Story: Abortion

Wellington abortionist

Wellington’s Flo Radcliffe became well known, in part because of publicity when she was tried and convicted for procuring abortions. Radcliffe did not provide a cheap service – in the mid-1940s she was charging £30, the equivalent of $2,500 in 2019 – but she did provide safe abortions. Watch this clip from the documentary ‘Backroom Troubles’, which tells the stories of several women who had illegal abortions between 1930 and 1979.

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Torchlight Films
Reference: Backroom troubles [videorecording]. Directors Andrea Bosshard and Shane Loader. Wellington: Vanguard Films in association with Community Media Trust, 1997

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How to cite this page:

Megan Cook, 'Abortion - Who and how', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/video/29015/wellington-abortionist (accessed 21 April 2024)

Story by Megan Cook, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 8 Nov 2018