Rosie Jimenez

Rosie Jimenez (August 5, 1950 – October 3, 1977), also known as Rosaura Jimenez, is the first woman known to have died in the United States due to an unsafe abortion after the Hyde Amendment was passed. The 1977 Amendment cut off Medicaid funding for safe medically-supervised abortions. Unable to afford a safe and legal abortion at a clinic, Jimenez sought out a cheaper and unsafe abortion. She died at age 27 from an infection in McAllen, Texas. At the time, she was a student who would have earned a teaching credential in six months, as well as the single mother of a four-year-old daughter.

Biography

Early life Jimenez was born in McAllen, Texas, to a large Mexican-American family. She had 11 siblings though some died young, including her twin. Before her death, she obtained her GED and attended Pan American University.

In September 1977, Rosie received an abortion from an unlicensed midwife in McAllen. After spending seven days in intensive care, she died of organ failure on October 3, 1977. The editorial stated "The dead woman carried a Medicaid card, but it did her little good. On Aug. 4, the Federal Government had stopped paying for abortions for the poor unless the life of the mother is endangered."