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Overview
This self-addressed return envelope was provided by George William Bettle (1889-1964), a qualified chemist in Christchurch who ran a mail-order business selling a variety of pharmaceutical products for home use. He advertised widely in newspapers.
Bettle also appeared in the news for various alleged offences. Some of the products he provided were abortifacient, although they could not be advertised as such. If the products he supplied didn't work, he could provide a surgical abortion service behind his premises. Despite operating illegally and being tried before the courts, he was never imprisoned.
Abortion
Women took such risks out of desperation. Before the introduction of the Pill in 1961, contraception was unreliable. There were three methods for avoiding pregnancy: abstinence, manual contraceptive methods, or abortion. Abortions could only be performed legally if the mother's life was in danger. As very few doctors could work within this framework, abortions were either performed as a disguised operation in private hospitals, or dangerously self-induced by women themselves, or done discreetly by an illegal abortionist in the flourishing underground abortion industry.