Before Roe, How Many Abortions Took Place


I've heard about from individuals I knew well and read in reliable sources there were entire wings of hospitals devoted to young women with infections from home abortions. It would be reasonable to assume most home abortions did not end up with infections--meaning there were lots of abortions.

I've mentioned before my late friend who was in Fargo politics and who grew up on the streets of Fargo. He died a couple of years ago at age 99. He said there was the usual amount of teenage sex in his circle. There were pregnancies. Doctors back then most often had individual offices around the town. I grew up on a farm in Iowa and there were individual doctor's offices in small towns around our farm.

My friend said it was well known in his circle of teenage friends which doctors would "take care" of a pregnancy. Was this the way it was in every large and small city? My guess is yes.

There is a letter to the editor in my paper today which sheds light on abortions during the time before Roe when they were illegal. The author said she was a registered nurse in a surgery unit of a local hospital. She told of a conversation with an older woman. The woman told of giving herself an abortion. She did not need medical attention.

The author also told of an incident in her surgical unit before Roe. A prominent woman, a friend of the surgeon, came in for an abortion. The surgeon set everything up, left the room and allowed an experienced staff member who was not a doctor to complete the process. The nurse asked the staff member why the doctor did that. Abortion, she was told, was against his religion. The abortion was recorded in hospital records as a "therapeutic D & C."  Were there lots of abortions recorded as "therapeutic D & C?" 

If we study countries where abortions are not legal we find lots of abortions. Official statistics report higher abortion rates in countries where it is illegal. This can be seen in the book Her Body, Our Laws: On the Front Lines of the Abortion War, from El Salvado to Oklahoma. This book, written after the author's personal visit in South Central America, presents an entirely different picture than the unrealistic right-wing politics of the U. S.

What the author found consistently was, in countries where abortion is not legal, middle class and up have access to abortions. They are often performed in private hospitals instead of public ones. Poor and rural women have less access. 

At this moment, abortion for the most part is not legal in Texas. From what I read, most Texas women who want abortions are finding abortions. Before Roe, women found abortions.

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