Dear Dr. Spencer

Pennsylvania doctor flouted abortion laws for 40 years to help 40,000 women

In the quaint little town of Ashland in Pennsylvania, there once was a doctor who performed 40,000 abortions before it was even legal to do so. Dr. Robert Spencer, whose business filled local hotels with women needing his help, treated patients from as far away as Los Angeles and New York before abortion was legalized in those cities. 

Susan Brownmiller wrote about the doctor when he died in 1969 for the Village Voice. His obituary was also carried in the New York and Los Angeles Times.  In an era when abortion providers price-gouged for fees as high as $1,000, Spencer charged an affordable $50 for those who took the trip to the town with two old-fashioned drive-thru diners. Spencer wrote about his views in a letter that is kept within his legal file at his one-time attorney’s office. 

“As a physician, I am positive the majority of people believe something like abortion should be legalized as it has been in practice since the early history of man,” Spencer wrote. “It is here to stay and if legalized, less harm is done and more good accomplished.” 

Spencer was born in 1889 in Kansas City before his parents moved to Williamsport, Pa. When he was in medical school, he heard a story of a Protestant minister’s daughter who had committed suicide after becoming pregnant out of wedlock. It left an impression on him and made him feel abortion was needed to prevent such tragedies. In 1923, Spencer performed his first abortion on a miner’s wife. Later on, he established a routine for women who wanted to have one. 

Spencer was religious and had a prayer posted in his office that women read when they came for abortions. When a woman came in, someone on staff interviewed her about her medical history. If she was pregnant beyond the 12th week, he referred her to some other facility. After the interview, the woman stayed at the clinic or found lodging nearby, according to a history written by Thomas Lauta. Afterward, women wrote him thanking him profusely from their lofts in Brooklyn or elsewhere. 

His practice was an open secret, and Spencer was protected by law enforcement despite being prosecuted at one point before he was acquitted. His example is a case study of the complicated views on abortion found in the conservative part of Pennsylvania. While some people write it off entirely as an antiabortion area, this history reveals that people who live there can support abortion rights or see the need for abortion access.