History of abortion
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2008-07-13T22:15:53Z
Kaldari
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/* 17th century to 19th century */ removing [[Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley]] per talk page
[[Image:Mrs.Bird&MadameCostello-February24,1842NewYorkSun.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Indirect [[advertising|advertisement]]s for abortion services, like these in the ''[[New York Sun]]'' in 1842, were common during the [[Victorian era]]. At the time, abortion was illegal in New York.<ref>Brodie, Janet Farrell. [http://books.google.com/books?id=Wbeoi0rGvpkC&pg=PA254&dq=abortion+and+1829+and+%22New+York%22+and+quickening&num=100&sig=ew6UM7i4i6rCbesyYuXN6mHijE4#PPA254,M1 Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth-Century America], page 254 (1997).</ref>]]
The practice of [[abortion]] dates back to ancient times. [[pregnancy|Pregnancies]] were terminated through a number of methods, including the administration of [[abortifacient]] herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and other techniques.
[[Abortion law]]s and their enforcement have fluctuated through various eras. Many early laws and church doctrine focused on "[[quickening]]," when the initial motion of the [[fetus]] can be felt by the pregnant woman, as a way to differentiate when an [[abortion]] became impermissible. In the 18th–19th centuries various doctors, clerics, and social reformers successfully pushed for an all-out ban on abortion. In the 20th century various [[women's rights]] groups, doctors and social reformers successfully repealed abortion bans. While abortion remains legal in many Western countries, it is regularly subjected to legal challenges by [[pro-life]] groups.<ref name="frontline">[[Frontline (TV series)|Frontline]]. (2005) [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/clinic/ The Last Abortion Clinic].</ref>
== Medical: Practice & methods of abortion ==
{{Abortion}}
=== Prehistory to 5th century ===
The first recorded evidence of induced abortion, is from the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus in 1550 BC.<ref name="potts"> Potts, Malcolm, & Campbell, Martha. (2002). [http://big.berkeley.edu/ifplp.history.pdf History of contraception]. ''Gynecology and Obstetrics'', vol. 6, ch. 8.</ref> A [[China|Chinese]] record documents the number of royal concubines who had abortions in China between the years 500 and 515 BC.<ref name="ancientchina">Glenc, F. (1974). [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=4610534&dopt=Abstract Induced abortion - a historical outline]. ''Polski Tygodnik Lekarski, 29 (45)'', 1957-8.</ref> According to [[Chinese folklore]], the legendary Emperor [[Shennong]] prescribed the use of [[mercury (element)|mercury]] to induce abortions nearly 5000 years ago.<ref name="shennong">Christopher Tietze and Sarah Lewit, "Abortion", ''Scientific American'', 220 (1969), 21.</ref>
Many of the methods employed in early and [[primitive culture]]s were non-surgical. Physical activities like strenuous labour, [[climbing]], [[paddling]], [[weightlifting]], or [[diving]] were a common technique. Others included the use of irritant leaves, [[fasting]], [[bloodletting]], pouring hot water onto the abdomen, and lying on a heated [[coconut|coconut shell]].<ref name="devereux">Devereux, G. (1967). [http://db.jhuccp.org/ics-wpd/exec/icswppro.dll?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=/ics-wpd/exec/icswppro.dll&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fdb.jhuccp.org%2Fics-wpd%2Fpopweb%2F&TN=popline&SN=AUTO32204&SE=1493&RN=24&MR=50&TR=0&TX=0&ES=0&CS=1&XP=&RF=ShortRecordDisplay&EF=&DF=LongRecordDisplay&RL=1&EL=0&DL=1&NP=0&ID=&MF=&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=77430&NR=0&NB=0&SV=0&BG=&FG=&QS=&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1 A typological study of abortion in 350 primitive, ancient, and pre-industrial societies]. Retrieved [[April 22]], [[2006]]. In ''Abortion in America: medical, psychiatric, legal, anthropological, and religious considerations.'' Boston: Beacon Press. Retrieved [[April 22]], [[2006]].</ref> In primitive cultures, techniques developed through observation, adaptation of obstetrical methods, and [[transculturation]].<ref>Devereux, G. (1976). [http://db.jhuccp.org/ics-wpd/exec/icswppro.dll?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=/ics-wpd/exec/icswppro.dll&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fdb.jhuccp.org%2Fics-wpd%2Fpopweb%2Fbasic.html&TN=popline&SN=AUTO2568&SE=1495&RN=20&MR=50&TR=0&TX=0&ES=0&CS=1&XP=&RF=ShortRecordDisplay&EF=&DF=LongRecordDisplay&RL=1&EL=0&DL=1&NP=0&ID=&MF=&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=42981&NR=0&NB=0&SV=0&BG=&FG=&QS=&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1 Techniques of abortion]. In ''A study of abortion in primitive societies. Revised edition.'' New York: International Universities Press. Retrieved December 8, 2006.</ref> [[archaeology|Archaeological]] discoveries indicate early [[surgery|surgical]] attempts at the extraction of a [[fetus]]; however, such methods are not believed to have been common, given the infrequency with which they are mentioned in ancient medical texts.<ref name="romantechnology">[http://www.unc.edu/courses/rometech/public/content/special/Stephanie_Doerfler/Abortion.html Contraception and Abortion in the Ancient Classical World]. (1997). ''Ancient Roman Technology.'' Retrieved [[March 16]], [[2006]], from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill website.</ref>
====References in classical literature====
Much of what is known about the methods and practice of abortion in Greek and Roman history comes from early classical texts. Abortion, as a gynecological procedure, was primarily the province of women who were either midwives or well-informed laypeople. In his ''Theaetetus'', Plato mentions a midwife's ability to induce abortion in the early stages of pregnancy.<ref name="past">{{cite journal |last=Depierri |first=Kate P. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1968 |month=March |title=One Way of Unearthing the Past |journal=''The American Journal of Nursing'' |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=521–524 |id= |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-936X%28196803%2968%3A3%3C521%3AOWOUTP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E |accessdate= 2007-11-22 |doi=10.2307/3453443 }}</ref><ref>Plato, ''Theaetetus'' Pp 149D</ref>
=====Hippocratic Oath=====
The [[Hippocratic oath|Oath]] is part of the Hippocratic [[Corpus]]. Often ascribed to [[Hippocrates]], the [[Greek people|Greek]] physician, the Corpus is believed to be the collective work of Hippocratic practioners. While the Oath forbids the use of [[Pessary|''pessaries'']] (vaginal suppositories) to induce abortion, it did not prohibit abortion. Modern scholarship suggests that pessaries were banned because they were reported to cause vaginal ulcers.<ref name="Riddle 1991">{{cite journal |last=Riddle |first=John R. |year=1991 |month=Aug. |title=Oral Contraceptives and Early-Term Abortifacients during Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages |journal=''Past and Present'' |volume= |issue=132 |pages=3–32 |url=Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0031-2746%28199108%290%3A132%3C3%3AOCAEAD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-B
|accessdate= 2007-11-26 |quote="Contrary to popular opinion, the ancient Hippocratic Oath did not prohibit abortions; the oath prohibited "vaginal suppositories" presumably because of the ulcerations they were said to cause." Riddle is citing Soranus, p.13. |doi=10.1093/past/132.1.3}}</ref> This specific prohibition has been interpreted by some medical scholars as prohibiting abortion in a broader sense than by pessary.<ref name = "riddle">John M. Riddle. (1992). ''Contraception and abortion from the ancient world to the Renaissance. '' Harvard University Press, 1992.</ref> One such interpretation is by [[Largus|Scribonius Largus]], a Roman medical writer: "Hippocrates, who founded our profession, laid the foundation for our discipline by an oath in which it was proscribed not to give a pregnant woman a kind of medicine that expels the embryo/fetus."<ref name = "scribonius">Scribonius, '' Compositiones '' Praef. 5. 20-23 (Translated and cited in Riddle's history of contraception and abortion)</ref>
