The Trials of Madame Restell: Nineteenth-Century America’s Most Infamous Female Physician and the Campaign to Make Abortion a Crime

In this illuminating narrative, Syrett (American Child Bride), a gender studies professor at the University of Kansas, profiles Ann Trow Summers Lohman (1812–1878), a female physician and abortion provider who practiced in New York City under the pseudonym Madame Restell. When Lohman established her career in the late 1830s, abortion and other women’s reproductive healthcare were largely legal and overseen by female midwives, but legal restrictions, moral condemnations, and opposition from all-male medical institutions grew over the half century during which she worked. In spite of increasing backlash, Madame Restell was a highly successful and sought-after practitioner. She advertised her services in major papers and often wrote long letters to the press defending her practice against legal challenges and protest. She was arrested numerous times, and in 1839 served a year in a dismal prison on Blackwell’s Island. In 1870, antivice activist Anthony Comstock tricked Lohman by pretending to be a customer, leading to another arrest. Based on his evidence, she was indicted for advertising and selling contraceptives and abortifacients. Knowing that she was facing a certain prison sentence, Lohman died by suicide. Drawing extensively on newspaper reports and trial records, Syrett reveals an entire underground industry that flourished in 19th-century American cities, and tracks the rise of opposition to women’s reproductive care over time. It’s an eye-opening account. Illus. (Oct.)