S1: E2. Abortion on Trial

In 1975, two years after Roe v. Wade, an all white and mostly Catholic jury convicted Dr. Kenneth Edelin, an African American physician, of manslaughter for performing a legal second trimester abortion. His trial transformed the anti-abortion movement.

Hosts and Creators: Gillian Frank and Lauren Gutterman.

Producers: Rebecca Davis, Saniya Lee Ghanoui, and Devin McGeehan Muchmore. 

Music: “Inessential,” “The Summit,” “Lemon and Melon,”  “An Accumulation,” “Vengeful,” “Plaster Combo,” “Headlights Mountain Road,” “Wistful,” “Delicious,” and “Open Flame,” by Blue Dot Sessions. 

You can purchase Kenneth Edelin’s memoir Broken Justice: A True Story of Race, Sex and Revenge in a Boston Courtroom  here.

Thank you to Frank Susman who spoke with us about his experiences defending Kenneth Edelin in court.

Our gratitude goes out to Johanna Schoen, author of Abortion After Roe for sharing her expertise.  

Many thanks to Mary Ziegler, author of After Roe: The Lost History of the Abortion Debate, for spending time with us.

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We invite you to click this link to read a rough transcript of this episode.