About Martin Haskell
Lived 1946 – 1980 (aged 33–34). Martin Haskell was a physician.
William Mudd Martin Haskell (born 1946) is an American physician who, in 1992, described an abortion procedure known clinically as intact dilation and extraction (D&X), and popularly by the controversial, non-medical, non-technical term "partial-birth abortion".
Haskell was not the first physician to perform intact dilation and extraction. However, Haskell's 1992 presentation to the National Abortion Federation Risk Management Seminar in Dallas was the first detailed presentation of the technique. According to Harper's, the furor was in no small part due to an article in Life Advocate magazine by abortion opponent Jenny Westberg, who independently ordered National Abortion Federation literature containing Haskell's paper, wrote an article and illustrated the procedure with a series of pen-and-ink drawings. The drawings, which were "gruesome but not gory", and "made D&X compelling to look at for the very reason Martin Haskell had wanted to tell his colleagues about it: the fetus was intact", would later be distributed in numerous anti-abortion publications, brochures, and newspaper advertisements.
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Martin Haskell's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Martin Haskell?
American physician
When was Martin Haskell born?
Martin Haskell was born in 1946.
When did Martin Haskell die?
Martin Haskell died in 1980.
What was Martin Haskell's occupation?
Martin Haskell was a physician.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Martin Haskell. https://biography.guide/martin-haskell/
MLA: "Martin Haskell." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/martin-haskell/.
Chicago: "Martin Haskell." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/martin-haskell/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
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