Most illegal abortions were done by physicians. A distant but important second category of illegal abortionists was the paramedical person. The third most common was the amateur abortionist. Self-induced abortions, which persist in spite of legalization, still cost women their lives.

• Miss Bellville
• This young blind woman had been taught by her boyfriend how to perform self-induced abortions. The second one ended her life.
• Miss Bertram
• This young woman bought an abortifacient drug that killed her near-term baby, then killed her.
• Clara Duvall
• Clara Bell Duvall was a 32-year-old married mother of five. NOW says that Clara attempted a self-induced abortion with a knitting needle in 1929.
• Laura France
• In September of 1989, 33-year-old mother of four Laura France was found dead in the garage of her home in Mansfield, Ohio. Laura evidently attempted a self-induced abortion with an air compressor.
• Ruth Friedl
• Ruth Irene Friedl was a married, 27-year-old mother of two. NOW’s site said that pregnancy was life-threatening for Ruth, but they don’t specify why, nor do they say why she was denied an abortion. NOW says that Ruth drank ergot apiol, an herbal abortifacient, on August 21, 1929.
• Ruth Haught
• Ruth died of blood poisoning from an apparent self-induced abortion in 1937
• Kris Humphrey
• Kris Humphrey placed a high value on “self-determination” and doing things “naturally.” These values led her to choose the herbal abortion that ended her life on August 14, 1994.
• Mrs. Frank Lafavor
• This 15-year-old newlywed got her fatal abortifacient from her landlord.
• Sherran Parks
• In November of 1978, this Colorado woman suspected she was pregnant. She procured two 1/2-ounce bottles of pennyroyal oil and drank them to cause an abortion.
• Pauline Roberson Shirley
• The National Organization for Women claims that Pauline, age 29, died from a criminal abortion of some sort in 1940.
• Mary L. Stone
• Mary attempted an abortion with oil of tansy, with fatal results.