Gloria S Walker

The Secret Clinic on Downtown Broadway Gloria S Walker

This story is a well-researched historical fiction about an abortionist who practiced during the 1940s in Portland, Oregon. The protagonist Lauren Martin becomes pregnant out of wedlock and loses her partner, Ben, in WWII. She supports her daughter and Ben's mother Mary, a staunch Irish Catholic, by developing a career as an abortionist. Her mentor and practice partner is Dr Claire Kerridan, a character loosely modeled after Dr Ruth Barnett, the well-known Portland abortionist. As Lauren's practice grows successful, increasing friction develops between Lauren and Mary as their values clash. Lauren battles the legal system as well as the Church. An intelligent, progressive woman, Lauren also develops a love relationship with a famous journalist, Dan Carter, who combats her adversaries through the press.