New book focuses on Victorian-era abortion practice in New England

Nancy Guilford operated a business in Bridgeport openly at the end of the 19th century

(Emma Gill, a woman who died from an illegal abortion that led to an investigation into a criminal abortion enterprise)

A timely new book looks at a Victorian-era abortion practice and an unfortunate death connected to it. 

The Disquieting Death of Emma Gill: Abortion, Death, and Concealment in Victorian New England, by Marcia Biederman, focuses on Nancy and Henry Guilford, a couple who ran an abortion business in Bridgeport, Connecticut, at the end of the 19th century. 

“Abortion was a social reality,” Biederman said. “It was something that was commonplace. It was considered as American as apple pie. And everybody knew it. But it was illegal.”

Emma Gill was a woman who had been found dismembered by children. Her autopsy later revealed that she had died from a botched abortion. Police suspected the Guilfords since they were openly operating abortionists at the time. 

“Everybody shrugs at criminal abortion until there was a death, and this was sensational,” Biederman said. “And then the press, the public, and the prosecutors all had to pay attention. This one had to be prosecuted.” 

What was intriguing was how accepted their practice was then. Most people knew it was happening. I’ve found other instances in which an abortionist worked in communities that knew about it but had no problem whatsoever with him or her doing it. In Ashland, Pa., Robert Spencer was one person I’ve written about who fits that description. 

This book adds to the great literature we have on illegal abortionists. It’s a fascinating genre, with Ricki Solinger’s The Abortionist: A Woman Against the Law being the greatest I’ve read on a specific person. Leslie Reagan has likewise written some great material on abortionists who practiced in Chicago in the 20th century. 

Biederman, who has written several books and has contributed many articles to the New York Times, New York Magazine, and the Christian Science Monitor, takes a well-rounded approach to the topic that firmly places readers in the story world in which the Guilfords practiced. 

The media attention the story received at the time reveals much about the yellow journalism surrounding reproductive topics. It also shows its lurid appeal to readers. 

“This was all fodder for the very lively 1898 Press,” Biederman said. “Telephones weren't regularly used. Not many homes had telephones. The telegraph wires were burning up. And it became a national story.” 

A jury found Nancy guilty of manslaughter, and a judge sent her to prison. 

“It all shows that criminalizing abortion didn't stop it,” Biederman said. “It was thriving.”