Transcripts For CSPAN3 Lectures In History History Of Abortion Legislation 20240713

Specialists and decriminalization. Then we will go back to the National Context to look at roe v. Wade and the legislation that has happened since in more recent years. Weeku recall from around one or two, we had a brief introduction to the topic of abortion in the colonial period. We talked about the graph spinner and her abortion in the 1740s. We had a very brief introduction to it. Today, we are going to pick up around the time of the comstock to. Does everyone remember it from a couple of weeks ago . Can someone remind us what the const act act is . [indiscernible] prof. Gutierrezromine no advertising of contraceptives, especially the dissemination of the stuff in the mail. It effectively made it criminal to advertise these things beginning around 1873. We showed you the political cartoon, comstock was carrying a woman and the caption was she gave birth to a naked baby. The punchline is that he was really crude. It is important to know he doesnt oppose all methods of Birth Control. He does encourage couples to use methods of Birth Control he considers as dignified or ethical. Those methods include abstinence. They also include the rhythm method, where you avoid sexual intercourse at moments when a woman is more fertile. But also, sleeping in different beds. These are things he is ok with. Types doesnt like other of Birth Control. He doesnt like condoms, hoosiers, diaphragms, or abortions, because of their relation to the bikes trade. We were talked about the progressive era, these types of Birth Control had been linked to vice industries, simply as a matter of vocation that sometimes women who were prostitutes employed these different methods because they need to continue working. When we are putting this back in the context of the 19th century, we are looking at gender ideology, separate fears, and race suicide. If you are an educated middle and upperclass white woman and you want to use these types of methods, they are frowned upon. If you are married. At worst, they are immoral. If you are a single woman attempting to use these methods, you are considered immoral. Lets look at an example of a 19th century abortionist. This is the example of matter must all madame rest all. She was born in 1812. She was the woman you went to if you wanted an abortion in new york city from 1837 through 1878. In 1836, she married a man named charles loman. She embarked on this career as a professor of womens medicine, a midwife, but also an abortionist and purveyor of contraceptives. Her husband supported her in this. They were in this together. They sold patent medicines that may or may not have been effective, but made most of their money providing illegal abortions. She became very well known. She often came under scrutiny from various different religions and moral reform groups in new york city. Of her firstyear trial. She was charged with performing an abortion on a woman, resulting in her death. There are various subsequent brushes with the law she has. But some of the critics against her cited the fact that she donated to political campaigns, had the Police Department on her payroll. She always seemed to get off easy. Sometimes she settled out of court. Shehe one trial after which is found guilty and has to serve time in prison, her tile in 18 foot her trial in 1847, she received such special treatment that the city council investigated and the warden at the prison ended up getting fired. Upon her release in prison, they continued their work. Thiswere so profitable in that when her stepdaughter got married in 1854, she is rumored toe givinen t have given them a 50,000 wedding gift and paid for the european honeymoon. There were doing quite well. They managed to buy a fourstory brownstone on fifth avenue, prime real estate in new york city. So they are not slumming it over there. After charles died, it looked like she was going to retire. Comstockanthony disguised himself as a potential customer. He approached her and pretended to need contraceptive material. He made a bunch of purchases and used those to collect a search warrant. Then he had her raided. She was brought to trial for violation of the comstock act. Legald try to do some maneuvering, she had her attorney try and help her out to no avail. It seemed she was actually going to do hard time for this trial. Herpril 1, 18 78, the date trial was about to begin, she slit her throat in her bathtub. Thats with this artist rendition is trying to show. Some people criticized comstock for entrapment, but he was nonchalant about it. He called it a bloody end to a bloody life. When she died, her estate was valued at about 1 million, over 25 million today. Questions so far . Comstock wasnt the only person who was opposed to abortion at this time. It is important to note the 19th century is an era of transition when looking at the abortion business. There had been earlier arguments against abortion before this. But when you couple this with of printa, the spread materials, the dissemination of ideas and advertisement, it affords greater opportunity for this previously taboo subject to become open and wellknown in the public. And people can talk about it a little bit more. In the 1820s and 1830s, we begin to see some territories and states beginning to implement some of the first abortion laws. Most of these legislators imagined that these laws are a form of consumer protection, that they are creating these laws in order to protect women. Since there is increased medical and Technological Advancements going on in this era, you do have new methods of Birth Control, abortion that are untested. That can be really crude if performed in the wrong hands. This image, for example, is of a long, spoon like device. You cant tell, but it is serrated. It would be used to perform an abortion. You would violate the cervix, insert this device, and scrape the uterine wall. If you have someone who is unskilled, or who is not a qualified medical professional, this can be potentially dangerous and deadly to a woman. To an extent, these laws do function to protect women, because they are trying to keep the wrong people from performing these procedures. Dr. Horatio store would become the preeminent base of the Antiabortion Movement in the 19th century. He believed medical men were the guardians of women and children. He is the quintessential example of an american medical member association. He went to harvard, he was really religious. He was a member of one of the first generations of basicallysts who were moving into this brandnew field. Hes a contemporary. He is most wellknown for his efforts to eradicate the practice of abortion. He and his contemporaries are responsible for making abortion a moral issue for the first time. One was really interested or invested in the moral implications of abortion. No one talked about abortion as a moral away, not in relation to it being a potential person. But he and others like him began to refer to abortion as infanticide, or prenatal infanticide, even murder. They emphasized their own education and specialization to argue that they were the people who were best in position to lobby the government to basically eradicate this practice. Thealked previously about development of the medical field and how it worked in tandem with delegitimizing midwives and doctors. This is part of that, because it is usually midwives and physicians of color who were most likely to perform abortions. It is not just about this moral thing, it is also suggesting that these other people should not be qualified to practice medicine, we are. Medicalican association ama members, are. As a result of this campaign, good, reputable doctors did not perform abortions unless it was absolutely necessary to protect the life of a woman. Other than that, abortions were