Marie-Louis Giraud was a working class French woman who was executed on this day 1943 for providing abortions during the reign of the Nazi Vichy Regime. In 1988, a film based on her life was released - "Story of Women".

Giraud was born on July 30th, 1903 to a poor family and settled in the port city of Cherbourg. She cleaned houses and worked as a laundress to support her family.

In 1939, the French government increased the criminal penalties for abortion, as World War II had caused a significant decline in the birth rate. Along these lines, the Vichy Regime (formed in 1940) created propaganda posters stating "The Family is the Foundation of Society".

When the Nazis occupied Cherbourg in June 1940, there was an influx of prostitutes to the area and Giraud rented rooms out to them. She performed abortions on 27 women, including one who died in January 1942. An anonymous letter detailing Giraud's activities written in October 1942 led to her arrest.

Such was the prominence of Giraud's trial that the head of the Vichy Regime, Philippe Pétain, called her an immoral woman himself She was guillotined on July 30th, 1943, the last woman to be executed by the Nazi French government.

Giraud's story was dramatized in the 1988 film Story of Women, directed by Claude Chabrol. The film premiered at the 45th Venice International Film Festival, in which Isabelle Huppert was awarded the prize for best actress.