Regardless of the Oath's interpretaion, Hippocrates writes of advising a prostitute who became pregnant to jump up and down, touching her buttocks with her heels at each leap, so as to induce miscarriage.<ref name="history1"> Lefkowitz, Mary R. & Fant, Maureen R. (1992). ''[http://www.stoa.org/diotima/anthology/wlgr/ Women's life in Greece & Rome: a source book in translation].'' Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved [[January 11]], [[2006]].</ref> Other writings attributed to him describe instruments fashioned to dilate the [[cervix]] and [[curette]] inside of the [[uterus]].<ref name="hippocrates">Klotz, John W. (1973). [http://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/WRHC/187_A%20Historical%20Summary%20of%20Abortion.PDF A Historical Summary of Abortion from Antiquity through Legalization (1973)]. ''A Christian View of Abortion.'' St. Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House. Retrieved [[March 16]], [[2006]].</ref>
=====Soranus' ''Gynecology''=====
[[Soranus (Greek physician)|Soranus]], a 2nd century Greek physician, recommended abortion in cases involving health complications as well as emotional immaturity, and provided detailed suggestions in his work ''Gynecology''. [[Diuretic]]s, [[emmenagogue]]s, [[enemas]], fasting, and bloodletting were prescribed as safe abortion methods, although Soranus advised against the use of sharp instruments to induce miscarriage, due to the risk of organ [[perforation]]. He also advised women wishing to abort their pregnancies to engage in energetic walking, carrying heavy objects, riding animals, and jumping so that the woman's heels were to touch her buttocks with each jump, which he described as the "Lacedaemonian Leap". <ref name="history1" /><ref>Soranus. ''Gynaecology.'' 1.59-65.</ref>
=====Natural Abortifacients=====
Soranus offered a number of recipes for herbal bathes, rubs, and [[pessary|pessaries]].<ref name="history1"/> In ''[[Materia Medica|De Materia Medica Libri Quinque]],'' the Greek [[pharmacologist]] [[Pedanius Dioscorides|Dioscorides]] listed the ingredients of a draught called "abortion wine" — [[hellebore]], [[cucurbitaceae|squirting cucumber]], and [[scammony]] — but failed to provide the precise manner in which it was to be prepared.<ref name="riddle1">Riddle, John M. (1992). ''Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.</ref> Hellebore, in particular, is known to be [[abortifacient]].<ref name="hellebore"> Hurst, W. Jeffrey. & Hurst, Deborah J. (2000). [http://www.medicinaantiqua.org.uk/sa_hellebore.html Hellebore]. ''Ancient Medicine/Medicina Antiqua.'' Retrieved [[June 7]], [[2006]].</ref>
[[Pliny the Elder]] cited the refined oil of [[Common Rue|common rue]] as a potent abortifacient. [[Serenus Sammonicus]] wrote of a concoction which consisted of rue, [[egg (food)|egg]], and [[dill]]. Soranus, Dioscorides, [[Oribasius]] also detailed this application of the plant. Modern scientific studies have confirmed that rue indeed contains three abortive compounds.<ref name="rue"> Hurst, W. Jeffrey. & Hurst, Deborah J. (2000). [http://www.medicinaantiqua.org.uk/sa_rue.html Rue (Ruta Graveolens)]. ''Ancient Medicine/Medicina Antiqua.'' Retrieved [[April 22]], [[2006]].</ref>
[[Aristolochia|Birthwort]], an herb used to ease [[childbirth]], was also used to induce abortion. [[Galen]] included it in a potion formula in ''de Antidotis'', while Dioscorides said it could be administered by mouth, or in the form of a [[vagina]]l pessary also containing [[black pepper|pepper]] and [[myrrh]].<ref>Riddle, John M. (1997). ''Eve's Herbs: A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.</ref>
=====Christian texts=====
[[Tertullian]], a [[2nd century|2nd]] and [[3rd century]] [[Christian]] [[theology|theologian]], also described surgical implements which were used in a procedure similar to the modern [[dilation and evacuation]]. One tool had a "nicely-adjusted flexible frame" used for dilation, an "annular blade" used to curette, and a "blunted or covered hook" used for extraction. The other was a "copper needle or spike". He attributed ownership of such items to Hippocrates, [[Asclepiades of Bithynia|Asclepiades]], [[Erasistratus]], [[Herophilus]], and [[Soranus (Greek Physician)|Soranus]].<ref name="tertullian"> Tertullian. (n.d.) ''[http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/tertullian10.html A Treatise on the Soul].'' (Peter Holmes, Trans.). Retrieved [[April 12]], [[2006]].</ref>
Tertullian's description is prefaced as being used in cases in which abnormal [[pelvimetry|positioning]] of the fetus in the womb would endanger the life of the pregnant women. [[Saint Augustine]], in ''[[Enchiridion of Augustine|Enchiridion]]'', makes passing mention of surgical procedures being performed to remove fetuses which have [[Perinatal mortality|expired in utero]].<ref name="augustine">Augustine. (n.d.) ''[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/enchiridion.html Enchiridion].'' (Albert C. Outler, Trans.) Retrieved [[April 12]], [[2006]].</ref> [[Aulus Cornelius Celsus]], a [[1st century]] [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[encyclopedist]], offers an extremely detailed account of a procedure to extract an already dead fetus in his only surviving work, ''De Medicina''.<ref name="celsus">Celsus. (n.d.) ''[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Celsus De Medicina].'' (W. G. Spencer, Trans.) Retrieved [[April 12]], [[2006]].</ref>
In Book 9 of ''[[Refutation of all Heresies]]'', [[Hippolytus of Rome]], another Christian theologian of the [[3rd century]], wrote of women tightly binding themselves around the middle so as to "expel what was being conceived."<ref name="hippolytus"> Hippolytus. (n.d.) ''[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0501.htm Refutation of All Heresies].'' (Rev. J. H. Machanon, Trans.). Retrieved [[April 10]], [[2006]].</ref>
=== 5th century to 16th century ===
[[Image:Angkordemon.jpg|thumb|left|240px|Oldest known visual representation of abortion, at [[Angkor Wat]], dated circa 1150, depicting a [[demon]] performing an abortion.]] An [[8th century]] [[Sanskrit]] text instructs women wishing to induce an abortion to sit over a pot of steam or stewed [[onion]]s.<ref name="yale" />
The technique of [[massage]] abortion, involving the application of pressure to the pregnant [[abdomen]], has been practiced in [[Southeast Asia]] for centuries. One of the [[bas relief]]s decorating the temple of [[Angkor Wat]] in [[Cambodia]], dated circa 1150, depicts a [[demon]] performing such an abortion upon a woman who has been sent to the [[underworld]]. This is believed to be the oldest known visual representation of abortion. <ref name="potts"/>
[[Japan]]ese documents show records of induced abortion from as early as the [[12th century]]. It became much more prevalent during the [[Edo period]], especially among the peasant class, who were hit hardest by the recurrent [[famine]]s and high taxation of the age.<ref name="japan1"> Obayashi, M. (1982). [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6759734&dopt=Abstract Historical background of the acceptance of induced abortion]. ''Josanpu Zasshi 36(12),'' 1011-6. Retrieved [[April 12]], [[2006]].</ref> [[Statue]]s of the [[Boddhisattva]] [[Ksitigarbha|Jizo]], erected in memory of an abortion, [[miscarriage]], [[stillbirth]], or young childhood death, began appearing at least as early as 1710 at a [[temple]] in [[Yokohama]] (see [[religion and abortion]]).<ref name="japan2">Page Brookes, Anne. (1981). [http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/135.pdf Mizuko kuyō and Japanese Buddhism.]. ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 8 (3-4),'' 119–47. Retrieved [[2006-04-02]].</ref>
Physical means of inducing abortion, such as [[Battery (crime)|battery]], [[Physical exercise|exercise]], and tightening the [[girdle]] — special bands were sometimes worn in pregnancy to support the belly — were reported among [[England|English]] women during the early modern period.<ref name="mcfarlane">Mcfarlane, Alan. (2002). [http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/savage/A-ABORT.PDF Abortion methods in England]. Retrieved [[June 7]], [[2006]].</ref>
====Natural abortifacients====
[[Image:Medievalpreg.jpg|thumb|right|210px|Art from a [[13th-century]] [[illuminated manuscript]] features a [[herbalism|herbalist]] preparing a concotion containing [[pennyroyal]] for a woman.]]
