Madge Bowmanteens, 1920s, chicago, illinois, illegalmidwifeOn September 8, 1923, 16-year-old Madge or Madeline Bowman died at Chicago’s Garfield Park Hospital from an abortion performed that day.
Midwife Kate Seuer and a man named Walter Page were arrested on October 5, but were later cleared by the coroner.
Nearly two years later, however, Sauer, then 63 years of age, was charged in Miss Bowman’s death.
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, seeThe Bad Old Days of Abortion
Sources:
- “Aged Woman Held to Grand Jury as Slayer,” Chicago Tribune, Mar. 19, 1925
- Homicide in Chicago Interactive
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