Mary McNeil1930s, 20s, illegaldoctor, hemorrhagedeathSUMMARY: On April 20, 1933, 22-year-old Mary Agnes McNeil died in Seattle, Washington from an abortion perpetrated by Dr. E. T. Martin.

In Seattle, Washington in February of 1933, a 22-year-old unmarried grocery store clerk discovered that she was pregnant. I had originally called her “Nina,” but further research indicates that her name was Mary Agnes McNeil.

Vintage abortion pillsMary informed her boyfriend of the pregnancy, and he got her some pills supposed to cause an abortion, but they didn’t work. In March, the boyfriend got a drug called “duray.” Mary took some in March and the rest on April 3 or 4, but this still didn’t produce the desired abortion.

Mary’s co-workers and friends didn’t know that she was pregnant, and they later testified that she’d been in good health except for a headache and indigestion some time between April 7 and 10.

On April 8, Mary went to a nursing home operated by a nurse to ask about an abortion. The nurse informed the woman and her lover that Dr. E. T. Martin or another doctor would be able to perform an abortion.

On April 11, Mary’s boyfriend went to Dr. Martin’s office and consulted with him. On Dr. Martin’s instructions, Mary’s boyfriend brought her back the next morning, a Wednesday, for an examination. Mary was in Dr. Martin’s office for about half an hour.

Dr. Martin then told Mary’s boyfriend that the total fee, including a stay at the nursing home until Saturday night, would be $75. He then instructed the boyfriend to take Mary to the nursing home, which he did that afternoon.

On Friday the 14th, Dr. Martin performed a curettage on Mary to remove the fetus. The nurse claimed that she had no idea what Dr. Martin was planning to do. She testified, “I understood he was going to use a hot antiseptic wash. I didn’t understand he was going to remove the fetus of a child. I would not have permitted Dr. Martin to remove the fetus of a child without calling in another physician to certify or find the necessity of it. Dr. Martin did not tell me what he was doing. If I knew that the girl had been pregnant and there was a fetus in the uterus, and there was to have been a curettement, I would have insisted on calling another doctor before I allowed a curettement to be done in my place.”

After the D&C, Mary became alarmingly ill. Dr. Martin said that he himself was not in proper physical condition to care for the patient, so he summoned a Dr. Templeton.

Dr. Templeton evidently cared for Mary at the nursing home until April 19, a Wednesday, when he advised staff to transfer Mary to Virginia Mason hospital. She died the following morning.

It was alleged that Dr. Martin and the nurse told Mary’s boyfriend to say that Mary had been suffering from cramps, had fallen, and had begun to hemorrhage.

Dr. Martin, with some corroboration from the nurse, said that Mary already had a rapid pulse and fever when she first consulted with him. He also said that she was bleeding vaginally already. Dr. Martin said that Mary had told him she’d missed three periods, taken abortifacients, had fallen, and had a chronic bowel condition.

Dr. Martin testified that he’d recommended hospitalization, but that Mary wanted to avoid the possible publicity surrounding a hospitalization. It was then that he’d decided to send her to the nursing home instead.

He also testified that she’d been bleeding from the 12th until the 14th, when he’d performed a curretage. He said that this curretage was necessary to treat her fever and bleeding.

Dr. Martin was convicted of manslaughter in Mary’s death, but the nurse was acquitted.

Mary’s abortion was typical of illegal abortions in that it was performed by a physician.

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 1930s.

For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion

Sources:

• 178 Wash. 290, 34 P.2d 914
• Supreme Court of Washington. State v Martin No. 25153.July 23, 1934.

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