[[Herbalism|Botanical preparation]]s reputed to be abortifacient were common in [[classics|classical literature]] and [[folk medicine]]. Such folk remedies, however, varied in [[efficacy|effectiveness]] and were not without the risk of [[Adverse effect (medicine)|adverse effects]]. Some of the [[herb]]s used at times to terminiate pregnancy are [[poison]]ous.
A list of plants which cause abortion was provided in ''De viribus herbarum'', an [[11th-century]] [[herbal]] written in the form of a [[poem]], the authorship of which is incorrectly attributed to [[Aemilius Macer]]. Among them were rue, [[Nepeta|Italian catnip]], [[Savory (herb)|savory]], [[Common sage|sage]], [[soapwort]], [[cyperus]], white and black hellebore, and [[pennyroyal]].<ref name="riddle1"/>
''[[King's American Dispensatory]]'' of [[1898]] recommended a mixture of [[brewer's yeast]] and pennyroyal tea as "a safe and certain abortive". More recently, two women in the [[United States]] have died as a result of abortions attempted by pennyroyal, one in 1978 through the consumption of its [[essential oil]] and another in 1994 through a tea containing its [[concentrate|extract]].
[[Tansy]] has been used to terminiate pregnancies since the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name="tansy">Mitich, Larry W. (1992). [http://www.wssa.net/photo&info/weedstoday_info/tansy.htm Intriguing World of Weeds: Tansy]. ''Journal of Weed Technology, 6,'' 242-244.</ref> It was first documented as an [[emmenagogue]] in [[Hildegard of Bingen|St. Hildegard of Bingen's]] ''De simplicis medicinae''.<ref name="riddle1" />
A variety of [[juniper]], known as [[Juniperus sabina|savin]], was mentioned frequently in [[Europe]]an writings.<ref name="potts"/> In one case in [[England]], a [[rector]] from [[Essex]] was said to have procured it for a woman he had impregnated in 1574; in another, a man wishing to remove his girlfriend of like condition recommended to her that [[hellebore|black hellebore]] and savin be boiled together and drunk in [[milk]], or else that chopped [[madder]] be boiled in [[beer]]. Other substances reputed to have been used by the English include [[Spanish fly]], [[opium]], [[watercress]] seed, [[Iron(II) sulfate|iron sulphate]], and iron chloride. Another mixture, not abortifacient, but rather intended to relieve [[Miscarriage#Missed abortion .28O02.1.29|missed abortion]], contained [[Dictamnus|dittany]], [[hyssop]], and hot water.<ref name="mcfarlane"/>
The root of [[Dryopteris filix-mas|worm fern]], called "prostitute root" in the [[French language|French]], was used in [[France]] and [[Germany]]; it was also recommended by a Greek physician in the [[1st century]]. In [[German people|German]] folk medicine, there was also an abortifacient [[tea]], which included [[marjoram]], [[thyme]], [[parsley]], and [[lavender]]. Other preparations of unspecificied origin included crushed [[ant]]s, the saliva of [[camel]]s, and the tail hairs of [[black-tailed deer]] dissolved in the fat of [[bear]]s.<ref name="yale">London, Kathleen. (1982). [http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1982/6/82.06.03.x.html The History of Birth Control]. ''The Changing American Family: Historical and Comparative Perspectives.'' Retrieved [[April 22]], [[2006]] from the Yale University web site.</ref>
===17th-century to present===
[[Image:JapaneseAbortionWoodblock.jpg|thumb|left|200px|"Admonition against abortion." Late 19th-century [[Japan]]ese [[Ukiyo-e]] [[woodblock printing|woodblock print.]]]]
[[Māori]] who lived in [[New Zealand]] before and at the time of [[History of New Zealand|colonisation]] terminated pregnancies via miscarriage-inducing drugs, ceremonial methods, and girding of the abdomen with a restrictive [[Belt (clothing)|belt]].<ref name="maori1">Hunton, R.B. (1977). [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=273782&dopt=Abstract Maori abortion practices in pre and early European New Zealand]. ''The New Zealand Medical Journal, 86(602),'' 567-70. Retrieved [[June 4]], [[2006]].</ref> Another source claims that the Māori people did not practice abortion, for fear of [[Makutu]], but did attempt abortion through the [[induction (birth)|artificial induction]] of [[premature labor]].<ref name="maori2"> Gluckman, L.K. (1981). [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=7019788&query_hl=21&itool=pubmed_docsum Abortion in the nineteenth century Maori: a historical and ethnopsychiatric review]. ''The New Zealand Medical Journal, 93(685),'' 384-6. Retrieved [[June 4]], [[2006]].</ref>
[[19th century|Nineteenth century]] medicine saw advances in the fields of [[surgery]], [[anaesthesia]], and [[sanitation]], in the same era that doctors with the [[American Medical Association]] lobbied for bans on abortion in the [[United States]] <ref name="amalobbying">Dyer, Frederick N. (1999). [http://www.abortionessay.com/files/yourancestors.html Pro-Life-Physician Horatio Robinson Storer: Your Ancestors, and You]. Retrieved [[March 11]], [[2006]].</ref> and the [[British Parliament]] passed the [[Offences Against The Person Act 1861|Offences Against the Person Act]].
