Rose Hannover1920s, 30s, chicago, illinois, illegaldoctorOn June 22, 1928, 31-year-old Rose Hannover died at University Hospital in Chicago from complications of an abortion perpetrated in the office of Dr. Lester I. Ofner on June 11. Her baby’s father, Edwin Block, age 23, told investigators that Offner had performed the fatal abortion.

Ofner was held by the coroner on July 28. On November 28, he was acquitted. The source documents do not indicate why, so we have no way of knowing if he was wrongly identified by the coroner, if the prosecution screwed up, or if the way the law was written made getting a conviction difficult.

Rose, a milliner, was the daughter of German immigrants John and Roslyn (Voetel) Hannover.

Rose’s abortion was typical of illegal abortions in that it was attributed to a doctor.

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
• “Doctor is Accused,” Belvidere Daily Republican, Jun. 25, 1928
• “Inquest Holds Physician Following Death of Girl,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Jul. 29, 1928

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