The NY Times has a story up about an apparently minor mystery surrounding a woman who died in 1961. The headline pitches the story as being connected to Ayn Rand's following, which she evidently was, but the story is sort of rambling and speculative. I imagine it was a good idea to put Ayn Rand's name in the headline, to get viewership. It worked in my case!
The woman, Vivian Grant, died of a botched abortion, at a time when abortion was illegal. And, what's really odd, is that she wasn't pregnant.
The big question from the story, I guess, is who was the man who didn't get her pregnant. Her death was a big news story at the time... so why was the non-father never identified?
The doctor, a gynecologist, doesn't strike me as being a model of competence. Why didn't he test to see if the woman was really pregnant first, before attempting an abortion? Pregnancy testing technology did exist in those days, even if you couldn't buy a kit at the supermarket. And then there's this:
"One year after Ms. Grant’s death, Dr. Friedman, while out on bail, would perform another fatal abortion, on a woman named Barbara Covington."
Seems like he needed another line of work.
Perhaps a department store clerk.
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