Various methods of abortion were documented regionally in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A paper published in 1870 on the abortion services to be found in [[Syracuse, New York]], concluded that the method most often practiced there during this time was to [[douche|flush]] inside of the uterus with injected water. The article's author, Ely Van de Warkle, claimed this procedure was affordable even to a [[maid]], as a man in town offered it for $10 on an [[installment plan]].<ref>Van de Warkle, Ely. (1870). The detection of criminal abortion. ''Journal of the Boston Historical Society, Vols 4 & 5''.</ref> Other prices which [[19th-century]] abortion providers are reported to have charged were much more steep. In [[Great Britain]], it could cost from 10 to 50 [[Guinea (British coin)|guinea]]s, or 5% of the [[Per capita income|yearly income]] of a [[lower middle class]] household.<ref name="potts"/>
===18th century to 20th century===
In France during the latter half of the 19th century, social perceptions abortion started to change. In the first half of the 19th century, abortion was viewed as the last resort for pregnant but unwed women. But as writers began to write about abortion in terms of family planning for married women, the practice of abortion was reconceptualized as a logical solution to unwanted pregnancies resulting from ineffectual contraceptives.<ref name="McLaren">{{cite journal |last=McLaren |first=Angus |year=1978 |month=Spring |title=Abortion in France: Women and the Regulation of Family Size 1800-1914 |journal=French Historical Studies |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=461–484 |url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=7358418&site=ehost-live |accessdate= 2007-11-17 |quote="Increasingly, writers in the latter half of the nineteenth century no longer referred to abortion as a last resort for the single, seduced girl but as a family planning measure employed by the married woman. As a result the very nature of the idea and practice of abortion was transformed." p.469 |doi=10.2307/286340}} </ref> The formulation of abortion as a form of family planning for married women was made "thinkable" because both medical and non-medical practioners agreed on the relative safety of the procedure.<ref name="McLaren"/>
In the United States and England, the latter half of the 19th century abortion became increasingly criminalized. As access to medical abortions diminished, women often sought dangerous alternatives.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}
After a rash of unexplained miscarriages in [[Sheffield]], [[England]], were attributed to [[lead poisoning]] caused by the metal [[water pipe|pipe]]s which fed the city's water supply, a woman confessed to having used diachylon — a lead-containing [[plaster]] — as an abortifacient in 1898.<ref name="potts"/> Criminal investigation of an abortionist in [[Calgary, Alberta]] in 1894 revealed through [[chemical analysis]] that the concotion he had supplied to a man seeking an abortifacient contained [[Spanish fly]].<ref name="ccha">Beahen, William. (1986). [http://www.umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/ccha/Back%20Issues/CCHA1986/Beahan.htm#_ftn1 Abortion and Infanticide in Western Canada 1874 to 1916: A Criminal Case Study]. ''Historical Studies, 53'', 53-70. Retrieved [[June 3]], [[2006]].</ref>
Women of [[Judaism|Jewish descent]] in [[Lower East Side, Manhattan]] are said to have carried the ancient [[India]]n practice of sitting over a pot of steam into the early 20th century. <ref name="yale"/> Dr. Evelyn Fisher wrote of how women living in a [[mining]] town in [[Wales]] during the [[1920s]] used candles intended for [[Roman Catholic]] ceremonies to dilate the [[cervix]] in an effort to [[self-induced abortion|self-induce]] abortion.<ref name="potts"/> Similarly, the use of candles and other objects, such as glass rods, penholders, [[hair iron|curling iron]]s, spoons, sticks, knives, and [[catheter]]s was reported during the 19th-century in the United States.<ref name="king">King, C.R. (1992). [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=1628000&query_hl=21&itool=pubmed_docsum Abortion in nineteenth century America: a conflict between women and their physicians]. ''Women's Health Issues, 2(1),'' 32-9. Retrieved [[June 4]], [[2006]].</ref>
====Advertisement of abortion services====
[[Image:TansyPills(Close-Up).jpg|thumb|right|The text of this clandestine ad reads: "Dr. Caton's Tansy Pills! The most reliable remedy for ladies. Always safe, effectual, and the only guaranteed women's salvation. Price $1. Second advice free. R. F. Caton, Boston, Mass."]]
Access to abortion continued, despite bans enacted on both sides of the [[Atlantic Ocean]], as the disguised, but nonetheless open, advertisement of abortion services, abortion-inducing devices, and abortifacient medicines in the [[Victorian era]] would seem to suggest.<ref name="history2"> ''[http://users.telerama.com/~jdehullu/abortion/abhist.htm Histories of Abortion].'' (n.d.) Retrieved [[January 11]], [[2006]].</ref> Apparent print ads of this nature were found in both the [[United States]],<ref name="libraryofcongress">"[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awser2/advertisement.html Product Advertisements]." (n.d.) ''The Library of Congress: American Women.'' Retrieved [[June 2]], [[2006]]. </ref> the [[United Kingdom]], <ref name="potts" /> and [[Canada]]. <ref name="mclaren">McLaren, Angus. (1978). [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed Birth control and abortion in Canada, 1870-1920]. ''Canadian Historical Review, 59(3)'', 319-40. Retrieved [[June 3]], [[2006]].</ref> A [[British Medical Journal]] writer who replied to [[newspaper]] ads peddling relief to women who were "temporarily indisposed” in 1868 found that over half of them were in fact promoting abortion.<ref name="potts" />
[[Image:FrenchPeriodicalPills-January61845,BostonDailyTimes.jpg|thumb|left|170px|An 1845 ad for "French Periodical Pills" warns against use by women who might be "en ciente [sic]" ("''enceinte''" is French for "pregnant").]]
A few alleged examples of surreptitiously-marketed abortifacients include "Farrer's Catholic Pills", "Hardy's Woman's Friend", "Dr. Peter's French Renovating Pills", "[[Lydia Pinkham]]'s Vegetable Compound",<ref name="victorianpills">Black, Barbara. (2000, November 27). [http://www.nsnews.com/issues00/w112700/opinion/editorial/black.html Women win back reproductive rights]. ''North Shore News.'' Retrieved [[March 16]], [[2006]].</ref> and "Madame Drunette's Lunar Pills". <ref name="potts" /> [[Patent medicine]]s which claimed to treat "female complaints" often contained such ingredients as [[pennyroyal]], [[tansy]], and [[savin]]. Abortifacient products were sold under the promise of "restor[ing] female regularity" and "removing from the system every impurity."<ref name="victorianpills"/> In the vernacular of such advertising, "irregularity," "obstruction," "menstrual suppression," and "delayed period" were understood to be [[euphemism|euphemistic]] references to the state of pregnancy. As such, some abortifacients were marketed as [[menstruation|menstrual regulative]]s.<ref name="king"/> "Old Dr. Gordon's Pearls of Health," produced by a [[Pharmaceutical company|drug company]] in [[Montreal]], "cure[d] all suppressions and irregularities" if "used monthly".<ref name="bedroom">McLaren, Angus, & Tigar McLaren, Arlene. (1997). ''The Bedroom and the State: The Changing Practices and Politics of Contraception and Abortion in Canada, 1880-1997.'' Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.</ref> However, a few ads explicitly warned against the use of their product by women who were expecting, or listed [[miscarriage]] as its inevitable side effect. The copy for "Dr. Peter's French Renovating Pills" advised, "...pregnant females should not use them, as they invariably produce a miscarriage...”, and both "Dr. Monroe's French Periodical Pills" and "Dr. Melveau's Portuguese Female Pills" were "sure to produce a miscarriage".<ref name="potts"/> F.E. Karn, a man from [[Toronto]], in 1901 cautioned women who thought themselves pregnant not to use the [[pill]]s he advertised as "Friar's French Female Regulator" because they would "speedily restore menstrual secretions".<ref name="bedroom"/>
[[Image:1858AbortionAdReprint.jpg|thumb|160px|right|"Dr. Miller's Female Monthly Powders" ad copy reprinted in an 1858 article condemning such advertising.]]
