Richard Starkie was a British doctor who was charged with distributing illegal narcotics while performing abortions in 1921. Starkie, a former police surgeon, began illegally performing abortions during the early 1900s. He continued performing abortions until his arrest on 17 July 1921 and was charged with administering narcotics for the purpose of performing an abortion on a married woman as well as prior abortions on four unmarried patients. Although acquitted on abortion charges, he was found guilty for administering drugs and sentenced to nine months imprisonment at Wormwood Scrubs Prison. He was reportedly met by about 600 of his former patients following his release.
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Intact dilation and extraction is a surgical procedure that removes an intact fetus from the uterus. The procedure is used both after miscarriages and for abortions in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.
Marcel André Henri Félix Petiot was a French doctor and serial killer. He was convicted of multiple murders after the discovery of the remains of 23 people in the basement of his home in Paris during World War II. He is suspected of the murder of around 60 victims during his lifetime, although the true number remains unknown.
Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler,, was a Jewish Polish-born Canadian physician and abortion rights advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada. As a youth during World War II, Morgentaler was imprisoned at the Łódź Ghetto and later at the Dachau concentration camp.
Dilation and evacuation (D&E) is the dilation of the cervix and surgical evacuation of the uterus after the first trimester of pregnancy. It is a method of abortion as well as a common procedure used after miscarriage to remove all pregnancy tissue.
An unsafe abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by people lacking the necessary skills, or in an environment lacking minimal medical standards, or both. An unsafe abortion is a life-threatening procedure. It includes self-induced abortions, abortions in unhygienic conditions, and abortions performed by a medical practitioner who does not provide appropriate post-abortion attention. About 25 million unsafe abortions occur a year, of which most occur in the developing world.
Bertram Barney Wainer was an Australian doctor who successfully campaigned for legal access to abortion for women in the state of Victoria. In the process he received multiple death threats from Victoria Police and survived at least three attempts on his life, including shootings and arson. He was also to uncover political and police corruption.
George Richard Tiller was an American physician from Wichita, Kansas. He gained national attention as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, which was one of only three abortion clinics nationwide at the time which provided late termination of pregnancy.
The Jane Collective or Jane, officially known as the Abortion Counseling Service of Women's Liberation, was an underground service in Chicago, Illinois affiliated with the Chicago Women's Liberation Union that operated from 1969 to 1973, a time when abortion was illegal in most of the United States. The foundation of the organization was laid when Heather Booth helped her friend's sister obtain a safe abortion in 1965. Other women with unwanted pregnancies began to contact Booth after learning via word-of-mouth that she could help them. When the workload became more than what she could manage, she reached out to other activists in the women's liberation movement. The collective sought to address the increasing number of unsafe abortions being performed by untrained providers. Since illegal abortions were not only dangerous but very expensive, the founding members of the collective believed that they could provide women with safer and more affordable access to abortions.
Hugh Benjamin Munson was a physician who performed abortions in Rapid City, South Dakota, both before and after legalization.
Dr. Robert Douglas Spencer (1889–1969) was a general practitioner in Ashland, Pennsylvania, best known for his work as an illegal abortion provider in the decades before Roe vs. Wade. He operated his practice from the 1920s until his death and is believed to have performed some 40,000 abortions. He was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, graduating in 1915. He served in the U.S. Army and worked for a few years as a chief pathologist in a miners' hospital. He was known for embracing cutting-edge treatments for black lung disease and became one of the first doctors in the country to use sodium pentathol, radium pellets, and a bronchoscope.
Abortion in Austria has been fully legalized since 1 January 1975. Abortions can be performed on demand in hospitals for women during the first three months from the beginning of the pregnancy. Abortions can be performed later if there is a physical or mental health threat to the pregnant woman, if there is an incurable problem with the development of the fetus, or if the patient is under the age of 14.
Abortion in Albania was fully legalized on December 7, 1995. Abortion can be performed on demand until the twelfth week of pregnancy. Women must undergo counseling for a week prior to the procedure, and hospitals which perform abortions are not allowed to release information to the public regarding which women they have treated.
Kermit Barron Gosnell is an American former physician and serial killer who was convicted of the murders of three infants who were born alive after botched abortion attempts, and manslaughter for one woman during an abortion procedure, as well as several other medically related crimes.
The Doctor and the Girl is a 1949 American drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Glenn Ford and Janet Leigh that was inspired by the French novel Corps et Âmes by Maxence Van der Meersch.
Garson Romalis was a Canadian gynecologist who specialized in providing abortions. He was twice wounded in attempts on his life. The first attempt on his life was by far the most violent antiabortion crime in Canada, according to the National Post. The second attempt was made by an unknown assailant who stabbed him and fled. Since being personally attacked, Romalis became more outspoken and more determined to provide abortions to women who want them. As such, he was a notable public figure in the Canadian abortion debate. The University of Toronto Law School invited him to speak at their Symposium to mark the 20th Anniversary of R. vs. Morgentaler. He worked to convince medical students of the need to continue providing abortions.
Abortion in Tonga is severely restricted by criminal law, as nearly all abortions are illegal. Abortions are illegal in Tonga, unless medical authorities cite preservation of maternal health.
Abortion in Saudi Arabia is legal only in cases of risk to a woman’s life, fetal impairment, or to protect her physical and mental health. Pregnancy arising from incest or rape also qualify for a legal abortion there under the mental health exemption The fetus must be less than four months old, and if longer, requires a panel of approved specialists to declare that the pregnancy will result in the death of the woman or serious damage to her health. Any approved abortion requires consent from three physicians as well as the patient and her partner. If an abortion is performed on a woman for any other reason, the violator may be required to pay blood money to the unborn child's family. Laws explicitly deny abortion to families who fear financial instability or an inability to provide the child with education. The selling of pills which are used for the process of abortion is illegal and has resulted in arrest.
Abortion in Azerbaijan is legal on request up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, and in specific circumstances between 12 and 28 weeks. The current abortion law of Azerbaijan is based on the abortion law of the Soviet Union of 1955 when Azerbaijan was a Republic of the Soviet Union, and no changes were made after Azerbaijan became independent in 1991. Between 1965 and 1987 the abortion rate used to be very high. Since independence, the abortion rate has almost halved and relatively stabilized after 2000. In the 2014, 13.8% of pregnancies in Azerbaijan ended in abortion, a slight rise from the all-time low recorded in 2005 (12.1%).
Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer is a 2018 American drama film based on real life events about Kermit Gosnell, a physician and abortion provider who was convicted of first degree murder in the deaths of three infants born alive, involuntary manslaughter in the death of a patient undergoing an abortion procedure, 21 felony counts of illegal late-term abortion, and 211 counts of violating a 24-hour informed consent law. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Abortion in Kenya is prohibited with the exception of certain circumstances including danger to the life and health of the expectant mother, and rape. Unsafe abortions are a major cause of deaths and health complications for women in Kenya.