immoral, because fetuses were a potential person. By 1880, all states have laws against abortions. What were the reasons they had against abortion . Prof. Gutierrezromine it was more about sex being for procreation, and that it should be within the confines of marriage. It was less about the fact that this was a person, and more about it meant you will were having you were having immoral sex practice. [indiscernible] prof. Gutierrezromine it is a bunch of physicians who organized themselves in saying it are creating standards, is not backed by the government. They formed their own lobbying group to say we are going to define the standards of professional medicine, and we are going to be gatekeepers for this practice to make sure everyone meets these standards, that we have a mainline position on things. They basically become a lobbying group after that. Other questions . So you have dr. Storer and others putting this moral and educational campaign, but another thing adding fuel to this movement to get rid of abortion was the proliferation of abortion stories in the press. Most women who acquire abortions in the late 19th and early 20th century, they do so quietly using referrals from friends, sisters, coworkers, may be trusted physicians. Many of these women have successful abortions, and we dont know anything about them. These arent the women who become topics of conversation in popular culture. But you have this sensationalism of publicize abortionrelated deaths that provide fodder for reformers, physicians, and other moralists who believe legalized abortion will gradually erode americas moral fabric. In typical yellow journalism fashion, newspapers of the 19th and early 20th century broadcasted story after story of young, pretty girls who were dying as a result of illegal abortion. Undercover reporters at one time for the New York Times ended up releasing a 25 part expose called infanticide to talk about the dangers of illegal abortion and its villainous providers in new york city. In this investigation, there were two journalists who went undercover pretending to be a couple. In this longform expose, they transported readers of their newspapers to the abortion underworld. Physicians, midwives, Police Officers who were basically receiving bribes, or were somehow involved with this trade. Using abortion stories as seedy Human Interest stories helped the newspapers to profit, because you can spread these stories out for days at a time. You can give a little bit one day and drag it out for two weeks. , a couple of weeks ago, we saw a short clip from the 1934 film road to ruin. Party, thenving a they were taken away by a female Police Officer and medically inspected. Eve had syphilis, and she reforms and changes her life. Ann finds out she is pregnant. When i turned off the cliff, i told you anns boyfriend tells her hes not going to marry her and takes her to have an illegal abortion and she dies. That was the same thing, except a film example. You have these stories of sex, lowers, coverups, and death. It is really titillating for whoever is reading or watching them. It is important to know that they also fit within this larger framework. Not just about stopping abortion , its also fitting within other sexuality, soate sexuality was conforming with heterosexual, normative practices. Repressing homosexuality, preventing abortion, policing prostitution, and preventing the dissemination of other obscene materials. It is making sure womens sexuality fits within a certain framework, and that framework is marital reproductive sex. Everyone else should be shamed. These women who die from these procedures cant conceal their identity or practices anymore. They kind of serve as Cautionary Tales for everyone else. Questions . Even though there is this policing, abortions dont disappear. Campaign20s, the against abortion had created a more hostile environment for women who were seeking these procedures. Harassed byve felt their physician, their physicians may have given them permits, and some women may have felt guilty to speak to their doctors about this. It is also harder to get an abortion if the physicians are cracking down on other providers through their internal regulation. Even if Law Enforcement is also helping with that, as well. Ambiguouss a legally procedure in the u. S. I mentioned that by 1880, all states have laws against it. It is important to note the procedure is not banned in and of itself. The circumstances around atertion indic whether it is illegal or illegal. It can be legal for one woman, illegal for another, or illegal for one womans pregnancy, and legal for her next pregnancy. The same woman. This is because every state with an abortion statute has a clause that provides exceptions for when a womans life is in danger. Is likely going to die from this pregnancy, then a physician has the right and authority to perform an abortion in that instance. Criteria are no clear to assess whether not a woman take that risk. So there is no checklist to determine what actually constitutes a risk to a womans life. Since physicians typically practiced independently, it was acceptable for them to come to their own conclusions. Whether or not they believed it was medically necessary. This is considered a legal abortion. If aphysician thinks their patient has a condition that will threaten her life with this pregnancy, they can schedule the procedure and thats it. Are hardlineians ama members, they may be reluctant to provide the procedure. What if they went to another state . Where the able to get an abortion with a different opinion . Prof. Gutierrezromine the states vary, they may not have to go to other states. They can find another physician who they can convince they should have a legal abortion. Thats a good point. Thise 1950s and 60s, legal distinction becomes incredibly amorphous. By the time we get to the 1950s and 1960s, we have an abuse of this trust that professional ama members have given individual physicians that leads to that decision being removed from the individual physician and placed in the hands of a committee. It is no longer your individual physician who says i think this is necessary. It is now three to five physicians who you have never met to determine whether you should have an abortion or not. We will get there in a little bit. What is also interesting, for someone this creates a space of negotiation. If i want this physician to continue working for me and my family, you will find a reason to justify this abortion. So it is legally amorphous. Eventually, and we will talk about this in a second, it goes out of the physicians hand. As professional medicine strictly circumscribes what constitutes legal abortion, in the 1920s, it is only an exception for life. It is only an exception for a womans life being in danger. As this is a pretty hardline stance, there are other people who take advantage of this. You get the emergence of the abortion specialist in the 1930s. The abortion specialist is strictly performing illegal abortions. But they are taking advantage of new technology, maybe even antibiotics, and they are trying to fill this market niche for them. We will talk about one of these specialists in california. Like 30 just one, its of them. 1934, Reginald Rankin andoached dr. George watts proposed to him an idea for an organized criminal Abortion Syndicate that would span the entire west coast, from seattle to the u. S. Mexico border. Wat he approached watts specifically, because watts was an abortion specialist. He created this new technique that sounds incredibly scary, but it meant that his abortions were safe. He was able to practice for four years and stayed under the radar. It reduced the risk of infection, because it basically removed all fetal tissue from the uterus. Thats why his method worked. Watts approached watts, came on board. Between 1934 and 