Katherine Falesch1920s, chicago, illinois, illegalmidwifeOn May 4, 1921, 37-year-old Hungarian immigrant Katherine Knoplish Falesch died in Chicago from an abortion perpetrated by 37-year-old midwife Eva Lorch. Lorch was arraigned and held on $3000 bond, but there is no indication that the case went any further. If she were indeed guilty, this would have been typical of Chicago abortionists of the era, since there were an abundance of physicians and midwives operating lightly disguised abortion practices at that time.
Keep in mind that things that things we take for granted, like antibiotics and blood banks, were still in the future. For more about abortion in this era, see Abortion in the 1920s.

For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
Source:Homicide in Chicago Interactive
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