Medical School
University of Oregon Medical School, June 1961Address
Sweet Home, OR, USAProcedures
Surgery: NOMedication: NO
Other Info
“I began my private practice prior to the liberalization and legalization of abortion in this country. I attended many women with septic abortions secondary to failed attempts in unsterile settings. Two women died because of overwhelming infections.
“Each of these women made me an activist, gave me the conviction that abortions should be done safely and legally. I continue doing abortions because, like my patients then, women today choose abortion whether it is legal or illegal. If we limit our medical practices or make the procedure a crime, it will simply return abortion to a dangerous, shadowy existence. The next generation of physicians will face the same question I faced: whether to become an activist and a provider or to silently treat women who seek the solution where they can find it, no matter where or how it is done.”
—Thomas Thornton, MD
Sweethome, OR