1936, rankin brought in other abortion specialists, even some physician s, he created new offices. By 1936, he had over 30 abortion specialists working for him. Women who sot the services of rankin or any of the physicians working for him, rankin himself was not an abortionist or specialist, he was the genius, the mastermind behind all of this. If any woman went to one of their clinics, it was seen just like any other visit to another medical clinic. Except a woman might be blindfolded. She might not see the person who is providing the procedure to her. Or she might have several doctors in the room with her at a time so she cant actually identify which one performed the procedure. Once the woman arrives for treatment, she would tell the nurse or reception is how far along with her pregnancy. That would determine the cost. The further along she was, the more it would cost. Ideally, they like to charge between 30 and 50 for a procedure. This is only in the first six to eight weeks. If you were to put that in modern valleys, modern values, the government inflation only goes up to 2019, but if you put 35 to 50 in 2019 values, it would be be between 650 and 600 950. If she was 12 weeks along, the clinic should charge between 50, 75 dollars, maybe a hundred dollars. Beyond 12 weeks, they are supposed to collect as much money as possible. 300. 250, even i put some of those values here. 250 would be about 4700 today. Once the staff had collected forms and fess, they would fees they would escort the patient to the operating room and she would have the procedure. This is actually one of the physicians. If you want to know more, read my book. This was an underground ring . Prof. Gutierrezromine that is illegal. Was it mostly for wealthy people . Prof. Gutierrezromine if we , 660oking at the values is a lot of money, if we are looking at the modernday equivalents. You get a lot of young working women who get these procedures. They save some money, maybe have taken a loan or borrowed money. We do see that someone turned in their fur coat or Engagement Ring instead, because they may have been insured and they can say someone stole it or they lost it, and they can use those valuable possessions as a way to cover this cost. I dont cover this in the lecture, but they created their own credit arm to help finance women who couldnt afford it. They charged more for it, but it created a payment plan for some of these women who couldnt pay for it upfront. So they were very innovative. This ring, they are in operation for a few years. After some tips, theres a series of raids. It is eventually brought down by a joint task force of the lapd, San Francisco Police Department, and Alameda County sheriff. All of the members of the ring were arrested. It was incredibly profitable. If we are just looking at their Downtown Los Angeles office, they knitted the equivalent of about 85,000 per month. Fees, after all of their that is their profit. 85,000 per month. They also had offices in san diego, long beach, seattle, San Francisco, oakland, and more. Bad. Ey are not doing too the District Attorney, when they are doing the raids, they find paperwork and documentation, they found the names of patients and coerced them to testify on the stand. It resulted in guilty verdicts for many of them. This ring, their success was mainly because they were able to provide safe, illegal abortion, it also contributed to their demise. In contrast to almost every case beforeuted this, they didnt have any fatalities. No woman died in any of their clinics, they didnt lose a single woman. Even though women were dying from a legal abortions elsewhere, they were not receiving their abortions from this clinic, or any of their clinics. This is really the antithesis of those abortion stories in the newspapers from the 1920s. For the first time, it appears illegal abortions could be safe, that you might not end up in one of these newspaper stories about a young, dead pretty girl. Questions . Because those women were going to the illegal clinics, where they also facing consequences . Prof. Gutierrezromine thats a good question. Technically, they could be charged, but the District Attorney often said i wont charge you if you testify against them. There were coerced, encouraged, they were basically told they could avoid criminal penalties open, vocal, and told about the procedure. This is Reginald Rankin, that is moksha. Before this is his mug shot. Before the rankin case, successful abortions who were basically invisible from the wider public. With scores of living witnesses, there is a mountain of evidence against these people. What this case does, i argue, is it opens for stricter enforcement of the abortion statutes in california. Fewer physicians began to risk performing the procedure unless they are sure their patient has a clear, justifiable reason. Furthermore, on top of this, in the 1930s, we begin to see more labor, delivery, and other services moving into the hospital. Legal abortions, as well. If legal abortions are moving into hospitals, whereas before they may have been performed in doctors offices, the need for some of these clinics, even their visibility, comes under greater scrutiny. So now, there is effectively a lower burden of proof that is necessary to bring an illegal abortionist to prison. If legal abortions are taking place in hospitals, clinics dont need speculums, operating tables, they dont need any of those things, because legal abortions should be taking place in a hospital. And if women are surviving illegal abortions because of antibiotics and sterilized equipment, they can be coerced into testifying against their abortionist. Women arewhen these forced to testify, the attorneys dont really make any effort to try and understand why these women wanted these procedures. Most of the time, they just asked if they had an illness or defect that would make them incapable of carrying the pregnancy to term. To this, most women usually they technically didnt have a disease or defect, they were maybe tired or previously had a difficult pregnancy, or were not ready for another child. Few of these women were given opportunities to speak for themselves or to explain themselves outside of the narrative that the District Attorney was trying to lean them towards. Someone tried to speak for themselves that they were appreciated of rankin and the doctors, but that was it. Under examination in court, these women were often forced to divulge very intimate details of lives,rivate lives, sex procedures, even their bodies. Prosecutors asked about what positions they assumed on the table, whether they were naked, whether they were draped, if they felt the speculum being inserted into them. So when grace peterson, for example, took the stand to talk about her abortion, she started crying and said i told you i had it done, isnt that enough . You also have this Movement Towards surveillance. Thats what these two pictures are showing. These are women going in and out of court to testify against their abortionist. Trying to hide their face. These are actually two different surveillance operations. This is in residence. This is an l. A. You have Police Officers parked across the street in cars taking pictures and watching the office and keeping track of who goes in, who comes out, how the assessor enters and exits. You see a woman in this one, and they are just watching and that one and they are just watching in that one. For these women, instead of tolerating an invasive line of questioning, in what was already probably an invasive abortion, other women see this and look for other options. How can they escape this torment and shame brought on by a public criminal trial . What are the options for these women after that . A legaltry to acquire abortion in a more strict environment, or continue to try and take your chances with an illegal