1978: Series exposed unsafe abortions
In 1978, the Chicago Sun-Times wasn't interested in the morality of abortion when it spent five months looking at the procedure. The paper wanted to know: Were women who had abortions here receiving the safe, competent care the U.S. Supreme Court said they were entitled to back in 1973?
What Sun-Times investigative reporters Pam Zekman and Pamela Warrick -- working with the Better Government Association -- found in their series "The Abortion Profiteers" was, in some cases, downright terrifying.
The Sun-Times/BGA team had people work undercover in six Michigan Avenue clinics. The team uncovered incompetent and unqualified doctors who performed abortions without giving their patients anesthetics. Sometimes, it made no difference if a woman was actually pregnant -- she'd still be sold an abortion.
In one truly horrifying case, a couple was sent to a disreputable Detroit abortionist whose dog accompanied the nurse into the operating room -- then lapped up blood from the floor.
The series prompted immediate action. Within two weeks, two abortion clinics were closed down, a doctor's license was revoked, a criminal investigation was launched and a governor's task force was appointed to re-evaluate the state's regulation and licensing of abortion clinics and counselors.
One abortion doctor highlighted in the Sun-Times' series renounced his work and became a member of the Moody Church on North La Salle. The doctor, Arnold Bickham, once described himself to Zekman as "the most notorious physician in this city." He indicated he made $1 million a year performing abortions. His medical license was temporarily suspended because, according to the state, he had operated on women who weren't pregnant and rushed abortions so much that he didn't even wait until the anesthesia set in.
Bickham eventually quit the church and returned to performing abortions. His medical license was revoked in 1988. He later became an administrator at Chicago Public Schools.