(Photo: Caroline Carllisle, at left, with unidentified friend on horse given to her by grandmother Inez Burns)
During the long career of Inez Burns, she was a self-described “chameleon,” using names such as “Amy Dutch”–and camouflaging her illegal work by sometimes calling herself a foot doctor.
Officials later estimated as many as 20 abortions a day, priced at $300 each, were performed in the Fillmore Street flat in San Francisco. Some calculated Inez L. Burns earned as much as $50,000 per month.
With a reputation as a “perfect abortionist” (no fatalities), Inez began to rake in serious money, according to her granddaughter, Caroline Carlisle.
“Women came from Europe to see her,” Carlisle said, adding that major Hollywood stars, as well as an Olympic medal-winning ice skater-also turned movie star-trusted her grandmother.
With the money earned from her “million-dollar hands,” Inez had a home built to her specifications, with a three-car garage on Guerrero Street in San Francisco.
Only the finest materials would do: custom-made brocade curtains covered the windows–and to satisfy her obsession with cleanliness, separate sinks for hand-washing and tooth-brushing were installed in the spacious master bedroom.
…To Be Continued…