Almost a week after the murder of Dr. George Tiller, the New York Times has a poignant op-ed column today about the death of Ann Lohman. Lohman died in 1878, and she technically did so by her own hand, but she was by far the most famous casualty of the anti-choice forces before the passage of Roe v. Wade. The op-ed, written by Kate Manning, skillfully highlights that the fight over abortion in this country and the vitriol therein is not something limited to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
To summarize Ann Lohman’s life, which is laid out in more detail in the Times column, she was an English midwife who emigrated to New York, called herself Madame Restell, and sold herbs and pills that were designed to terminate pregnancies:
The medicines — mostly herbs, perhaps some opium — promised relief from an “obstructed womb” and “suppressed” menstruation. “Not to be used when *******,” declared one of the many coy ads she placed, “as miscarriage may occur.”
She charged on a sliding scale depending on her patient’s ability to pay, and also taught sex education classes, delivered babies, and provided adoption services. Like Tiller, she was not a person who could be reduced to merely an “abortionist”. Lohman grew increasingly wealthy due to her practice, and became a high-profile target for the mudslinging journalists, but it is worth noting that not one woman is known to have died at her skillful hands. She was noted for her exceptionally kind bedside manner and was dedicated to providing all manner of reproductive rights to the women of New York City.
Lohman was arrested multiple times over the years, often being held for months in jail without bail. Because of the convoluted laws against abortion that made the procedure difficult to prosecute, she was convicted only once. It was Anthony Comstock, the founder of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, who proved to be her downfall. Comstock entrapped Lohman by purchasing abortifacient medicines and then had her arrested. (Comstock also clashed with Margaret Sanger, and arranged for the arrest of Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin.) Lohman feared that she would not survive more time in prison so, before she could stand trial, she committed suicide at the age of 66 by slitting her throat in her bathtub.
The tabloids, predictably, had a field day:
“A bloody ending to a bloody life,” Comstock commented upon hearing of her death. The newspapers echoed his sentiments. “The end of sin is death,” wrote The New York Tribune, and The Times editorialized that Lohman’s death was “a fit ending to an odious career.”
Manning sees past the sensationalism of Lohman’s story and demonstrates how her death, as well as Tiller’s, illustrate the hurdles that those practitioners dedicated to reproductive rights can face deadly persecution. She also reinforces the truth that the deaths of abortion providers will not eradicate abortion itself. “Lohman’s death did not put an end to abortion, nor to the battle fought over it,” Manning writes. “The murder of Dr. George Tiller will not accomplish those ends either.”
“Not to be used when *******,”
Why is this edited?
@Bekka: That’s the literal excerpt of one of her ads. I’m guessing that it was Lohman’s way of hinting at pregnancy, a word that was sometimes censored in favor of the more “genteel” phrase ‘with child’. But Manning and the New York Times did not edit it.
I read this earlier, and I am excited that the author is ” working on a novel based on Ann Lohman.” I’d prefer a biography because I am a geek, but I’ll probably still read it.
Bekka–it was edited in the Times article, which probably means it was edited in the original advertisement.
@Bekka: “Pregnant” was not a word used in polite society back then. It actually was seen as impolite well into the 20th century–even when Lucille Ball was pregnant on “I Love Lucy” the networks wouldn’t allow her to say it.
Also, Anthony Comstock was a TRUE enemy of womanity. If I believed in Hell, I’d be 100% sure he’s there right now, with she-devils prodding his anus with white-hot pokers for all eternity.
Hey, my comment vanished! But it basically was saying that I’m excited that the article author is going to write a book on this, although I wish it were a biography instead of a novel.
What a fascinating story. It’s always good to see abortion described in the wider context of reproductive health care. You know, the real world, where people who have and perform abortions also deliver babies, raise children, use contraception, and plan adoptions–not in contradiction to one another, but as part of the same range of options.
And I love the image of the rich immigrant widwife with the fake French name and the tacky curtains. She sounds delightful.
I’d like to nominate her for Harpy Hall of Fame.
@Gator: Yes, far too many people think that someone dedicated to reproductive rights is someone who thinks that hates children and families and babies. Reproductive rights cover the RIGHT to have children, as well as the RIGHT not to have children.
@SarahMC: Should I add it to the HHoF category?
Yes! I wish we had her picture.
I second SarahMC.
Okay, I added her to the HHoF category! Good call, Sarah.
While this is an awesome story, it makes me really frustrated. It’s so depressing to know that we’re been fighting this fight not just for the ~35 years since Roe, but for a over a century on top of that (not to mention the hundreds of years when midwives who provided abortifacients were murdered as witches). I dearly wish there was some way we could put the issue to rest.
Reminds me of the movie “Vera Drake,” which I found incredibly moving. Different time period, different setting, different personality (in the movie, Vera comes across as a sweet, unimposing housewife and cleaning lady). But the same commitment to women’s reproductive choice.
People who put their lives and well-being on the line to make reproductive choice safe/legal are big damn heroes. So glad she’s in the HHoF!
You might be interested in my new book, Selected Writings of Victoria Woodhull: Suffrage, Free Love, and Eugenics–it covers many of these issues:
http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Selected-Writings-of-Victoria-Woodhull,674201.aspx
I enjoy your blog!
Cari