provider questions . Wasuring that time, what the reason behind the abortion being illegal . Did it have anything to do with improvement . Prof. Gutierrezromine that is a really great point. We will mention the Eugenics Movement in a couple of slides. Itee that as more i frame in a different way in the next couple of slides. It could be about ensuring certain people are continuing to reproduce at a higher level. Im sure that sentiment is there. It could also just be concerns about morality, that they think it is an immoral thing to do, because the ama has been successful in saying these are babies, and that these are bad women. Especially if they are married women trying to abort their pregnancies. Isyre failing at what supposed to define a proper womans role. And this is something i dont talk about now, but about 80 of all of the women in the period of study i look at in Los Angeles County, about 80 were married women. We are primarily looking at women considered deviant because of their choice to have an abortion, even though they should fit under this umbrella of normative sexuality. So this is deviant behavior for these women. I would stress that ideologies about gender and reproduction, it is obviously less about safety in some instances. Especially as you have sterilization of instruments and antibiotics that become available widely in the 1940s. I think gender ideologies play a prominent role. [indiscernible] husbandsierrezromine were it is a patchwork for that. In some instances, they are brought to court to testify, as well. In the examples of courtroom testimony i have looked at, it is one of two things, either the husband was aware and drove her ire, or the husband is like dont know, i thought she was going to the market and i didnt see her for hours. The husbands are either part of it and the Decision Making process, or oblivious. Those are the only extremes i found in the Court Records i look at. It was either a couples decision to do this, maybe the husband wasnt there, but he was consulted. Husbands were at 80 of them. She wasnt know what doing, i thought she was just sick. Questions . Into the 1940s and 1950s. Going back to these exceptions that remain for maternal life. Though these exceptions for maternal life existed, advances in medical Technology Made it exceedingly rare to find an in a pregnantease woman that would prevent her from carrying a pregnancy to term. There is a little bit of a global context. In 1938, there is an english case. This drew global attention from the entire medical community. Publications in american medical journals were reporting on this case just about every issue. What the results from the case were were they opened the door to therapeutic exceptions when the health of a woman was at risk. It no longer had to be her life. She didnt have to be on deaths door in order for an abortion to be legal, but they looked at her health at large, whether it was mental health, physical health, not necessarily something that would manifest in her death. This that context, therapeutic designation that had already existed becomes a little bit more amorphous in the 1940s. It becomes this valuable loophole for women seeking legal abortion. These Therapeutic Abortions required a private physician with hospital privileges, and it was a hospital procedure that often was coupled with a hospital stay. Therapeutic abortions then become a class issue, become a race issue. This effectively precludes all physicians of color. Because most physicians of color dont have hospital privileges unless it is an open hospital, an interracial hospital. Private hospitals overwhelmingly, a lot have restrictions on physicians of color. It also means because of cost, the fact that it is a hospital stay, a private physician, that the most typical recipients were nativeborn white women of need. That they have some ability to be able to afford this procedure and all of the care that went with it. And these women have some space to negotiate with their physician. Once it moved from life to health, it became much more open to interpretation. At one point, excessive vomiting is considered an appropriate reason for a Therapeutic Abortion. Or tiredness, suicidal concerns. It becomes this bigger animal that people can wrestle with. Especially by the 1960s, this flexibility is considered abuse. Exploitation of this loophole leads to the control of these decisions to hospital Therapeutic Abortion committees. If a woman in the 1950s and 1960s wanted a Therapeutic Abortion, she would go to her regular physician. Then her physician would have to present her case before this committee. Then that committee would deliberate and return a decision. Under this new regime, the rate of Therapeutic Abortion declines dramatically. County and state officials in california recorded the numbers of abortion cases brought before their committe. They recorded the number of cases they approved, they kept track of these numbers. They were strict in their interpretations of what they got constituted an acceptable reason for a Therapeutic Abortion. An Edmund Overstreet was ob gyn and professor of gynecology. Though thehat even number of applications for Therapeutic Abortions increased tenfold, they had a strict limit of five abortions a week. It didnt matter how many people were fine, the only performed five a week. There were things that do begin to push back against some of these blanket restrictions. Questions . One of these things that begins to push for better abortion legislation is the so little might disaster. It is described as one of the darkest episodes in pharmaceutical history. It was developed in the 1950s by a west german pharmaceutical company, it was an anticompulsive drug that made people feel sleepy and relaxed. During the patenting and testing of these drug, no one looked at the side effects on pregnant women. Instead, they said it was safe for anyone, even during pregnancy. The reason they said it was safe was because they couldnt find a legal dose, a dose of thalidomide so high it killed a rat, so that assumed it was safe. In 1956g was licensed for prescription and overthecounter sales in germany and over europe. Doctors later found out it helped patients reduce morning sickness, so it became a popular drug among pregnant women. Doctors in germany and other parts of europe began to notice an increase in children born with birth defects. It was not until 1961 that they recognized the link was thalidomide. Im referencing information for andnational medical Library Center for technical information, so im going to explain in laymans terms, as best as i can, the effects of this drug. Thalidomide interferes with fetal development, especially when taken in the first eight weeks of pregnancy. This was usually one pregnant women experienced morning sickness. Thalidomide interferes with angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels. In the first eight weeks of pregnancy is when things like limbs are beginning to develop. So the blood vessels in these ands are relatively new, more susceptible to toxicity of areas that can relate to structural and functional defects. Withcific type associated is a congenital malformation where the hands and feet are attached to shorter limbs. About 10 thousand children are born with thalidomide related disabilities. By 1962, this drug was banned. The u. S. Doesnt see very much of this at all. The drug examiner in charge of the fda, a woman by the name of frances kelsey, rejected the application from going onto the american market. She believed the tests lacked sufficient evidence of the safety, so she prevented the drug. We can thank her for that. There are still american women who get their hands on this drug, but it was never legally on the american market, so we dont see it to the extent that some european nations see it. Questions . What we do see