Selling abortion

Abortion Past | Through academia, the press, and TV, pro-abortion forces peddled their cause | Marvin Olasky

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During the half-century from 1860 to 1910 in which America's rate of abortion declined sharply, The New York Times regularly reported on prominent physicians who did abortions. A story in 1884, "Two Physicians in Trouble," noted that two of the "best known physicians in Providence, R.I.," were on trial for abortion. A typical story in 1886, "DOCTOR INDICTED," detailed abortion charges against a highly regarded New Haven physician, Dr. Gallagher. A similar story about a well-connected doctor noted the abortion arrest of Philadelphia physician David Otway.

The Times often contrasted the power of abortionists with the powerlessness of unborn children and the vulnerability of their mothers. After the indictment of Newark physician Herman W. Gedicke in 1880, the Times noted that "the accused is wealthy and is a member of the board of Aldermen." Gedicke paid $2,000 to bribe the jury but ended up receiving a two-year sentence for criminal abortion in a verdict the judge called "a most signal triumph of the law over power and influence." Gedicke, though, later received a pardon.