Cassandra Bleavins20s, 1970s, preroelegal, hemorrhagedeath, californiaSUMMARY: Cassandra Bleavins, age 20, died September 19, 1971 after an abortion performed at John Wesley Hospital in Los Angeles, CA.

Cassandra Kay Bleavins, a 20-year-old clerk and Texas native, had a safe and legal abortion performed on her at John Wesley Hospital, owned by Los Angeles County, on September 2, 1971. She bled heavily after the abortion, and a doctor tied off a portion of her cervix to control the bleeding. She was then sent home.

On September 15, Cassandra returned to the hospital, reporting heavy bleeding. She was given a follow-up D&C and again sent home. She returned again on September 17, still bleeding heavily, and went into convulsions during treatment. Cassandra slipped into a coma.

Staff transferred Cassandra to LA County/USC Medical Center on September 18. She died after midnight.

The coroner discovered a 1.25 inch sutured laceration in Cassandra’s uterus, additional sutures to her uterine artery, and uterine hemorrhaging. The medical examiner concluded that Cassandra had bled to death due to the lacerations and D&C.

According to the Social Security Death Index, Cassandra was living in California at the time she applied for a SS# in 1966. She’d been born in Texas on September 5, 1951.

As you can see from the graph below, abortion deaths were falling dramatically before legalization. This steep fall had been in place for decades. To argue that legalization lowered abortion mortality simply isn’t supported by the data.

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Source: LA County Coroner Case No. 71-10001

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1. 1900s
2. 1910-1919
3. 1920s
4. 1930s
5. 1940s
6. 1950s
7. 1960s
8. 1970s
9. 1980s
10. 1990s
11. 19th century
12. 2000-2009
13. 20s
14. 30s
15. 40s
16. NAF
17. abortifacient
18. abortion
19. abortion mill
20. abortion mortality
21. abortionists
22. abortionists — female
23. abortionists — male
24. alabama
25. anesthesia
26. arizona
27. black women
28. botched abortion
29. california
30. chicago
31. colorado
32. connecticut
33. cover-up
34. death
35. deaths
36. deception
37. delay in transport
38. delay in treatment
39. district of columbia
40. dumped body
41. ectopic
42. embolism
43. falsifying forms
44. fetal indications
45. florida
46. former criminal abortionist
47. george tiller
48. georgia
49. hemorrhage death
50. hospitals
51. illegal – doctor
52. illegal – midwife
53. illegal – nurse
54. illegal – paramedical
55. illegal – post roe
56. illegal – unknown
57. illegal – untrained
58. illegal abortion
59. illinois
60. inadequate documents
61. inadequate equipment
62. inadequate resuscitation
63. incomplete abortion
64. indiana
65. infection
66. kansas
67. legal abortion
68. llinois
69. louisiana
70. maryland
71. massachusetts
72. maternal indications
73. maternal mortality
74. michigan
75. mills
76. missouri
77. mortality
78. national abortion federation
79. new jersey
80. new mexico
81. new york
82. north carolina
83. ohio
84. oklahoma
85. pennsylvania
86. planned parenthood
87. pre-roe legal
88. previous misconduct
89. prostaglandin
90. quackery
91. questionable stories
92. ru-486
93. rupture
94. saline
95. secret abortion
96. self-induced
97. suicide
98. teens
99. texas
100. wisconsin