Such advertising did not fail to arouse criticisms of [[quackery]] and [[morality|immorality]]. The safety of many nostrums was suspect and the [[efficacy]] of others non-existent. <ref name="king" /> [[Horace Greeley]], in a ''[[New York Herald]]'' editorial written in 1871, denounced abortion and its promotion as the "infamous and unfortunately common crime—so common that it affords a lucrative support to a regular guild of professional murderers, so safe that its perpetrators advertise their calling in the newspapers".<ref name="libraryofcongress"/> Although the paper in which Greeley wrote accepted such advertisements, others, such as the ''[[New York Tribune]]'', refused to print them.<ref name="libraryofcongress"/> [[Elizabeth Blackwell (doctor)|Elizabeth Blackwell]], the first woman to obtain a [[Doctor of Medicine]] in the United States, also lamented how such ads lead to the contemporary synonymity of "female physician" with "abortionist".<ref name="libraryofcongress"/> The [[Comstock Law]] made all abortion-related advertising illegal in the United States (see [[History of abortion#Pre-industrial|history of abortion law]]).
<br clear="all" />
====Madame Restell====
[[Image:MadameRestell-April13,1840NewYorkHerald.jpg|thumb|left|140px|An advertisement for [[Madame Restell|Madame Restell's]] services from an 1840 edition of the ''[[New York Herald]]''.]]
A well-known example of a Victorian-era abortionist was [[Madame Restell]], or Ann Lohman, who over a forty year period illicitly provided both surgical abortion and abortifacient pills in the northern United States. She began her business in [[New York]] during the [[1830s]], and, by the [[1840s]], had expanded to include [[franchising|franchises]] in [[Boston]] and [[Philadelphia]].
[[Image:National Police Gazette Restell.jpg|thumb|right|170px|"The Female Abortionist." [[Madame Restell]] is portrayed as a [[villain]]ess in an 1847 copy of the ''National Police Gazette''.]]
It is estimated that by 1870 her annual expenditure on advertising alone was $60,000.<ref name="potts"/> One ad for Restell's medical services, printed in the [[New York Sun]], promised that she could offer the "strictest confidence on complaints incidental to the female frame" and that her "experience and knowledge in the treatment of cases of female irregularity, [was] such as to require but a few days to effect a perfect cure".<ref name="restell1">Olasky, Marvin. (1988). ''[http://www.worldmag.com/world/olasky/Prodigal/c11.html Prodigal Press: The Anti-Christian Bias of American News Media].'' Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books: Retrieved [[June 1]], [[2006]].</ref> Another, addressed to [[marriage|married]] women, asked the question, "Is it desirable, then, for parents to increase their families, regardless of consequences to themselves, or the well-being of their offspring, when a simple, easy, healthy, and certain remedy is within our control?"<ref name="restell2">Watkins Richardson, Cynthia. (2002). [http://www.library.umaine.edu/khronikos/html/restell/restell.htm In the Eye of Power: The Notorious Madam Restell]. ''Khronikos.'' Retrieved [[June 1]], [[2006]].</ref> Advertisements for the "Female Monthly Regulating Pills" she also sold vowed to resolve "all cases of suppression, irregularity, or stoppage of the menses, however obdurate."<ref name="restell1"/>
Madame Restelle was an object of criticism in both the respectable and [[penny press]]es. She was first arrested in 1841, but, it was her final arrest by [[Anthony Comstock]] which lead to her [[suicide]] on the day of her trial [[April 1]], [[1878]].<ref name="restell2"/>
====Development of contemporary methods====
[[Image:RussianAbortionPoster.jpg|thumb|210px|left|[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Propaganda|poster]] circa 1925 warns against [[unsafe abortion]]. Title translation: "Abortions performed by either trained or self-taught midwives not only maim the woman, they also often lead to death."]]
Although prototypes of the modern [[curette]] are referred to in ancient texts, the instrument which is used today was initially designed in [[France]] in 1723, but was not applied specifically to a gynecological purpose until 1842.<ref name="nafhistory">National Abortion Federation. (n.d.). [http://www.prochoice.org/education/resources/surg_history_overview.html Surgical Abortion:History and Overview]. Retrieved October 29, 2006.</ref> [[Dilation and curettage]] has been practiced since the late [[19th century]].<ref name="nafhistory"/>
The [[20th century]] saw improvements in abortion technology, increasing its safety, and reducing its [[Adverse effect (medicine)|side-effect]]s. [[Vacuum]] devices, first described in medical literature in the 1800s, allowed for the development of [[suction-aspiration abortion]].<ref name="nafhistory"/> This method was practiced in the [[Soviet Union]], [[Japan]], and [[China]], before being introduced to [[UK|Britain]] and the [[United States]] in the 1960s.<ref name="nafhistory"/> The invention of the [[Karman cannula]], a flexible [[plastic]] [[cannula]] which replaced earlier metal models in the 1970s, reduced the occurrence of perforation and made suction-aspiration methods possible under [[local anesthesia]].<ref name="nafhistory" /> In 1971, [[Lorraine Rothman]] and [[Carol Downer]], founding members of the feminist self-help movement, invented the Del-Em, a safe, cheap suction device that made it possible for people with minimal training to perform early abortions called [[menstrual extraction]].<ref name="nafhistory"/>During the mid-1990s in the United States the medical community showed renewed interest in MVA as a method of early surgical abortion. This resurgence is due to technological advances that permit early pregnancy detection (as soon as a week after conception) and a growing popular demand for safe, effective early abortion options, both surgical and medical. An innovator in the development of early surgical abortion services is Jerry Edwards, a physician, who developed a protocol in which women are offered an abortion using a handheld vacuum syringe as soon as a positive pregnancy test is received. This protocol is also allows the early detection of an ectopic pregnancy. <ref name="nafhistory"/>
[[Intact dilation and extraction]] was developed by Dr. James McMahon in 1983. It resembles a procedure used in the 19th century to save a woman's life in cases of obstructed labor, in which the fetal skull was first punctured with a perforator, then crushed and extracted with a [[forceps]]-like instrument, known as a [[cranioclast]].<ref>Gawande, Atul. (October 9, 2006.) "[http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/061009fa_fact The Score: How Childbirth Went Industrial]." ''The New Yorker.'' Retrieved December 8, 2006.</ref><ref>"[http://www.fcgapultoscollection.com/dobfor.html Destructive OB Forceps]." (n.d.) Retrieved December 8, 2006.</ref>
In 1980, researchers at [[Roussel Uclaf]] in [[France]] developed [[mifepristone]], a chemical compound which works as an abortifacient by blocking [[hormone]] action. It was first marketed in France under the [[trade name]] Mifegyne in 1988.
==Social: History of abortion debate==
{{main|Abortion debate}}
Social discourses regarding abortion have historically been related to issues of family planning, religious and moral ideology, and human rights.
===Prehistory to 5th century===
Abortion was a common practice. Evidence suggests that late-term abortions were performed in a number of cultures. In Greece, the [[Stoicism|Stoics]] believed the fetus to be plantlike in nature, and not an animal until the moment of birth, when it finally breathed air. They therefore found abortion morally acceptable.<ref name="OCD"/> The Greek [[playwright]] [[Aristophanes]] noted the abortifacient proprety of pennyroyal in 421 BC, through a humorous reference in his [[comedy]], ''[[Peace (play)|Peace]].''<ref name="pennyroyal">Young, Gordon. (1995). [http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/12.14.95/pennyroyal-9550.html Lifestyle on Trial]. ''Metro.'' Retrieved [[June 7]], [[2006]].</ref> [[Image:Silphium.jpg|thumb|left|160px|[[Cyrene|Cyrenian]] [[coin]] with an image of [[silphium]].]]
