Before Dr. Tiller, there was The Saint ...........

[Tangerine LaBamba]

Ashland, PA is five miles from the small town where I grew up, and everyone knew about the man called The Saint. I know women, friends of my mother, who used to say rosaries for him, for saving them when they were in trouble. I never knew his real name until he died, but I know that the people of Ashland protected him, and that included the police, who tipped him off whenever the State Police were coming to raid his clinic.

He was a very good man, from all reports, who just did what he thought was the right thing. A hero to thousands of women.

I just ordered this book. I've been meaning to read it for a long time, and now seems like the right time:


ISBN: 1573928313/ ISBN-13: 9781573928311
Angel of Ashland

by Vincent J Genovesi, M.S.

Prometheus Books, 11/2000, 140 pages, English

For over fifty years Dr. Robert Spencer (1889-1969) practiced medicine in the small coal-mining town of Ashland, PA. As the only town doctor, he was known by everyone as a dedicated medical professional who spent long hours at his clinic, charged a modest fee for his services, never turned anyone away who couldn't pay, and was the person the townspeople turned to with their many ailments and injuries, from Black Lung Disease and mangled limbs crushed in mining accidents to tonsillectomies.

His reputation for great skill, integrity, and kindness assured him a steady stream of patients throughout his long career.

But he also gained another kind of notoriety as well, about which there was generally a discreet silence in the town: he would willingly perform safe and reliable abortions.

Women 'in trouble' could consult him without shame or fear, and he would perform the procedure quickly and efficiently with no questions asked.

This was unique in the era before Roe versus Wade, especially in the 1920s when Dr. Spencer opened his practice. As a result he soon became a much-sought-after physician, to whom doctors throughout the country would refer women who wished to end their pregnancies.

Of course, many disapproved of his not-so-secret and illegal abortion practice.

Despite the townspeople's reliance on him for his medical expertise, over the years he was blackmailed, robbed, often shunned in public, censured by the American Medical Association, and arrested by the police. Nonetheless, he never spent a night in jail and his eleven-room clinic always remained opened for business.

As his reputation grew, his detractors labeled him 'King of the Abortionists', and when he died in 1969 his death notice was announced on the national news with the estimate that he had performed 100,000 abortions.

This is the first biography of Dr.Spencer. Vincent Genovese has done yeoman's work in reconstructing Dr. Spencer's life and career by researching his correspondence, interviewing surviving Ashland residents who knew him, and combing through old newspaper archives. This unique biography is a must read for anyone interested in the issue of abortion.

[saltpoint]

1. Recommended.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Thank you for sharing the story of this remarkable man.

Recommended.

[AllentownJake]

3. He probably delivered my mother

That was where she was born.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

5. That's right!

Remember, in another exchange a few months ago, I mentioned "The Saint" to you?

Well, here he is ....................

[AllentownJake]

15. Yep,

I'll have to ask her about it. My mom is vehemently pro-choice. Even when she had her GOP streak for a while. Wonder if this has something to do with it.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

16. Get her a copy of that book ...........

I found mine at alibris.com for under seven dollars.

I bet she knows about The Saint..........................

[ColbertWatcher]

4. k+r, n/t

[Tangerine LaBamba]

6. Nice catch ..........

Corrected, and thank you ...........

[ColbertWatcher]

9. You're welcome. n/t

[SeattleGirl]

7. That sounds like a fascinating book.

Thanks for the post, TL.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Dr. Tiller's dad also performed abortions before 1973

That's why Dr. Tiller opened his clinic. He had no intention of returning to Wichita to practice medicine but his father, mother, sister and bro in law were killed in a plane crash in 1970. Dr. Tiller adopted his sister's child and took over his dad's clinic when he finished medical school. By that time, abortion was legal and he wanted to continue his dad's work. He had no idea his dad did abortions but found out from his patients after his dad died when they thanked Dr. Tiller.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

10. Oh, man ............

This story gets more and more heroic and more and more tragic.

He seems to have been a genuinely great man.

Murdered by scum.

I'm still this close to tears .................

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. I have been crying all day

This hits so close to home for me. I am ashamed to live in Kansas tonight.

[saltpoint]

12. This post shot to the Greatest page in a real big hurry, and that's a real

good thing.

