Abortion In The Late 1800's

One of the most controversial topics over the years, and still today, is abortion. Is abortion murder or not? When does a fetus become a human? There are no answers to these questions. Everyone individual has their own beliefs on whether or not abortion is justifiable. Abortions have been performed throughout many of centuries. Recently, there has been a number of court cases that has changed the legality of abortions, especially in the United States, for example Roe v. Wade. Even religions have changed their views on abortions over the course of the years. In the abortions wars there are two parties, pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life believes that abortion is murder and is completely immoral. Pro-choice,

Before 1820 abortion was legal and practiced, despite the fact that it was a dangerous procedure and more often than not resulted in the death of the mother. it wasn't until after 1821 that abortion started to become regulated and laws were set in place (lewis 2011). in 1879 the first law to be set up was in Connecticut, it was targeted towards merchants that sold poisons to cause miscarriages and drugs to prevent pregnancy and banned the use of the products. By the late 1800s even though abortion was illegal in most states it was still done under the table. Most people didn't get persecuted for illegally performing an abortion, mostly because of a lack of proof that the abortion was performed. the fetus was often disposed of and without

     Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy before birth. An abortion results in the death of the embryo or fetus and may be either spontaneous or induced. For years, abortion has been an extremely controversial subject. The history of abortion reaches back not just decades, but centuries, and even milleniums. Today, policies regarding legal abortion in the U.S. is being debated everywhere. Many myths and misconceptions confuse this issue. A better understanding of the history of abortion in America can help provide a context for an improved policy in the future.

The topic of abortion had always been debated heavily but Roe v. Wade sparked a wave of protests and new opinions. The argument over abortion prior to Roe v. Wade is similar to what it is today; there are those who support abortion (pro-choice) and those who don't (pro-life). Of course each has its exceptions to what is viewed as acceptable. Many supported abortion because women went to extremely dangerous lengths to terminate their pregnancies. ¨In 1965, illegal abortions made up one-sixth of all pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths¨, (Planned Parenthood; Roe v. Wade). Many religious leaders and figures were anti-abortion because of their beliefs, ¨Doe v. Bolton [410 U.S. 179 (1973)] , the Supreme Court ruled that the unborn child is not a ¨person¨ at any time before birth...¨ (The Catholic Advance; A Non-Person).

Some things are hard to achieve and sometimes they are somewhat wrong, which takes time to get to the main point. In past decades there have been many controversial issues of equal rights and freedoms etc. Abortion rights issue has been a global political issue.

changed its course in society. With the new decision made by the United States, abortion

Abortion is the most controversial topic or ‘right’ being debated today. Millions of people are not alive today because they were terminated before they were born through the process of abortion. There are two sides of the abortion debate: pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life is against abortion while pro-choice is for women having the choice as to what they want to do with their bodies. There are also many people in the middle of the argument that are okay with abortion but only under certain circumstances. Bills over abortion are constantly on the voting ballet, and they will continue to be on them until an overall consensus is established. Abortion topics are so heavily discussed and debated due to the fact that they effect so many

Prior to 1970 abortions were illegal in the United States. It was then when the now popular Roe v. Wade case took place which saw the Supreme Court make any laws regarding the prevention of early-stage abortions unconstitutional. An abortion can be defined as an early termination of an unwanted pregnancy. As a topic of controversy there are many aspects of abortion that are constantly being debated. For example, moral and legal obligations, support from federal and state funding and the debate of whether there has been a decline in abortions since its legalization, are amongst the main issues surrounding this topic.

The public discourse on abortion has been, and still is, a tremendous debatable topic. I chose the topic on abortion during the Women’s Movement because I am a low-grade feminist, but I believe in pro-choice. Feminist’s advocate for women’s equality to men in areas such as social, political, legal, and economic rights. Growing up, I have always been competitive with the opposite sex and believe that women can do things men can do. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the Women’s Movement began specifically the time period when reproductive rights were an issue, the leaders and organizations during the movement, the course of actions taken, what has changed, and the role of social work.

Abortion has been a heated topic of discussion from as far back as the 1800’s. There are many moral disputes about whether it is right or wrong and there are also disputes that state it is only “right” in certain situations. In the United States abortion had been practiced until about 1880 which was about the time most states had banned it unless it was going to be used to save the life of a woman according to the laws back in this era. A woman’s sole purpose in life during this point in time was the traditional child bearing role and so the anti-abortion legislation worked against the growing movements for suffrage and birth control in order to confine women. Because abortion during the 1800’s wasn’t a simple pill, nor it is today, the ability of a woman to obtain an abortion, and a reliable one at that, depended on her economic situation, her race, and where she lived. Those women who were poor and of color however often turned to dangerous self-abortions or “back-alley” abortions. Two most comment ways to do self-abortions was bleach douche and inserting sharp objects such as a coat hanger into her cervix. The hanger later on became the symbol of abortion right movement. Before 1973 when the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion, well trained physicians risked jail and the loss of their medical licenses in order to provide safer and more effective abortions.

In the 18 hundreds birth control was very difficult to come by. Abortion was frequently practiced in North America during the period from 1600 to 1900. Abortion was viewed as to be very socially unacceptable. During the 1860s a number of states in North America decided to pass anti-abortion laws. After 1860 stronger anti-abortion laws were passed and these laws were more vigorously enforced. This forced women into illegal abortion practices.

Nowadays, abortion has become a controversial issue because people are becoming more aware of the issue that abortion brings to society and the individual who is going through the abortion .In recent years, however, society has become very open-minded, and as a result pro-life and pro-choice groups have been able to sway the American public’s view of abortion. Abortion became legal in 1973 when Roe vs. Wade declared that a woman has the right to choose if she wishes to continue with her pregnancy or if she wishes to terminate it. After 38 years of legalization, issues have become prominent and many Americans are becoming pro-life followers and because of this many pro-life groups want Roe vs. Wade to be overturned. Therefore, Roe vs. Wade

Abortion displays as a very broad issue in the society. People’s point of view on the issue vary from their different era, cultural background, religion, and different country system. Basically, the abortion issue is an irresolvable conflict between the right of women to control their own bodies and the right of children to be born. Women choose to have abortions for various reasons such as bad health, rape, they could not afford their kids, or they simply do not want to have a child at that point in their lives. All these reasons are valid and women should not have to justify to anyone for their decisions;

Abortion has been around since a lot of years in every inhabited corner of the globe. It has always been accepted as a means to prevent the suffering of both woman and potential child. It has been practiced widely in every society for many reasons including famine, war, poverty, overpopulation, or simply because a woman felt she was not ready for a child (Whitney 40). No one ever questioned a woman’s right to this procedure till the 1800’s. During this era of change people began to turn their attention in a new direction, the fetus. They began to protest abortion as cruel, inhumane, and murderous. Abortionists who were once revered and depended upon were scorned and threatened. Though abortions still happened with regularity, they were kept silent and seen as a matter of shame. “Over the next hundred years, public sentiment for fetus continued to rise until the inevitable happened in America during the early 40’s; Abortion was made illegal.” (Cohen 17). The pro-life supporters had succeeded in saving the lives of innocent babies who would have been slaughtered for the convenience of selfish, ignorant and irresponsible women. This new law had made women actually settle down and raise families or give birth to beautiful children. We all know that, it has been proven time to time throughout history that the human spirit will not allow prohibition. Something inside us feels the need to strike out at that, which restrains us and holds us from the

Every year 1,511,300 infant lives are taken; 1,500,000 are victims of abortion, not including countries other than our own. If a mother were to kill her child after it were born it would be considered murder, so why is it that when a mother is growing her child inside of her there are no legal consequences for aborting her child?