Abortion In The 1800s

Over the course of American history, our social outlook regarding abortion has cycled from acceptance to moral outrange and back to reluctant legality. Interestingly, it has been predominantly white men who have voted to create the laws regarding the issue of abortion. Women’s role in society, historically, has been inferior to men which is ironic considering that pregnancy and childbirth is something only women experience.

In the United States, abortion was legal at the time of the earliest settlers arrived. It was not until the 1800s that states began passing laws that made abortion illegal. While the reasons behind the anti-abortion laws varied from state to state, one of the common beliefs was that the population and birth rate of the immigrants was higher than the previous white settlers, and this frightened many white Americans. During this time, only primitive medicine existed, this contributed to the high maternal and infant mortality rates during childbirth. However, the medical dangers that surrounded abortion were similar to the dangers of other surgeries that were never outlawed. As time progressed, so did the efficiency of medical practice. Many new technologies were developed to help prevent common

infections and diseases, and medical care as a whole was becoming more reliable, safe, and effective. However, the women that were seeking out abortions at this time were unable to get service from the new technology and had to default to illegal practitioners. The “back alley” abortions continued to be dangerous, and frequently deadly, practices. (1)
From the 1880s to 1973, there was a ban of abortions.

The ban on abortion was also linked to the prohibition of the distribution of birth control. However, the criminalization of abortion did not reduce the quantity of women who desired to have one. Instead, the women resulted to self-induced abortions and/or continued to see untrained practitioners. One of the main reasons behind the criminalization of abortion was that the doctors at the time wanted to be granted the exclusive rights to practice medicine and to prevent other practitioners, such as midwives, from taking more clients for less money. By 1910, legal abortion was only attainable through a physician’s approval. It wasn’t until the late 1960s that states began to repeal the abortion laws.

(1)
In 1973, the Supreme Court case of Roe V. Wade made it legal for women to have abortions from trained medical practitioners. The Supreme Court’s decision split the nation. Supporters of legal abortion felt as though they had won the battle; whereas, those who opposed the decision began plotting ways that would ultimately block federal and state funding towards abortion. Groups of the people who opposed the decision would often gather in front of abortion clinics in protest and harass the people that would go near the building. As the years went by, the violence towards abortion supporting groups increased to bombings and physical attacks, some of which ended in death. In the more recent years, the Supreme Court has passed a growing number of restrictions on abortions. (1)