in the u. S. Is the german Measles Outbreak. By the middle of the 1960s, about 20,000 babies were born with congenital rubella syndrome. Congenital rubella syndrome is when babies are born with it, measles in, german adult, had very minimal effects. At most it may be a rash, or people exhibit no symptoms at all. If a woman is pregnant when she had rubella, it manifests into really grave effects on the fetus. Anomalies, andor include deafness, blindness, heart disease, muscular tightness, intellectual disabilities, and more. So this does happen in the u. S. , and we do see this in greater numbers. A vaccine for this wasnt developed until about 1970. As physicians are scrambling to figure out what to do, a lot of them are encouraging women exposed to rubella, pregnant women exposed to rubella, to get an abortion. It is pushing on the limits most states have for legal abortion, because the disease itself doesnt affect the life of the woman, or even her health, except just the health of her fetus. So the thalidomide tragedy and the german Measles Outbreak manifest into calls for the relaxation of existing abortion laws in the u. S. And europe. One of the most visible cases regarding abortion and these tragedies involves this woman, she is often referred to as sherry stink fine, that was her husbands last name. I remember hearing an oral history with her, she was mad people called her that. So i immediately changed my notes, because she preferred chessen. She was the host of a Public Access tv show called the romper room. She was a teacher in the tv show, there were kindergarten kids, they did the pledge of allegiance, played games. Got a legal abortion in the hospital, because she had taken thalidomide. Her husband was a pilot and found thalidomide when he was in europe he wasnt a pilot, he was in the military. When he was in europe, he got a hold of thalidomide and gave it to his wife at some point during her pregnancy. So she was concerned, she was aware of what was going on, she was concerned her child would be deformed. She scheduled this abortion, but she was also concerned about other women. If she was able to get a hold of this drug, she knew there were other women in america who had gotten a hold of it, too. So she spoke to the press on the condition of anonymity. She wanted to make the dangers of thalidomide known to american women. Somehow, someone got a hold of the hospital, found out about her procedure, and her Hospital Physician contacted her to let her know the abortion was canceled. This story became a sensation. She had noalized prospect of getting a legal abortion in her home state of arizona, so she was able to fly to sweden, where abortion was legal, and had the abortion. After the abortion was completed, they verified the fetus was affected by the thalidomide. It only had one arm and no legs. When she returned, she lost her job at the romper room. The mother of five was no longer thought to be safe around children. Her family received a death threat. People were threatening her children who were alive, even put Death Threats on their dog. This was something that generated a lot of public attention. But there were others who said we need common sense abortion legislation, we cant just have a blanket ban, we have to take some of these other things into consideration, as well. Sherri chessen and her husband werent the wealthiest people, but they had connections, thats how they were able to get this abortion in sweden. Had she not talked to the press, her abortion would have likely been carried out without a problem legally in this arizona hospital. If we are looking at the experiences of other women, especially poor women and women of color, if these women do not have a physician acting as their advocate, they are perhaps more at risk. If we are looking at the 30s, 40s, and through the 60s, things like the war on poverty. If these women had a condition that permitted a Therapeutic Abortion, they were likely to be sterilized, as well. We will talk about sterilization in the 1960s and 1970s when we look at the right to parents. But understand this is going on in the background, as well. If a womans heredity or genetics dictate an abortion for this unborn child, why not prevent future children from being born in the first place, it is the genetics that are the problem. If a woman wants an abortion, but doesnt want to risk her odds with the committees, or doesnt have a condition, or maybe wants children in the future, her odds are still likely to be in the hands of an illegal abortionist. Thats were her best. Her best oddse are. In a 1943, its more likely to be across the border in mexico. Women of means had been traveling for abortions for years, going to places like mexico city, japan, sweden, where these other laws were more relaxed. Again, that precludes a lot of other women. You need to be able to afford a plane ticket, a weeks stay, all of these other things. An important transformation takes place in california in the 20th century with suburbanization, Highway Infrastructure and development, the automobile becomes a very important facet of california life. More americans. In the 20th century, more californians in the 20th century, began to travel and use their cars in means to go to mexico to maybe have some fun, inmaybe engage in drinking prohibition era america, or to engage in other behavior that is somehow considered improper in american society. As these inroads and travel takes develop, abortions mobility, as well. They are using freeways, roads, and personal vehicles, and going across the border, too. Questions . Lets go back to Reginald Rankin. We are not done with him yet. After he served time in san quentin, he tries to create an abortion arraigned in reno, nevada, and he goes to prison for that one, too. He eventually makes his way back to california. He meets up with dr. Royal buffum. They originally met in the 1930s. Rank try to get him to join the Pacific Coast abortion ring. It is unclear how they became reacquainted, but they do become reacquainted sometime after 1950. Together, these men decided to create a new abortion business. They opened up an office in long beach, california, and they would help make arrangements for women seeking abortions. Once a woman approached them, they would take their phone number, call them, and make a designated Meeting Place where they would meet up. From that designated Meeting Place, either buffum or rank him would transport women in a Station Wagon to tiajuana, mexico, where another man would perform the procedure. After the procedure, the women were driven back and went their separate ways. In the specific case that brought about their arrest, three of the four women they transported required hospitalization after their procedures. Convictedre initially and found guilty of violating californias abortion law. Things got interesting upon appeal. This involved conspiracy to commit a crime in another place. The crime did not take place in california. Theou cant assume, California Supreme Court states the california legislator attempted to regulate behavior that took place outside of the geographic bounds of the state. So the court effectively recognized the limits of its power and the conviction was overturned. So this decision basically opens the floodgate of american abortion tourism to nearby border cities. That because they won their appeal, they became singlehandedly responsible for the development of this abortion Tourism Industry in the 1950s and 1960s. Particularly in the 1960s in you had ensenada, demands creating an opportunity for this thriving black market in Mexican Border cities. Tijuana and some of these other places, they are cheaper than may be cost prohibitive abortions in the u. S. , and maybe a legal abortions in the u. S. You dont need a plane ticket, you dont need to stay for a week. If you