The ancient Greeks relied upon the herb [[silphium]] an abortifacient and contraceptive. The plant, as the chief export of [[Cyrene]], was driven to [[extinction]], but it is suggested that it might have possessed the same abortive properties as some of its closest extant relatives in the [[Apiaceae|Apiaceae family]]. Silphium was so central to the Cyrenian economy that most of its [[coin]]s were embossed with an image of the plant.
In Rome, abortion was practiced "with little or no sense of shame." <ref>{{cite journal |last=Hopkins |first=Keith |year=1965 |month=October |title=Contraception in the Roman Empire |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=124–151 |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0010-4175%28196510%298%3A1%3C124%3ACITRE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C |accessdate= 2007-11-12 |quote="We know that Romans practiced abortion with little or no sense of shame." Hopkins cites R. Hähnel's "Der künstliche Abortus in Altertum", p.127. }}</ref> There were also opposing voices, most notably [[Hippocrates of Cos]] and the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] Emperor [[Augustus]]. [[Aristotle]] wrote that, "[T]he line between lawful and unlawful abortion will be marked by the fact of having sensation and being alive."<ref>Aristotle, Politics, bk. 7, ch. 6 at 294 (T.A. Sinclair trans. 1962) (325 B.C. or thereabouts).</ref> In contrast to their pagan environment, Christians generally shunned abortion, drawing upon early Christian writings such as the [[Didache]] (circa 100 A.D.), which says: "... thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill the infant already born."<ref name="didache">''[http://www.ewtn.com/library/PATRISTC/ANF7-17.TXT Didache].'' (c. AD 70–160). Retrieved [[June 3]], [[2006]].</ref> Saint Augustine believed that abortion of a ''fetus animatus,'' a fetus with human limbs and shape, was murder. However, his beliefs on earlier-stage abortion were similar to Aristotle's, <ref name="Augustine"> [http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_hist.htm|Roman Catholicism and abortion access: Pagan & Christian beliefs 400 BCE -1980 CE] ReligiousTolerance.org. Retrieved [[March 11]], [[2007]].</ref> though he could neither deny nor affirm whether such unformed fetuses would be resurrected as full people at the time of the second coming.<ref name="Enchiridion"> [http://www.leaderu.com/cyber/books/augenchiridion/enchiridion78-96.html|Augustine's ENCHIRIDION, Chs. 78-96]. Retrieved [[March 11]], [[2007]].</ref>
*"But who is not rather disposed to think that unformed fetuses perish like seeds which have not fructified?" ([[Augustine of Hippo|Saint Augustine]], ''Enchiridion,'' ch. 85.<ref name="Enchiridion"> [http://www.leaderu.com/cyber/books/augenchiridion/enchiridion78-96.html]. Retrieved [[March 11]], [[2007]].</ref>)
* "And therefore the following question may be very carefully inquired into and discussed by learned men, though I do not know whether it is in man's power to resolve it: At what time the infant begins to live in the womb: whether life exists in a latent form before it manifests itself in the motions of the living being. To deny that the young who are cut out limb by limb from the womb, lest if they were left there dead the mother should die too, have never been alive, seems too audacious." (Saint Augustine, ''Enchiridion'' ch. 86.<ref name="Enchiridion"> [http://www.leaderu.com/cyber/books/augenchiridion/enchiridion78-96.html]. Retrieved [[March 11]], [[2007]].</ref>)
===5th century to 16th century===
* [[1140]] - The [[monk]] [[Gratian (jurist)|John Gratian]] completed the ''[[Concordia discordantium canonum]]'' (''Harmony of Contradictory Laws'') which became the first authoritative collection of [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Canon law]] accepted by the [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]]. In accordance with ancient scholars, it concluded the moral crime of early abortion was not equivalent to that of [[homicide]].
* c. [[1200]] - [[Pope Innocent III]] wrote that when "quickening" occurred, abortion was [[homicide]]. Before that, abortion was considered a less serious [[sin]].
*c. [[1395]] - The [[Lollards]], an English proto-Protestant group, denounce the practice of abortion in [[The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards]].
* [[1487]] - ''[[Malleus Maleficarum]]'' (''The Hammer of Witches''), a [[witch-hunt]]ing manual, is published in [[Germany]]. It accuses [[midwife|midwive]]s who perform abortions of committing [[witchcraft]].<ref name="malleus">Kramer, Heinrich, & Sprenger, Jacob. (1487). ''[http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org Malleus Maleficarum].'' (Montague Summers, Trans.). Retrieved [[June 3]], [[2006]].</ref>
* [[1588]] - [[Pope Sixtus V]] aligned [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]] policy with [[St. Thomas Aquinas]]' belief that [[contraception]] and abortion were crimes against [[nature]] and sins against [[marriage]].
* [[1591]] - [[Pope Gregory XIV]] decreed that prior to 116 days (~17 weeks), [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]] penalties would not be any stricter than local penalties, which varied from country to country.
==Legal: History of abortion law ==
{{seealso|Timeline of reproductive rights legislation|Abortion law}}
The '''history of abortion law''' dates back to ancient times and has impacted men and women in a variety of ways in different times and places. While laws regulating acceptable forms of abortion began with the Romans, widespread regulation restricting women's choice to have an abortion did not begin until the 13th century.
There were no laws against abortion in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire, as Roman law did not regard a fetus as distinct from the mother's body, and abortion was not infrequently practiced to control family size, to maintain one's physical appearance, or because of [[adultery]]. In [[211|211 AD]], at the intersection of the reigns of [[Septimius Severus]] and [[Caracalla]], abortion was outlawed for a period of time as violating the rights of parents, punishable by temporary exile.<ref name="OCD">{{cite encyclopedia
| last = Hornblower
| first = Simon
| authorlink =
| title = abortion
| encyclopedia = The Oxford Classical Dictionary
| volume =
| pages = 1
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = Oxford
| date = 1996
| url =
| accessdate = }}</ref> However, late Roman legislation is generally derived from a concern for population growth, and not as an issue of morality.{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
Historically, it is unclear how often the ethics of [[abortion]] (induced abortion) was discussed, but widespread regulation did not begin until the 18th century. One factor in abortion restrictions was a socio-economic struggle between male physicians and female mid-wives.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} In the 18th century, English and American [[common law]] allowed abortion if performed before "[[quickening]]." By the late 19th century many nations had passed laws that banned abortion. In the later half of the [[20th century]] most Western nations began to legalize abortion. Abortion is an issue of reproductive rights, a sub-set of [[human rights]]. This controversial subject has sparked heated debate and in some cases even violence against abortion providers.
