In 1970, Hodgson performed an abortion on a 23-year-old married mother of three children who had contracted
rubella, which can cause serious
birth defects in the
fetus and child. The abortion, a
dilation and curettage (D&C), was performed at the St. Paul-Ramsey Hospital (now called
Regions Hospital). At the time, abortion was illegal in
Minnesota, unless the pregnancy was a threat to the woman's health. Hodgson was charged, pled guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. This was the first time that a licensed physician had been convicted for performing a therapeutic abortion in a hospital. She appealed to the state supreme court which overturned her conviction after the pivotal
Roe v. Wade decision by the
United States Supreme Court. In response to her lawyer's question during her trial, "Do you regard the fertilized ovum as equivalent to a human person?" Hodgson replied, "No, and most women would not. We are more pragmatic than men, more concerned with reality. I'm concerned with the sacredness of life, but this is only a few embryonic cells." She continued, "We, as physicians, should be concerned with the quality of life as it develops." In 1981, Hodgson lent her name to a suit (
Hodgson v. Minnesota) brought by
Planned Parenthood against
Minnesota, challenging that state's law requiring that both parents be notified at least 48 hours before a minor has an abortion. When the case was heard in
District Court, Hodgson testified that "...one 14-year-old patient, in order to keep her pregnancy private, tried to induce an abortion with the help of her friends by inserting a metallic object into her vagina, thereby tearing her body, scarring her cervix, and causing bleeding. When that attempt failed to induce an abortion, the patient, then four or five months pregnant, finally went to an abortion clinic. Because of the damage to the patient's cervix, doctors had to perform a
hysterotomy..." The
United States Supreme Court upheld that law in 1990, in part because the law included a 'judicial bypass', allowing a judge to permit the abortion without parental notification. In most cases, judges permit the abortions. Hodgson was in court again in 1993 as a co-plaintiff in a case in which the judge struck down Minnesota's ban on
Medicaid payments for abortions. Hodgson testified or provided research assistance for many cases including Sabot v Fargo Women's Health Organization, Women of the State of Minnesota v Natalie Haas Steffen, and Women's National Abortion Action Coalition (WONAAC) v Washington. Dr. Hodgson was committed to advocating for women's health rights, in 1989 Hodgson states "if at any time I've ever had any doubt about what I'm doing, all I have to do is see a patient, and talk to her, and I realize it's the right thing."
Women's Health Movement Starting in the 1960s the United States' abortion laws were under scrutiny as many of the laws only restricted abortions to cases when the mother's life was at risk. During this time doctors were calling for the liberalization of abortion laws. Soon after, in the late 1960s, feminists joined doctors in the fight and requested for "abortions on demand." In 1969, a group of twelve women met at a women's liberation conference in Boston, they talked about their own experiences with doctors and shared their self-knowledge. From their research, in 1970, came a 193-page course booklet entitled
Women and Their Bodies that included topics such as childbirth, birth control and venereal disease. This was the beginning of the
Women's Health Movement. Hodgson's actions were part of the Women's Health Movement. The year after Hodgson performed the abortion
Women and Their Bodies was revised and retitled as
Our Bodies, Ourselves as a way to emphasize this new movement of women demanding for knowledge about their bodies and more control over their healthcare. == Works ==