Jane Elizabeth Hodgson

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Jane Elizabeth Hodgson (January 23, 1915 – October 23, 2006) was an American obstetrician and gynecologist. She is the only person ever convicted in the United States of performing an abortion in a hospital.

Hodgson was born in Crookston, MN. She received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Carleton College in 1934 and her medical degree from the University of Minnesota in 1939. She trained at the Jersey City Medical Center and at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She opened her own clinic in St Paul, MN in 1947, and for the next 50 years provided reproductive health care to women.

In 1970, she performed an abortion on a woman who had rubella, which can cause serious birth defects in the fetus and child. At the time, abortion was illegal in Minnesota, unless the pregnancy was a threat to the woman's health. Hodgson was charged, tried and convicted. Her conviction was overturned after the pivotal Roe v. Wade decision by the United States Supreme Court.

In 1981 Hodgson founded the Duluth Women's Health Center. [1]

In 1981, Hodgson lent her name to a suit brought by Planned Parenthood against Minnesota, challenging that state's law requiring that both parents be notified at least 48 hours before a minor has an abortion. In 1990, the United States Supreme Court upheld that law, in part because the law included a 'judicial bypass', allowing a judge to permit the abortion without parental notification. [2] [3] In most cases, judges permit the abortions. [4]

Hodgson's advocacy for, and contributions to, the field of women's health earned her the honor of being inducted in the International Women in Medicine Hall of Fame in 2001. [1]

[edit] Publications

  • Hodgson, JE. 1981 Abortion and Sterilization: Medical and Social Aspects Grune & Stratton ISBN 0-8089-1344-1

[edit] See also

Hodgson v. Minnesota

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Building for Women
  2. ^ HODGSON v. MINNESOTA, U.S. Supreme Court 497 U.S. 417 (1990)
  3. ^ A Timeline of Supreme Court Decisions Protecting Privacy Rights
  4. ^ Brian Bonner 2006. Champion for a woman's right to choose: St. Paul doctor's court battles, clinic projects drew fame and ire. Twin Cities Pioneer Press.
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