Gail Roe20s, 1970s, saline, hemorrhagedeathSUMMARY: “Gail,” age 23, died in 1975 after a botched saline abortion.

Life Dynamics lists Gail on their “Blackmun Wall” of women killed by safe and legal abortion.

Gail was 23 years old when she approached a physician for an abortion in 1975. Gail was 12 – 13 weeks pregnant.

Gail had two children. Her only pre-existing condition was active drug abuse. The doctor scheduled an abortion in six weeks. This was not unusual in the mid 1970s, before mid-trimester D&E abortions became common. The early second trimester was considered a “grey zone” during which the fetus was too big for a suction abortion, but the amniotic sac was not yet big enough to perform a saline abortion.

By the time the abortion was performed, Gail was 18 weeks pregnant. Saline was injected to kill the fetus. Thirty-five hours later, Gail lost consciousness. Staff caring for her were unable to detect a pulse.

Gail was taken for emergency surgery. She was hemorrhaging from a large hole in her uterus. The fetus and placenta were removed and doctors attempted to suture the hole, to no avail. Finally, they performed a hysterectomy.

Despite this surgery and the administration of seven units of blood, Gail remained in intensive care for five days, before she finally died.

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.

---

Source: CDC Abortion Surveillance, Annual Summary 1975, Issued April 1977 75-9493

---

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