The milk culture

In the early 1970s, we called it a "milk culture."

Taped to an IV pole at the bedside, it was a stoppered test tube filled with sterile milk into which a Q-Tip had been inserted. The Q-Tip contained vaginal or cervical secretions collected from a patient with a suspected infected criminal abortion. In such illegal abortions -- often performed by lay people with contaminated instruments, or even coat hangers -- there was a chance of contracting an infection caused by a bacterium called clostridia. If clostridia was present, it fermented and produced gas bubbles in the milk culture. Catch it, and you were in trouble.

Among germs, clostridia was a decidedly bad player, which could cause tetanus or gas gangrene. A serious infection might occur through neglect, as often happened in patients who postponed needed medical care due to guilt, denial, or misinformation. In 1970, clostridia was notoriously hard to detect and treat and could lead to a painful illness and death, caused by respiratory failure.

During my very first week of residency training, a patient died of clostridia sepsis. Another expired three months later. These deaths were both tragic and pointless, because they could have been prevented by medically safe, antiseptic, legal abortions, had the patient known of their availability. The memory of these pointless deaths will stay with me forever. These days, few people are aware of how many tens of thousands of women died from infected illegal abortions, and who still die in third world countries. So whenever an abortion opponent berates me about the unborn life I am taking, I tell them to say that to the bereaved families who have lost a loved one due to illegal abortion.