attribute this plunge to the development of blood transfusion techniques and the introduction of antibiotics. Learn more here.
For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
Source: New York Times 12-17-40
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