Abortion In The 19th Century

Abortions have been around forever, but let’s set aside bias opinions and dive into the history and what it has become to today! Abortion is the practice of terminating a pregnancy and has been conducted using varying methods throughout the world’s history; not only the act itself but the laws prohibiting it. These laws covered incidents including assaults that lead to miscarriages as well as self-induced miscarriages. Over the century’s, abortion laws have fluctuated in severity as well as how well they are enforced. Pre-modern abortion is a common misconception that abortion laws are something of the 20th century unlike todays methods, pre modern societies used herbal remedies as well as specific activities to bring about the desired miscarriage.
Fortunately, with these advancements came more efficient ways of terminating a pregnancy. Ironically, at the same time Victorian Mortality surged! Under Victorian Morality, abortions became a taboo, leading to their ban in most English speaking countries. The first law to specifically outlaw abortions was the Malicious shooting or stabbing act of 1803. Under this legislation any woman who received an abortion as well as any persons were conducting the procedure was sentenced the death penalty or 14 years imprisonment. With the growth in medical development, women began getting abortions more often. The 19th century saw not only a rise in abortion rates but abortions increasingly punished. The first sign of Anti-Abortion campaign surfaced in the United States, starting the 1820’s within a decade there were states that made abortions as weighty as a felony. Surprisingly many feminist were against the legalization of abortions up until the beginning of the reform in the 1920’s. The first act forgiving a mother who got an abortion was the Infant Life Preservation Act, which excused a mother whose sole purpose of the abortion was to carry on her own