are a california woman using our highways and automobiles, you can take care of an abortion within a matter of a day trip. Mexican abortions effectively entered the american cultural mainstream. They are even the basis of the abortion and historical romance in 1950 six. Women up and down the state began to take advantage of the opportunity. There are instances where women, College Students in berkeley chartered a bus and got a group of women to go to the border to have their abortions over the course of a weekend. You had other women who meet people in parking lots and are transport. You have other women who rent a car and go over the border by themselves to take care of. Creates thision legal void, and Law Enforcement officials were trying desperately to fill it. At one point, the san diego District Attorney said Law Enforcement officials recognized this case prohibited prosecution of any case, even if they made arrangements in california, and even paid for it in california. He said it appears as long as the buffum case stands, the whole abortion mill will continue to operate in mexico. So it was set up in california, where they did the negotiations, then they would travel with the females to mexico and perform the procedure . And thats how they got away with it . Prof. Gutierrezromine the actual abortion took place outside of california. And it was 20 years after rankin had been found guilty . Prof. Gutierrezromine the theum case in 1953, and case in california was in 1930. He did time for that, and he did sometime in nevada, because he tried to do it. We are skipping over that. Then he goes back to the abortion business in california in the 1950s. He was a really interesting character that we cant spend so much time on. Other questions . Whym trying to understand is it just for the money . Prof. Gutierrezromine for rank in . Why he keeps going back to abortion . He was always looking for a get rich scheme. I dont know whether he was interested in womens rights, or he was simply motivated by profit. Somee this, he did nefarious tax dealings in real estate and property dealings before. Im not sure whether he realized abortion was really lucrative, and it may be the better option. But he rbc he decides to spend basically the rest of his life he died around 1955. He spends basically the rest of his life trying to figure out abortion businesses. I had a very brief exchange with his daughter at one point. Man aheadid he was a of his time. And so i dont know if she has a complicated feeling about him. I choose maybe not to look at the moral aspect, you know, was guy. Good guy or a bad instead, i say, you know, he was atainstitute businessman his an astute businessman at he did provide countless women with safe procedures and how i feel about suppose, ison, i irrelevant to what actually happened. Yeah. Other questions . Ok. The buffum case, legislators in california did try to close this loophole. They did pass other legislation but it didnt do anything to stop what had already begun in in these Mexican Border towns. As concerns about the tijuana abortions grow and i say tijuana embargoes kind of as of as artions kind blanket term. This is often a term that is abortions that take place in Mexican Border towns. As these concerns grow, the border also becomes more visible the 1950s and 60s through increased legislation. Operation wetback. You had drug smuggling and crime that were hotly debated in public. And in the context of the cold war period, a lot of americans that border towns were particularly susceptible to, you evil or corruption or danger. Its also important to note i mean, ive been kind of like, oh, rankin, none of the died. It is important to know that as this abortion industry on the border grows, there are more for unskilled providers to offer their services. Do have desperate women who cross the border and they simply accept the services theye first person that find. They dont research and do mostdont search for the qualified person. They just take the first abortion that they have. Do have scores of unqualified abortionists who are operate. And they are botching these procedures. Noteits also important to ist just because an abortion botched does not mean that its deadly or fatal. It could just mean that women getting hygienic procedures, that theyre not theyng pain relievers, arent getting antibiotics, and so for some of these women who unhygienic procedures, when they return to the United States, they often americano to an emergency room to either help to complete the abortion sometimes the abortions are only partial on border or to even save their life. County hospitals, the Los Angeles County hospitals treatingy, as they are these women, theyre basically toming dilations and complete these procedures that in mexico. Otched so tijuana abortions come to be particularly crude. And when our physician, when he referred a woman to an abortionist, he did so because turn tod she would butchery in tijuana. Women, if they had an abortion, were they not able to again . Gnant i would imagine. For some women, especially if some kind of infection, in the most grave instances, anans are taking out to stop infection or spread of some kind so therenow, bacteria, are those instances. Or if someone slips and an punctured a uterus, that happened as well. Thatere are instances when does happen. And its not because they dont exist, but i just dont have as many examples my head. Op of but they do happen. 1966, dr. Leon bellis was found guilty of conspiracy to commit abortion. Action claiming that he feared his patient would resort to butchery in tijuana than see her mutilated in the hands of a greedy opportunist, he referred her to an illegal abortionist for the procedure. To anerred her abortionist that he trusted. He recognized her desperation. Court of appeals affirmed the lower courts decision. Case toup taking his the California Supreme Court. In his appeal, he is challenging the constitutionality of californias abortion law. He potential butchery that feared, he believed was sufficient to say that her life was in danger. And according to Court Records, was verys claimed he familiar with the abortion business in tijuana and he knew that when women went to tijuana abortions, they were taking their lives in their own hands. In fact, just weeks after the client hef the referred, there was a wife of a Woodland Hills dentist who died in mexico, even though it was a physician who performed the procedure. So specifically the doctors concerns that his patient was seek an abortion in tijuana, the basis of his concerns relied on several assertions, that illegal abortions were dangerous, that Mexican Border towns offered women abortions, and that illegal abortions in mexico or worse dangerous than illegal or any abortions in the United States. So when this case was before the court, theyupreme debated tirelessly over some of the legal questions that were forth. Courts had already rejected the abortion laws of that required certainty or immediacy of death. Prior cases in california had already established that of death certainty would abridge a womens constitutional rights, tocifically her right privacy and her right to life. Furthermore, the court did seem abortion lawshat didnt reduce the number of abortions. They just reduced the number of abortions that took place. If we look at contemporary 1969, hygienic abortions resulted in minimal women while illegal abortions were the greatest death inmaternal california. While not all illegal abortions ended in death, the rate of infection from illegal abortions was significantly higher than that of legal abortions. In an amicus brief submitted ofthe courts on behalf dr. Bellous from medical schools they said that the unfortunate reality was that beentatutes that had designed in 1850 to protect women had, in modern times, a scourge. The California Supreme Court ultimately reversed dr. Bellouss conviction and stated that californias abortion law was unreasonably and therefore void. So california ended up shortlyalizing abortion before other states explicitly legalized. States would have followed, whether or not california was the first, californias ruling basically of this erahe end of criminalization. In the context of the Civil Rights Movement and public sentiment on the issue of California Supreme Court abandoned its efforts to continue criminalizing this procedure. 