| Joy Joy, Illegal Abortion Death | |
| |
On May 26, 1950, Annis Whitlow Brown performed an abortion on Joy M. Joy, the unmarried mother of a six-year-old daughter. Brown botched the job, causing hemorrhage and failing to properly treat the patient. Joy died quickly from blood loss. I have not determined what Brown's profession was. During the 1950s, we see an anomaly: Though maternal mortality had been falling during the first half of the 20th Century, and abortion mortality in particular had been plummeting, the downward trend slowed, then reversed itself briefly. I have yet to figure out why. For more, see Abortion Deaths in the 1950's. For more on pre-legalization abortion, see The Bad Old Days of Abortion
Source: 173 Kan. 833, 252 P.2d 889; Supreme Court of Kansas. Joy v. Brown.No. 38804.Jan. 24, 1953
