History of abortion
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[thumb|right|230px|Indirect advertisements 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.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).]] The practice of abortion dates back to ancient times. 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 laws 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 In the 20th century various women's rights groups, doctors and social reformers successfully repealed abortion bans.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.Frontline. (2005) The Last Abortion Clinic.
Medical: Practice & methods of abortion
Prehistory to 5th century
The first recorded evidence of induced abortion is from the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus in 1550 BC. Potts, Malcolm, & Campbell, Martha. (2002). History of contraception. Gynecology and Obstetrics, vol. 6, ch. 8. A Chinese record documents the number of royal concubines who had abortions in China between the years 500 and 515 BC.Glenc, F. (1974). Induced abortion - a historical outline. Polski Tygodnik Lekarski, 29 (45), 1957-8. According to Chinese folklore, the legendary Emperor Shennong prescribed the use of mercury to induce abortions nearly 5000 years ago.Christopher Tietze and Sarah Lewit, "Abortion", Scientific American, 220 (1969), 21.Many of the methods employed in early and primitive cultures 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 shell.Devereux, G. (1967). 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. In primitive cultures, techniques developed through observation, adaptation of obstetrical methods, and transculturation.Devereux, G. (1976). Techniques of abortion. In A study of abortion in primitive societies. Revised edition. New York: International Universities Press. Retrieved December 8, 2006. Archaeological discoveries indicate early 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.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.
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