(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . EASY MONEY [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-08 There’s a book out there, you can probably find a copy online, called The Worst Of Times. It’s about abortion, in the pre Roe days. There are accounts by former illegal abortionists, police who arrested illegal abortionists, women who had illegal abortions, and people who lost family members to botched illegal abortions. All kinds of people became abortionists. A doctor’s widow, a nurse’s aide, a motorcycle mechanic, who had been a medic in the British Navy, a cab driver, who performed the abortions in the back of his cab. The doctor’s widow was arrested, after the police got some information and had a woman officer pretend to be a patient. The motorcycle mechanic was arrested after his last patient had some bad cramps. She had never had any kind of menstrual cramps before and didn’t know what they were. So, she went to a doctor and told him what she’d done. Most women wouldn’t admit to having an abortion, let alone name the abortionist. They were afraid of being charged too. That didn’t happen, back then, the abortionists were the criminals. The women were seen as victims. That’s not how things are now. Flo, the nurse’s aide, who was one of the best abortionists in the city of Pittsburgh had had some medical training. Thanks to her job, she had access to antibiotics and sterile equipment. She also had a network of people, mostly former patients, who would refer people to her. Flo would, occasionally have a stay in the county Workhouse. The people who referred friends to her, and her patients, were not prosecuted. The motorcycle mechanic was sentenced to 8 years in a state prison, then released, on a technicality. In those pre Roe days, illegal abortionists didn’t face serious penalties. Their patients, and their friends faced no penalties at all. That’s not how they want to do things now. The young woman who found a sympathetic doctor, will be prosecuted too. So will her sorority sister, who told her about the sympathetic doctor. In ‘The Worst Of Times” you can read about a police officer who arrested a doctor on suspicion of performing an illegal abortion. Someone had injected Green Soap into a young woman’s uterus. She had died from the procedure. The young woman lived near the doctor’s office. The doctor had a bottle of Green Soap among his equipment. Which should surprise no one. Green Soap is an antiseptic. My mother swore by it. She was not an abortionist. The police suspected the woman’s boyfriend might have tried to end her pregnancy. But they had no evidence. On the other hand, the doctor had Green Soap in his office. That was how it was, before 1973. That was how it was before the Republicans embraced the so called pro life movement, as a way to get working Americans to cut their own throats. At present, I’m sure there are people in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and other states that have strict abortion bans, who are still willing to perform the procedure, for cash, gift cards, or, possibly, bitcoin. The pills will make it much easier to become a clandestine abortionist. Presumably, any enterprising soul will be able to order a two years supply online. The internet makes it simpler to find a clandestine abortionist, or a way to give yourself an abortion. More women will learn about the techniques their grandmothers used, involving coffee stirrers, darning needles and household cleaners. Some of them will wind up sterile as a result. Some of them will wind up dead. Most of them will resist going to the emergency room, because they will fear consequences. Welcome to a post Roe world. In Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, there are doctors who will terminate a pregnancy, if you have enough money, and you’re willing to pay cash. The last thing they want is for abortion to be legal again. Illegal abortions are risky, of course, but they pay so much better. Illegal abortion, like illegal drugs or illegal gambling is big business, untaxed, unregulated, and very very profitable. The Supreme court has done some questionable people a very large favor. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/8/2242133/-EASY-MONEY?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/