Rose Lipner30s, 1930s, illegaldoctor, falsifyingforms, newyorkSUMMARY: Rose Lipner, age 32, died on January 29, 1936 after an abortion perpetrated in Brooklyn by Dr. Maxwell C. Katz.

Rose Lipner, age 32, mother of 2, died at Riverdale Hospital on January 29, 1936.

Rose was buried the next day at Mount Judah Cemetery in Cypress Hills, New York. After the funeral, several people, including an anonymous caller, notified police and the District Attorney’s office that the death was suspicious, and Rose was exhumed for an autopsy. The medical examiner determined that Rose had died from an abortion. Katz was arraigned for second-degree manslaughter.

Dr. Maxwell C. Katz, who owned and lived at Riverdale (maternity) Hospital, which he operated, signed a death certificate indicating that Rose had been operated on there for a tumor.

During his trial, his defense brought forth a large number of character witnesses testifying to Katz’s 25 years as a physician and his good reputation. Katz did admit to performing an abortion on Rose, but said that it was in an attempt to save her life. This defense was successful, and he was acquitted.

Rose’s abortion was typical in that it was performed by a doctor, as was the case with perhaps 90% of criminal abortions.

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:

• New York Times 2-8-36
• “Physician Freed In Woman’s Death,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Oct. 31, 1936
• “Dr. Katz Freed In $2,500 Bail On Death Charge,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Feb. 18, 1936
• “Illegal Operation Death Holds Brooklyn Doctor,” New York Post, Feb. 3, 1936

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