Mrs. Andre Jorgenson1900s, illegalmidwife, chicago, illinoisOn the morning of June 28, 1900, 24-year-old Mrs. Andre Jorgenson of Lawton Avenue, Chicago, died from an illegal abortion attributed to midwife Anna Philgren.

Mrs. Anna Pihlgren, whose occupation is listed as nurse or midwife, was arrested and held by the Coroner’s Jury. Andre Pihlgren, her husband, was held as an accessory. Mrs. Philgren had been attending to Mrs. Jorgenson for several days prior to her death.

Evidently Pihlgren wasn’t prosecuted, since a 1904 Chicago directory lists a midwife identified as Mrs. A. Pihlgren, which verifies that Mrs. Jorgenson did indeed avail herself of one of the plethora of midwives practicing abortion in Chicago at the time.

Note, please, that with issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, seeAbortion Deaths 1900-1909.

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

Sources:

• Homicide in Chicago Interactive
• “Two Arrests Follow Death,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Jun. 29, 1900

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