abortion
There is a general assumption among pro-life advocates that abortion is a relatively new phenomenon in American life. Abortion advocates conversely present an argument that abortion as always been a necessary reality. Historical balance shows that abortion has been around for quite some time, but its acceptance by anything close to a majority is indeed a recent arrival in the annals of American history.
Maryland handed down the first known conviction for the “intention to abort” in 1652. In 1710 Virginia made it a capital crime to conceal a pregnancy and then be found with a dead baby. Delaware followed in 1719 with a law that made anyone who counseled abortion or infanticide an accessory to murder.
Early in American history, surgical abortion was generally a death sentence to mother and unborn child; infections most often cost the mother her life. One problem in convicting someone of abortion at that time was the difficulty aligned with confirming a pregnancy. Pregnancy was difficult to verify, and juries tended to sympathize with desperate and abandoned women. One factor that limited widespread abortion was the fact men tended to “act honorably” and offer marriage to a woman he impregnated out of wedlock.
From the time of John Calvin and on, religious communities consistently condemned abortion. Up until the mid 1800s, many doctors believed that babies existed in the egg before conception. It was also very difficult to confirm pregnancy in time for early abortions.
As populations became more spread out an isolated, abortion began to take a foothold. As it did, lawmakers stepped into express the will of the general populace. The first abortion legislation was passed in Connecticut in 1821. New York passed a number of anti-abortion laws in the early 1800s. Even so, abortion continued to rise.
The general consensus of both the public and lawmakers was that it wasn’t the women having abortions that should be prosecuted, but rather those performing
Maryland handed down the first known conviction for the “intention to abort” in 1652. In 1710 Virginia made it a capital crime to conceal a pregnancy and then be found with a dead baby. Delaware followed in 1719 with a law that made anyone who counseled abortion or infanticide an accessory to murder.
Early in American history, surgical abortion was generally a death sentence to mother and unborn child; infections most often cost the mother her life. One problem in convicting someone of abortion at that time was the difficulty aligned with confirming a pregnancy. Pregnancy was difficult to verify, and juries tended to sympathize with desperate and abandoned women. One factor that limited widespread abortion was the fact men tended to “act honorably” and offer marriage to a woman he impregnated out of wedlock.
From the time of John Calvin and on, religious communities consistently condemned abortion. Up until the mid 1800s, many doctors believed that babies existed in the egg before conception. It was also very difficult to confirm pregnancy in time for early abortions.
As populations became more spread out an isolated, abortion began to take a foothold. As it did, lawmakers stepped into express the will of the general populace. The first abortion legislation was passed in Connecticut in 1821. New York passed a number of anti-abortion laws in the early 1800s. Even so, abortion continued to rise.
The general consensus of both the public and lawmakers was that it wasn’t the women having abortions that should be prosecuted, but rather those performing