Intrigue

The MGM crime reporter introduces Dr. Mallory, health commissioner of a large Midwestern city, he who talks about the dangers pregnant women face by going to clinics that advertise discreet services aimed at women in troubled circumstances. Such clinics - whose sole motive is profit at all cost without regard to the wants of the women or their health, but who generally operate just within the boundaries of the law - prey on the fear women face about social condemnation. One such clinic which charged exorbitant rates in return for discretion was operated by Drs. Mansby and Bates. Mary, Bunny and Jane were three women who shared a room at the clinic, who were all in circumstances where they wanted their pregnancy to be a secret from all they knew, and who were at various stages of pregnancy. Jane, who was in the earliest stage of pregnancy of the three, witnessed what Mary and Bunny before her went through. Mary's eventual situation, which was unknown to Jane, was that her baby was given away - in actuality sold - against her wishes which led to a tragic consequence. In addition, the baby suffered from a physical condition through an error by Dr. Bates during the delivery, that condition which was not told to the purchasing parents. Jane, however, did witness Bunny's unfortunate fate at the hands of the clinic doctors. But it was what happened to Mary that led the police to investigate, which resulted in Jane and others like her ultimately being saved from the hands of the two unscrupulous money hungry doctors.—Huggo

This Crime Does Not Pay series short focuses on unwed mothers, specifically those who believe that they cannot confide in anyone and, therefore, go to clinics run by people more interested in profit than proper medical care. In this dramatization, women pay $500 to enter a clinic and must sign papers in which they agree to give up their babies for adoption. Childless couples then pay the clinic operators $500 to adopt the children.—David Glagovsky <dglagovsky@prodigy.net>