According to [[English law|English common law]], abortion after fetal movement or "[[quickening]]" was punishable as homicide, and abortion was also punishable "if the foetus is already formed" but not yet quickened, according to [[Henry Bracton]].<ref>Bracton, Henry. 2 On The Laws and Customs of England, 341 (S.E. Thorne trans., George E. Woodbine ed. 1968) (1250 A.D. or thereabouts).</ref>
=== 17th century to 19th century===
*[[1765]] - Post-quickening abortion was no longer considered homicide in England, but [[William Blackstone]] called it "a very heinous misdemeanor".<ref>William Blackstone, [http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendIXs1.html Commentaries], 1:120--41 (1765).</ref>
* [[1803]] - [[United Kingdom]] enacts ''[[Lord Ellenborough's Act]]'', making abortion after quickening a [[Capital punishment|capital crime]], and providing lesser penalties for the felony of abortion before [[quickening]].<ref>[http://members.aol.com/abtrbng/lea.htm Lord Ellenborough’s Act]." (1998). ''The Abortion Law Homepage.'' Retrieved February 20, 2007.</ref>
* [[1842]] - The [[Shogun]]ate in [[Japan]] bans induced abortion in [[Edo]]. The law does not affect the rest of the country.<ref name="japan1" />
* [[1861]] - The [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]] passes the [[Offences Against The Person Act 1861|Offences Against The Person Act]] which outlaws abortion.
* [[1869]] - [[Pope Pius IX]] declared that abortion under any circumstance was gravely immoral ([[mortal sin]]), and, that anyone who participated in an abortion in any material way had by virtue of that act [[excommunication|excommunicated]] themselves from the [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]]. In the same year, the [[Parliament of Canada]] unifies [[criminal law]] in all [[Provinces and territories of Canada|province]]s, banning abortion.
* [[1873]] - The passage of the [[Comstock Law]] in the [[United States]] makes it a crime to sell, distribute, or own abortion-related products and services, or to publish information on how to obtain them (see [[History of abortion#Advertisement of abortion services|advertisement of abortion services]]).
* [[1820]]–[[1900]] - Through the efforts primarily of physicians in the [[American Medical Association]] and legislators, most abortions in the U.S. were outlawed.
* [[1850]]–[[1920]] - During the fight for [[History of women's suffrage in the United States|women's suffrage in the U.S.]], some notable [[First-wave feminism|first-wave feminists]], such as [[Susan B. Anthony]] and [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]] opposed abortion,<ref name="feminists"> O'Beirne, Kate. (2005, January 8). "[http://www.looksmartfrugalliving.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20060108/ai_n15994033 America's Earliest Feminists Opposed Abortion]." ''Chicago Sun-Times.'' Retrieved [[March 16]], [[2006]].</ref> often seeing themselves as protecting women against dangerous procedures and medicines sold by quacks.
=== 1920s to 1960s ===
* [[1920]] - [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] legalized all abortions in the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-60684/population#366951.hook Population: Marx, Lenin, and Their Followers, Encyclopedia Brittanica entry]</ref>
*[[1931]]-[[Mexico]] as first country in the world legalized abortion in case of rape.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
*[[1932]]-[[Poland]] as first country in Europe outside [[Soviet Union]] legalized abortion in cases of rape and threat to maternal health.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
* [[1935]] - [[Iceland]] became the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion under limited circumstances.{{Fact|date=April 2008}}
* [[1935]] - [[Nazi Germany]] amended [[Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring|its eugenics law]], to promote abortion for women who have hereditary disorders.<ref>Henry Friedlander, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=gqLDEKVk2nMC&pg=PR22&dq=Friedlander+and+abortion+nazi&ei=WOT3R4zxPIOOywSH6JW0DQ&sig=nt0z_vPg8PMvE2yKUYaoWHYTx_o#PPA30,M1 The Origins of Nazi Genocide: From Euthanasia to the Final Solution]'' (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of Northern Carolina Press, 1995): 30. Via Google Books.</ref> The law allowed abortion if a woman gave her permission, and if the fetus was not yet viable,<ref>Proctor, Robert. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=hogbxS2Gp1QC&dq=abortion+and+%22Gerhard+Wagner%22&lr=&num=100&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis]'' (Harvard University Press 1988), page 366: "This emendation allowed abortion only if the woman granted permission, and only if the fetus was not old enough to survive outside the womb. It is unclear if either of these qualifications was enforced."</ref><ref>Arnot, Margaret; Usborne, Cornelie. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=q1BFiRa3KHkC&pg=PA241&vq=racial+hygienic&dq=abortion+and+1939+and+%22Jewish+women%22&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1_1&sig=OF64BVhtNisYdEUajsHV8iAWLAk Gender and Crime in Modern Europe]'', page 231 (1999).</ref> and for purposes of so-called racial hygiene.<ref>Proctor, Robert. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=hogbxS2Gp1QC&dq=abortion+and+%22Gerhard+Wagner%22&lr=&num=100&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis]'' (Harvard University Press 1988), pages 122-123: "Abortion, in other words, could be allowed if it was in the interest of racial hygiene.... the Nazis did allow (and in some cases even required) abortions for women deemed racially inferior.... On November 10, 1938, a Luneberg court declared abortion legal for Jews." Also see ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=gQLqRd7hJq0C&pg=PA589&dq=%22Jewish+women%22+and+nazi+and+forced+and+abortion&ei=QGT2R_GnJY_6zQSXmNTFAw&sig=AC8-4nzcT43Cu3yucTFqcZhg-5U Woman’s Studies Encyclopedia]'' (Greenwood Publishing 1999), Edited by Helen Tierney, page 589: "In 1939, it was announced that Jewish women could seek abortions, but non-Jewish women could not."</ref>
* [[1936]] - [[Joseph Stalin]] reversed most parts of Lenin's legalization of abortion in the Soviet Union to increase [[population growth]]. Stalin's reversal was repealed in 1955.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=3iNmQIP7S2AC&pg=PA151&dq=1955+and+abortion+and+%22Soviet+Union%22&ei=Xj4GSJ6dDImUygSRlaiWAg&sig=2PAIVs9PHky4I4cLCozTbKZCgRs Abortion Policies: A Global Review] (United Nations 2001), page 151: “In its decree of 23 November 1955, the government of the former USSR repealed the general prohibition on the performance of abortions contained in the 1936 Decree.”</ref>
* [[1936]] - [[Heinrich Himmler]], Chief of the [[SS]], creates the "Reich Central Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion". Himmler, inspired by bureaucrats of the Race and Settlement Main Office, hoped to reverse a decline in the "[[Aryan race|Aryan]]" birthrate which he attributed to [[homosexuality]] among men and [[abortion]]s among healthy Aryan women,<ref name="ushmm">United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (n.d.). [http://www.ushmm.org/education/resource/hms/homosx.php?menu=/export/home/www/doc_root/education/foreducators/include/menu.txt&bgcolor=CD9544 Homosexuals: Victims of the Nazi Era]. Retrieved June 22, 2006.</ref> which were not allowed under the 1935 law, but nevertheless practiced. Reich Secretary [[Martin Bormann]] however refused to implement law in this respect, which would revert the 1935 law.{{Fact|date=February 2008}}
* [[1938]] - In [[UK|Britain]], [[Aleck Bourne|Dr. Aleck Bourne]] aborted the pregnancy of a young girl who had been [[rape]]d by [[soldier]]s. Bourne was [[acquittal|acquitted]] after turning himself into authorities. The [[legal precedent]] of allowing abortion in order to avoid [[mind|mental]] or physical damage was picked up by the [[Commonwealth of Nations]].
* [[1938]] - Abortion legalized on a limited basis in [[Sweden]].