1970, a number of states had begun to push for repeals of laws andsting abortion several legalized abortion on demand, including hawaii, alaska, new york and washington, but this had not yet been decided at the federal level. Questions . So california decriminalizes in 1969. And it was based on the ruling of dr. Bellous . Based on he was, yes, or his conviction was overturned, yes. So in 1969, Norman Mccorvey that she was pregnant. In order to secure a legal abortion in texas, she claims was the pregnancy result of a rape. However, since there were no reports documenting the rape, she was unable to secure a legal abortion. To acquire aned illegal abortion, but the day she was supposed to go in, she that the police had already shut down the clinic. Out of options, she reached out law school graduates. Mccorvey, who is pictured on the left, she took the alias jane rowe. Photo is later, several years after the decision. Jane roe. He alias the two attorneys argued that violated her constitutional rights. Roe claimed that her life was not in danger and that she shouldnt afford to leave the states but she had a right to be able to have an abortion under states clinical conditions. Belous,the argument in roe and her attorneys claimed the statute violated several of her rights, including her first, fourth, fifth and and 14th amendment rights. In the end, the court does agree to an imperfect trimester system, delineating when abortion is legal or illegal. Since the medical community argued that fetuses could be viable after six months, then the state had the right or the interest to create fetal life that point, of course, providing an exception for maternal life. Viability, before six months, the court doesnt really have enough sorry the state doesnt really have enough of a conflicting interest in the fetus to stop a woman from getting an abortion. So it is with roe vs. Wade, 1973, thatted in abortions become legal and protected in the United States. Now, there have been challenges basically almost immediately. Since roe, since the roe decision, the u. S. Supreme court has affirmed the right to an abortion. Stated thatso states cannot ban abortions outright before viability and as staterestriction puts in place must contain exceptions to protect a womans life. Opposition to rogan almost immediately, once the case was but it was relatively quiet. The Hyde Amendment was passed. It essentially banned the use of federal dollars for abortion coverage for woman on medicaid. And rosie jimenez, pictured often cited as the first victim of the Hyde Amendment. Sen september of 1976. Old in 1977. Ars she was a student. She was trying to become a have a so that she could better life for herself and for her daughter. Shetion was legal where lived but it was costly. She had approached one physician abortion and she was informed that it would cost 400. She relied on welfare and a legal abortion was cost prohibitive. Have a Financial Aid check for 700 in her purse but to finish to use that her studies. So instead, she consulted an unlicensed, cheaper abortionist and she paid that person 75 and developed a bacterial infection. She was rushed to an emergency the infection spread and even though doctors attempted to stop it by giving her an emergency hysterectomy, hadasnt long before she total organ failure and died. The Hyde Amendment was challenged in court. You have attorneys for planned parenthood of new york city, of American Civil Liberties union, the center for constitutional rights. Suitfiled a class action on behalf of women on medicaid who wanted access to abortion acceptedrs who medicaid who wanted to be able to provide abortions. U. S. Supreme court ultimately decided that states were not required to pay or abortions for medicaid recipients and that the hyde did not violate womens constitutional rights. Otheresult, many individual states began to follow this course, and according to one report, within of the implementation of the Hyde Amendment, the number of federally funded abortions from about 290,000 to 2,000. The centers for Disease Control even conducted an eightmonth study to determine the effects restricting access of public funds for abortion. Flaws. Dy had some it was small. There were other issues that affected its interpretation but that medicaid women in nonfunded states who had complications after aboutons, they averaged gestational age than their counter parts in states that were funded. Eligible women had a thanean gestational age nonmedicaid women in the same states. Ist that basically means that women who were on medicaid, who had to wait longer to save money to get an abortion, were at increased risk of death and complications. Delays increases complications for illegal abortion by 20 and the risk of by 40 , so these women were already at a disadvantage. More recently, and this is related to a lot of what were now, a lot of people often reference roe vs. Wade and some peopleroe but would argue that a womans access to abortion is less roe and more defined actually by planned parenthood vs. Casey. Now, in 1989, pennsylvania governor bob casey signed the abortion control act. And this was one of the first statets by an individual to restrict Abortion Access after roe, not the first but one of the first. There were several provisions in this act that were designed to abortions. These included informed concept, spousal notification, parental notification for unemancipated minors, waiting periods, and tonics would be required report all of the Demographic Data to the state. When casey signed this act, it was immediately challenged by providers, abortion counselors and doctors and this turned into the class action suit, planned parenthood vs. Casey. It was 1992 by the time this reached the supreme court. And attorneys for the appellate argued that the pennsylvania control act effectively imposeded roe since it so many regulations on women who were trying to receive abortions the doctors providing them. On the other hand, the attorneys for the defendants argued that overturning roe. They just wanted to be judged by an undue burden test. Now, in prior challenges to roe, alreadyeme court had decided two things. That the existence of a and thetal right enjoyment of a fundamental right were mutually exclusive. Just because you have a right to do something doesnt mean you get to do something. And that since states do have an interest in protecting potential they could favor pregnancy andchil childbirth and adoption not abortion. So the majority in planned and casey held on to the three fundamentals tenants women have a right to abortion before viability, that the state has the right to restrict abortions after and that the state has an interest in protecting the life of the woman and potentially of the child. Nevertheless, in their opinions case, the majority also opted for an undue burden existingover the trimester standard. The undue burden standard is flexible and it reflects the states interest in protecting fetal life. The judges also held that restrictions did not constitute an undue burden. So when these judges are moving away from a trimester system says, you know, abortions are legal from here to here and restrictions here to here, when youre now moving towards an undue burden system, means that states can develop legislation and rules and put them into place