The first two times, Burns was tipped off. But she couldn't buy off ambitious district attorney Pat Brown, who ordered three raids on her clinic in 1945. VELTMAN: As we walked down the street from Burns' former clinic, Bloom tells me the abortionist's enormous fortune bought her friends in high places, including politicians and lawmakers. Bloom says patients ranging from housewives to celebrities, like film star and Olympic skater Sonja Henie, came to Burns for help.īLOOM: So she really was one of the worst-kept secrets in San Francisco. Local law enforcement took kickbacks and turned a blind eye as she and her staff operated on up to 20 women a day. West realized that Inez had the touch and really was able to perform the abortions as well as Dr. She learned her craft as a teenager, from her first lover, a prolific abortionist by the name of Eugene West. VELTMAN: I'm in the home with author Stephen Bloom, who has a recent book, 'The Audacity Of Inez Burns.' Bloom tells me Burns was born in San Francisco to a poor German immigrant family in 1886. So she had a little hiding spot there, but we haven't found any money. JEFF CERF: There's a part of the wall, you know, the baseboard opens up.

Cerf shows me nooks in his home where Burns stashed her money. She's said to have terminated 50,000 pregnancies during her long and lucrative career at a time when doing this could land you in prison. VELTMAN: In the first half of the 20th century, Burns was one of California's most sought-after abortionists. He likes to show off Burns' medical instruments, which were found after her death, including a pair of slender, Victorian-era forceps. Chloe Veltman of member station KQED explores her life.ĬHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE: For decades, Inez Burns lived in a jewel box mansion in San Francisco's Mission District. At the center of it all, Inez Burns, who made a fortune performing illegal abortions. A secret abortion clinic, hidden cash, police raids and Hollywood stars.

The audacity of inez burns