* [[1948]] - The [[Eugenic Protection Act]] in [[Japan]] expanded the circumstances in which abortion is allowed.<ref name="japan3">[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12304993&dopt=Abstract Status of abortion in Japan]. (1967). ''IPPF Medical Bulletin, 1(6):3.'' Retrieved [[April 12]], [[2006]].</ref>
* [[1966]] - [[Mississippi]] reformed its abortion law and became the first [[U.S. state]] to allow abortion in cases of [[rape]].
* [[1967]] - The [[Abortion Act 1967|Abortion Act]] (effective [[1968]]) legalized abortion in the [[United Kingdom]] (except in [[Northern Ireland]]). In the U.S., [[Colorado]], [[California]], and [[North Carolina]] reformed their abortion laws based on the 1962 [[American Law Institute|ALI]] [[Model Penal Code]] (MPC).
* [[1968]] - [[Maryland]] and [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] reformed their abortion laws based on the ALI MPC.
* [[1969]] - [[Arkansas]], [[New Mexico]], [[Kansas]], [[Oregon]], and [[Delaware]] reformed their abortion laws based on the ALI MPC.
* [[1969]] - [[Canada]] passed the ''[[Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69]]'', which began to allow abortion for selective reasons.
* [[1969]] - The ruling in the [[Victoria (Australia)|Victorian]] case of ''[[R v Davidson]]'' defined for the first time which abortions are lawful in [[Australia]].
* [[1969]]–[[1973]] - The [[Jane Collective]] operated in [[Chicago]], offering illegal abortions.
===1970s to present===
* [[1970]] - [[Hawaii]], [[New York]], [[Alaska]] and [[Washington]] repealed their abortion laws and allowed abortion on demand; [[South Carolina]] and [[Virginia]] reformed their abortion laws based on the ALI MPC.
* [[1972]] - [[Florida]] reformed its abortion law based on the ALI MPC.
* [[1973]] - The [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]], in ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'', declared all the individual state bans on abortion during the first trimester to be unconstitutional, allowed states to regulate but not proscribe abortion during the second trimester, and allowed states to proscribe abortion during the third trimester unless abortion is in the woman's physical or mental health. The Court legalized abortion in all trimesters when a woman's doctor believes the abortion is necessary for her physical or mental health.
* [[1973]]–[[1980]] - [[France]] ([[1975]]), [[West Germany]] ([[1976]]), [[New Zealand]] ([[1977]]), [[Italy]] ([[1978]]), and the [[Netherlands]] ([[1980]]) legalized abortion in limited circumstances.
* [[1979]] - [[The People's Republic of China]] enacted a [[one-child policy]], leaving some women to either undergo an abortion or violate the policy and face economic penalties in some circumstances.
* [[1983]] - [[Ireland]], by popular [[referendum]], added an [[Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|amendment]] to its [[Constitution of Ireland|Constitution]] recognizing "the right to life of the unborn." Abortion is still illegal in Ireland, except as urgent medical procedures to save a woman's life.
* [[1988]] - [[France]] legalized the "abortion pill" [[mifepristone]] (RU-486). In [[R. v. Morgentaler]], the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] struck down regulations of abortion for violating a woman's constitutional "[[security of person]]"; Canadian law has not regulated abortion ever since.
* [[1990]] - The [[Abortion Act 1967|Abortion Act]] in the [[UK]] was amended so that abortion is legal only up to 24 weeks, rather than 28, except in unusual cases.
* [[1992]] - In [[Planned Parenthood v. Casey]], the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] overturned the trimester framework in [[Roe v. Wade]], making it legal for states to proscribe abortion after the point of fetal viability, excepting instances that would risk the woman's health.
* [[1993]] - [[Poland]] banned abortion, except in cases of [[rape]], [[incest]], severe [[congenital disorder]]s, or threat to the life of the pregnant woman.
* [[1996]] - [[Republic of South Africa]] the 'Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996' comes into effect (Repealing the 'Abortion and Sterilization Act 2 of 1975' which only allowed abortions in certain circumstances) lawfully permitting abortions by choice. Act is often challenged in Court.
* [[1998]] - [[Republic of South Africa]] the abortion question is finally answered when the Transvaal Provincial Division in "'''Christian Lawyers Association and Others v Minister of Health and Others'' (50 BMLR 241)" where the Court held that abortions are legal in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
* [[1999]] - In the [[United States]], [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] passed a ban on [[intact dilation and extraction]], which President [[Bill Clinton]] [[veto]]ed.
* [[2000]] - [[Mifepristone]] (RU-486) approved by the U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA). In [[Stenberg v. Carhart]], the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] overturned a [[Nebraska]] state law that banned [[intact dilation and extraction]], a late-term abortion procedure that has been labeled "partial birth abortion" by opponents of legal abortion.
* [[2003]] - The U.S. enacted the ''[[Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act]]'' and [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]] signed it into law. After the law was challenged in three appeals courts, the U.S. Supreme Court held that it was constitutional because, unlike the earlier Nebraska state law, it was not vague or overly broad. The court also held that banning the procedure did not constitute an "undue burden," even without a health exception. (see also: [[Gonzales v. Carhart]])
* [[2007]] - The Parliament of [[Portugal]] voted to legalize abortion during the first ten weeks of pregnancy. This followed a referendum that, while revealing that a majority of Portuguese voters favored legalization of early-stage abortions, failed due to low voter turnout. Although, at the 2nd referendum, the vote for the legalization won. President Cavaco Silva signed the measure and it went on effect.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/10/world/europe/10briefs-PARLIAMENTLI_BRF.html?n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fA%2fAbortion nytimes.com]</ref>
==See also==
* [[Gynaecology]]
* [[History of medicine]]
* [[Obstetrics]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
*Critchlow, Donald T. ''The Politics of Abortion and Birth Control in Historical Perspective'' (1996)
* Critchlow, Donald T. ''Intended Consequences: Birth Control, Abortion, and the Federal Government in Modern America'' (2001)
* Garrow, David J. ''Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe V. Wade'' (1998)
* Hull, N.E.H. ''Roe V. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy in American History'' (2001). Legal history.
* Mohr, James C. ''Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy, 1800-1900'' (1979)
* Staggenborg. Suzanne. ''The Pro-Choice Movement: Organization and Activism in the Abortion Conflict'' (1994)
* Rubin, Eva R. ed. ''The Abortion Controversy: A Documentary History'' (1994)
* Hull, N.E.H. ''The Abortion Rights Controversy in America: A Legal Reader'' (2004)
* [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft967nb5z5&brand=eschol Reagan, Leslie J. ''When Abortion Was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United State, 1867-1973'' (1997)]
* [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=410&invol=113 Text of the Roe v Wade decision from Findlaw]
* [http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct-cgi/get-us-cite?410+113 Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)] (full text with links to cited material)
</div>
==External links==
*[http://www.flutterby.com/danlyke/religion/abortion.html A Brief History of Abortion]
*[http://www.cbctrust.com/history_law_religion.php Abortion in Law, History & Religion]
*[http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/library/historical/artifacts/roman_surgical/ Surgical Instruments from Ancient Rome]
*[http://info.med.yale.edu/library/historical/instruments/obgyntemplate.html Collection of Obstetrical Instruments]
*[http://www.collectmedicalantiques.com/obstetrics.html Obstetrics Struggles for Respectability]
[[Category:Abortion]]
[[Category:Female reproductive system]]
[[Category:History of medicine]]
[[it:Storia dell'aborto]]
[[pt:História do aborto]]