and theyll place until someone takes that to court to say it constitutes an undue burden. It moves away from the doctorpatient relationship and it basically puts abortion back into the courts. So abortion does remain legal ruling creates opportunities for a new regulation that at least limit or make some more inconvenient. Does that make sense . Uhhuh. Ok. Recently, since 2010, the u. S. Abortion becomepe has increasingly restrictive as more states are becoming hostile to abortion rights. There were 338 abortion restrictions that were enacted between 2010 and 2016. Enactedhe restrictions since roe vs. Wade were enacted in the last seven years. And more legislators are playing on vagueness and abortion laws, playing with viability, but also this undue burden test. Of abortionproviding facilities continues to drop as well as the number of clinics providing abortion services. Of women of58 reproductive age live in states hostile tonsidered abortion. Only about 24 million women of live in statese that are considered supportive of abortion rights. Were introduced in 12 states in 2019. That is some of whats here. They vary. Alabama, for example, attempted abortions. Other states enact gestational heartbeat after fetal detection, or between 8 and 18 weeks. States focus specifically on banning certain types of procedures for abortion. Reasons for abortions. So some states actually prohibit people from getting abortions if doing it because of the child is the wrong sex or the or somes down syndrome other kind of genetic anomaly. States require a woman seeking Abortion Wait a specified waiting period, counseling, mandated counseling and the procedure. 24se usually vary between and 72 hours. And sometimes this means that multiplee to make trips to the clinics. If you recall from the documentary that we watched, are drivinge women five hours to be able to get to the procedure and theyre doing waitingbypass the period or imagine if they have to do that because of the waiting period. That twice. Do and 18 states require that a woman receive counseling before having an abortion. Has abortions in the United States . Thehis graph illustrates, u. S. Abortion rate actually historic low in 2017. Roe was decided, that rate 1,000 women. 3 per the following statistics that im going to indicate now, theyre from 2014. Theyre from the institute. Oneaccording to them, agent in four about one in four women will have an abortion by of 35. 24. Were aged 20 to and 27 were between the ages of 25 and 29, meaning that more the people who have abortions are in their 20s. Who hadhe patients abortions in 2014 were using some other method of birth they becamehe time pregnant and 59 of them already had previously given birth at some time. Abortiontely 75 of recipients in 2014 were poor, meaning that they made under the Poverty Level of 15, 730 for a family of two or they were low income, meaning that they made 100 or 199 of the federal Poverty Level. Concerns over zika virus in latin america have also of these some discussions about abortion thess in countries where procedure was completely illegal. Again, we see that this being bornor babies with severe abnormalities have at least been sufficient to discussion for easing of restriction in these predominantly catholic antiabortion nations. However, as of yet, this has not into any new policies. Abortion has remained a topic of public debate. But in recent years, it has more attention through just some of these restrictive legislation acts. These newelmingly, acts call for mandatory waiting times, parental notification, consent, vaginal ultrasounds and even preventing dispensation of the antiabortion drugs. Clinicsnting that in that dont have an operating room. And many of these regulations disproportionately affect young women, rural women, women of color, and low income women. Illustrate as failure to recognize that historically, abortion more harmn has done than good. Despite increased attention, abortion rates in the u. S. Continue to decline and some argue that this is because of forms ofcess to other Birth Control, like the pill, others argues and its because of increased of singlecceptance parent h. D. Or even the parenthood or even the decreased significance of marriage. But even though abortion rates have fallen, it doesnt mean lost itsedure has significance. Do not these abortion restrictions deny women access to safe, hygienic medical a and simply advance womans bodyat a belongs to anybody but herself. Questions . Thats it. Can watch lectures in history every weekend on American History tv. You inside College Classrooms to learn about topics americanrom the revolution to 9 11. Thats saturday at 8 p. M. And eastern on cspan3. American history tv is on cspan3 every weekend and all of archived on our website at cspan. Org history. Lectures and College Classrooms, tours of historic sites, archival films see our schedule of upcoming programs. At cspan. Org history. Tonight on reel america, a 1996 fema Training Program 1995 oklahomae city bombing with five leading describingnders their experiences. Heres a preview. Oklahoma city, oklahoma, is a city that just over a year ago experienced a devastation of mammoth proportion. Bomb explodedruck and ripped apart the Federal Building in the downtown area. Act of terrorism killed and injured hundreds of innocent victims and caused severe property damage. Emergency personnel and Law Enforcement officers from every the country worked around the clock, in and around the remains of the federal to extricate survivors, retrieve victims and cause ofr clues to the this horrific seen. Now, it seemed as though the nation stood still, holding its breath as each hour passed, watching as the death continued to climb, trying to comfort the families and friends of those locked inside rubble. This tremendous tragedy of violence and lost lives in is one that we will not soon forgot. And doctor, e. M. S. Critical in this emergency. People seeking care, working with the fire department, Law Enforcement. Why dont you give us your about your initial response to the emergency. Thank you. I brought some footage which may illustrate the e. M. S. Response. Within minutes of the blast, a massive emergency medical response was initiated. If i can please have that film. Came in at 9 03. Several injuries downtown, after an explosion. Where at . Do you know how many we got . Over thes injuries all place downtown. Ok. We got it. Were on the way. Cameen before this call in, paramedics began to arrive on scene. And 9 05, two supervisors and seven ambulances 24 e. M. T. s and paramedics came from the north and south. The first ambulance was in the process of unloading a patient time, when the paramedic heard the blast, felt the blast, he immediately gravitated towards the smoke, heading south on robinson excuse me on harvey until he made it to the northwest corner of the building where he was essentially overtaken by huge numbers of people both injured and uninjured. Following this first e. M. S. Response, the casualty count continued to swell out in the streets. Two critical. We need the unit. Weve got about four or five criticals, about 100 walking wounded. I need a hospital. Critical and two critical and one walking wounded. Emergency. Could you set up your triage . Multiplegetting patients. Watch the full training video tonight at 10 p. M. Eastern here on American History tv. Youre watching American History tv. History, cspan style, with event coverage, eyewitness films,s, archival lectures in College Classrooms and visits to museums and places. All weekend, every weekend, on cspan3. American history tv is on social media. Follow us at cspan history. [music] [music] Franklin Roosevelt began the long trip home. Slowly the long black funeral train, then down pennsylvania beat of drums, the president was born for the last mansionthe executive that forye