Look here, and see citation number 23.
It cites my post (Update: or rather the category containing that post, which had [at the time] only that one post in it) about Yvonne Jurewicz, who died due to a coat hanger abortion in 1990. And since I provide full page numbers and dates for the newspaper article I quote in the cited post, citing me specifically is unnecessary. Hence, this situation likely won’t last too long…
The is an except from an article that was published on page A3 of The Toronto Star on June 13, 1990. It refers to events that happened the one or two days before; that is, twenty years ago today (emphasis added):
A 20-year-old Toronto woman has died after performing an abortion on herself, probably with a coat hanger, police say.
Yvonne Jurewicz of Westminster Ave. was found dead Monday night in her west-end apartment.
An autopsy performed yesterday revealed Jurewicz bled to death after aborting, said Detective Sergeant Thomas Imrie, who is heading the investigation.
It is not known how far advanced her pregnancy was, nor were police able to find the fetal material, he added.
Imrie said several other “implements” were found in the room, but declined to describe them.
This has everything: the coathanger, bleeding to death, everything. It is the textbook example of an unsafe abortion.
The most tragic part of Jurewicz’s death was that it was completely unnecessary. Abortion was legal in Canada at the time. However, Jurewicz undoubtedly believed it was illegal, as in the wake of R. v Morgentaler, the House of Commons passed Bill C–43, which would have re–outlawed abortion. However, it still had to pass the Senate (and never did) before it could become law. However, as many people believe that a bill becomes law when it passed the House of Commons, Jurewicz undoubtedly thought abortion was illegal, hence driving her to pay the ultimate price for controlling her reproduction.
Clearly, abortion saves women’s lives.
