“Utterly Impossible”

Abstract

This article analyzes criminal court records, coroners’ reports, and newspaper accounts to examine those involved in seeking, procuring, and investigating drug‐related abortions in South Carolina from 1872 to 1973. It explores how and why abortifacient cases were investigated, prosecuted, and depicted in the press. This research demonstrates that even well into the twentieth century, physicians, coroners, and legal authorities struggled to determine what effects abortion‐causing drugs had and what exactly an abortifacient‐related death was. The article discusses the sometimes contradictory roles that pharmacists played in abortion care and cases. Overall, this article demonstrates the confusion and complexities that characterized drug‐related abortion cases across a century in which legal and medical authorities attempted to eliminate illegal practices and professionalize reproductive healthcare.