I hope lurking Freepers are puking their guts out.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. It did?

How does that happen? Recommendations?

That's good. It should stay there for a good long time so that they're reminded that WE WILL NEVER BACK DOWN...............

[saltpoint]

14. Agree. I liked the choice of Judge Sotomayor already but after this

morning's news from Wichita I like her even better.

Tiller's assassin believed -- wrongly -- that he held the moral high ground in his choice to break at least two laws.

It's against the law to kill people.

And a woman's right to choose is the law of the land.

If Roeder is the assassin, he visited great sadness and despair upon many others there in Wichita and all over the nation. He broke the law and he violated the peace.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

17. Maybe the one good thing

that will come from this will be a general condemnation of the tactics used by the anti-choice groups.

Another might be the matter of free speech. How much can be posted on message boards and still be considered protected speech? I find the possibility quite intriguing.

Imagine you're a pregnant woman whose health is in danger because of the pregnancy. Imagine you had an appointment with Dr. Tiller first thing Monday morning.

What will happen to you?

Something good has to come of this nightmare. I cannot believe that it can just happen without something good coming out of it .............

[saltpoint]

19. That woman who has an appointment for tomorrow morning deserves

the biggest hug there ever was.

[ColbertWatcher]

18. Kick again. n/t

[Lugnut]

20. I'd like to read that book.

I was born and raised and still live about 25 miles from Ashland. Some of my peers traveled to out of state doctors to end pregnancies back in the early to mid 60s. A few of them opted to marry. I now wonder why Dr Spencer was unknown in this area.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

24. I was born and grew up in Shenandoah,

and I knew about him, even though, as a kid, I wasn't very clear on what he did. I knew it had something to do with ladies. That was about it.

He was known. You just never heard anyone talk about him. He was very cherished and very protected by the locals.

Do you know if the Boulevard Drive-In is still in business? Do you remember it? We had some great times there .....................

[Lugnut]

30. I never spent any time in Shenandoah.

My daughter lived in Ringtown for a few years. I'll check with her to see if the Boulevard is still there.

The Mom and Pop meat markets in Shen still make the best kielbasi in the area. At this point the town is mostly known for Mrs. T's pieroghi.

[saltpoint]

21. Here's a kick for every young woman who ever needed the assistance and

support of just such a doctor, and for every older woman who knows such doctors are priceless champions.

[kickysnana]

22. I was delivered by a local doctor who would do D&Cs for women.

There were probably others but you had to already be a patient or have someone vouch for you, of course. He had a regular practice. I only knew because one of my Mother's friends was stranger raped after a movie when she was 16 and he helped her and I was told the story as a cautionary.

[BrklynLiberal]

23. And yet another excellent post by T.LaB. !!!!!!!!

You never disappoint!

:headbang: :fistbump:


Were you here when there was a post by the daughter of the woman who died after an abortion, and whose image became the icon that was used by the pro-choice people to push to legalize abortion? It was an amazing post...historical...much like this one.

[jwirr]

25. Our doctor in a small Iowa county was like that. He also assisted in

adoptions when he could arrange them. Like Dr. Tiller.

[handmade34]

26. Vera Drake - just a movie but a must see

[Tangerine LaBamba]

27. Oh, yeah............

It always surprises me how few people know about that movie.

It's a killer.

Good call, very good call ......................

[handmade34]

28. I am old enough to remember back alley abortions

...people with money could always find a way to get safe abortions even when they were illegal. I became pregnant before 1973. Times were a lot different then and we do not want to go backwards

[AllentownJake]

29. This is not a Religous issue

This is a class issue. Pure and Simple.

The fundie leaders with money back than had no problem sending their daughters or son's girlfriends to the family doctor they knew would do it at the time to prevent family embarrassment.

If abortion was illegal, I firmly believe that Sarah Palin's daughter would have been asked to take this option to maintain her Mother's reputation. That was simply what was done back than.

[LiberalFighter]

31. Whoever estimated 100,000 was definately scumbag.

Dr Spencer would had averaged over 24 abortions a week to do 100,000 in his 80 years of practice. Procedures in addition to his regular medical practice.

[KittyWampus]

32. We need a monument in Washington to those like he and Tiller.