George Loutrell Timanus (January 31, 1892 – June 1981) was a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

who performed illegal

abortions Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnanci ...

in the

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

area from 1920 to 1951."Abortion in the U.S.", Time, June 2, 1958
/ref> He graduated from

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a classical liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C ...

in 1910 and earned his M.D. at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in 1914. Timanus and one other abortion provider performed an estimated 90% criminal abortions in Baltimore. In 1950, Timanus used his criminal trial to challenge the abortion laws in the United States, as

Aleck Bourne Aleck William Bourne (4 June 1886 – 30 December 1974) was a prominent British gynaecologist and writer, known for his 1938 trial, a landmark case, in which he asked to be arrested for performing a termination of pregnancy on a 14-year-old rape ...

had done in the UK. However, his trial and that of another doctor, Edgar Keemer, were not understood as challenges by the public, and Timanus and Keemer did not recruit other doctors or patients to their cause in a way that might have built a movement or sparked national conversation.Leslie J. Reagan, ''When Abortion Was A Crime'', University of California Press 1997 He was fined $5,000, sentenced to six months in jail, and barred from further practice of medicine. Timanus participated in the

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

Conference on Abortion in America in 1955. He gave a detailed breakdown of his patients, of whom he kept meticulous records, noting that of 5,200 women on whom he had performed abortions, only two had died. As

Garrett Hardin Garrett James Hardin (April 21, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American ecologist and microbiologist. He focused his career on the issue of human overpopulation, and is best known for his exposition of the tragedy of the commons in a 1968 p ...

noted, this 0.04% rate, in the days before

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

, was not only far lower than the mortality rate for women carrying to term at the time, but still only half the maternal mortality rate a generation later. At the conference, Timanus also lamented that of the 353 doctors who referred patients to him—some of them, Timanus claimed, with letters recommending abortion—none stood up to testify for him when he was arrested. Timanus asked referring doctors to make a written statement that the abortion was necessary because her life would otherwise be jeopardized. The breakdown of Timanus' patients was as follows: *Age 12 - 15: 17 *Age 16 - 20: 688 *Age 21 - 25: 1,834 *Age 26 - 30: 1,268 *Age 31 - 40: 1,312 *Age 41+: 91 *Single: 1,830 *Married: 2,773 *Widowed/Divorced/Separated: 607 *Physicians: 7 *Wives of physicians: 58 *Nurses: 270

Mary Calderone Mary Steichen Calderone (born Mary Rose Steichen; July 1, 1904 – October 24, 1998) was an American physician, author, public speaker, and public health advocate for reproductive rights and sex education. In 1953, Mary Calderone became the firs ...

, then medical director of

Planned Parenthood Federation of America The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

, noted that Timanus "certainly seemed to be very competent and professional.""Illegal Abortion as a Public Health Problem," Mary S. Calderone, ''American Journal of Public Health'', July, 1960 Timanus was born in Baltimore, a son of George E. and Nettie Mae (Zimmermam) Timanus. His grandfather Luther Timanus was a judge on the Baltimore County Court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timanus, George Loutrell American abortion providers Physicians from Baltimore Physicians from Washington, D.C. 1892 births 1981 deaths