The Secret Clinic on Downtown Broadway

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 Bens 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 Laurens 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.