Dangers of Abortion in Angus McLaren's Article 'Illegal Operations: Women, Doctors and Abortion'
Angus McLaren, author of “Illegal Operations: Women, Doctors, and Abortion” demonstrates the life of an abortionist in the late 1800’s to the mid 1900’s. McLaren explains a series of affairs in detail with many different abortionists. Since abortion was illegal at the time, many women consulted midwives, or took the procedure of abortion among themselves, this at times resulted in their death.
The articles purpose is to use legal sources to explore the decision to abort while the state, and the professions took a serious interest in the fertility control decisions of women. What is being argued is the fate of women burdened with unwanted
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Because methods of contraception were expensive and not readily accessible, many pregnancies were unwanted. Therefore women used these excuses as their defence.
It is clear by reviewing the article that the author is very much concerned with the well-being of women at this particular time. She mentions that some “doctors showed themselves more interested in protecting themselves than in caring for their patient.” McLaren also goes into detail with examples to show how the doctors would threaten their patients. Like for instance, Stewart Murrow threatened his dying patient Jennie Young that he would not treat her for septic poisoning if she didn’t name the person who performed the operation. Another case is the Sarah Robins affair where she was stimulated with drugs so as to declare the person who performed the operation. Some doctors saw themselves as the authorities. If a woman were dying in a hospital as the result of a bungled abortion, a statement was taken if only to protect the doctor and the hospital staff. This is why McLaren feels it wasn’t fair for women that doctors were too concerned for their reputation rather than the women who needed their help. McLaren also argues that methods of contraception were very expensive, for example the condom.
The author supports her argument by providing a detailed description of factual cases that occurred during the
Even after abortions became illegal, women continued to have them. Practitioners did their work behind closed doors or in private homes. Women often resorted to desperate and deadly measures just to have an abortion. Women had been able to get abortions by leaving the country or paying a physician in the U.S. a large fee for the procedure. While others weren 't so lucky. They often sought out back-alley procedures or took matters in their own hands. The methods
The abortion question raises a number of issues that form the core of the abortion debate. Opponents and supporters of abortions have been battling over this particular problem for decades and still cannot come to an agreement. Being one of the most common and most controversial medical procedures, abortion tends to affect people on psychological and sociological levels. But while the discussion of the morality of abortion is an ongoing debate, the social issues surrounding abortion in most cases stay unnoticed. The social aspect of the issue is centered on the abortion policy. The main question of the abortion policy is whether the law should permit abortions and, if so under what circumstances. The other is whether the law should put the life of an unborn child first and legally protect it. The peculiarity of the abortion policy is that its measures are highly dependent on different public opinions.
There are many limitations valued when it comes to the right of abortion. The news media still outlines the pros and cons of anti-abortion rights in certain-states-to soon, the entire country. My perspectives on the issue of abortion have been entitled from it to never be banned among citizen’s rights. The reproduction of pregnancy has been emphasized heavily on a mother’s decision to abort their child, but the father of the child plays an active role since he considers to that particular title. Through this current issue, majority of the people against abortion do not seem to have an open mind to how much it primarily affects the decision of the mother amongst her own views of considering abortion.
For around $400 and a referral from a well-respected doctor, Dr. George Loutrell Timanus performed abortions from the 1920s until 1951 (Reagan 1997, 158). Dr. Timanus, like many private practice physicians in his specialty performed abortions for women who came to him with varying reasons such as “poverty, excessive childbearing, and illegitimacy” (Reagan 1997, 158). Despite the general disapproval of abortions, Dr. Timanus practiced out in the open and was available for those who needed him. Dr. Timanus’ execution of these operations showed that though abortions were illegal at the time, there were many doctors who were sympathetic with different maternal cases. His decision to do what he thought was morally correct over the few decades is significant because it shows a change in attitude towards abortions in comparison with that of the early twentieth century. However, in 1951 Dr. Timanus’ office was raided and he, along with those who worked with and for him, was arrested for illegally performing abortions. In the beginning of the 1950s, people started to question whether or not abortions should be legal, thus why Dr. Timanus believed that he was doing nothing wrong and was well within his rights as a physician. Despite the fact that there were people and doctors who had similar beliefs as he did, not one of Dr. Timanus’ colleagues came to his defense as he was trialed for his crimes (Reagan
Abortion really today has been a very controversial issue in today’s society. An interesting claim within it is that abortion can be done safely through the use of medical abortion and although medical abortions can be safe and trustworthy as experts might say, there still are risks that women will have to face and eventually take after abortion. Major types of risks can be pelvic infections, blood clots in the uterus or maybe a torn cervix. These are just few out of many health problems caused from abortion.
Abortion, the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent life, has been practiced since ancient times. With records dating to 1550 BC, it’s no question that abortion techniques have been used throughout the ages as an effective form of birth control. Pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the use of herbs, sharpened instruments, the application of abdominal pressure, and other techniques. In the 19th century, the English Parliament and the American state legislatures prohibited induced abortion to protect women from surgical procedures that were deemed unsafe. However, in 1973, abortion was legalized as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court rule in Roe v. Wade. This ruling made it possible
Abortions were widely used in the early eighteen hundreds and kept secret due public scrutineer. Not only were they considered against the law in some places but were risky due to high risk of infection from unsterile equipment used to perform the actions.” Without today’s current technology, maternal and infant mortality rates during childbirth were extraordinarily high. “(National abortion Federation, 2016) as time contained states changed and modified their laws to accommodate political agendas, these opposed to legal abortion had begun to fight absent any stated funded abortion clines. Then there was Roe v. Wade this was the first major Supreme Court battle based on abortion laws and ethics. Roe v. Wade decision of the courts said that they “considered the constitutionality of a Texas statute made it a crime to obtain an abortion except when it was necessary to save the life of the mother”. (Harris, 2014) There was another Supreme Court case that changed the views of the courts based on how they judge the frame work of decision on the trimester model. The ethics involved in this are not just solely left to the mother of the potential life but in the network of people
The Queen vs. Davis case concerns the murder trial of Arthur Paul Davis and Alice Davis that occurred in 1875. In it, they were tried and convicted of murder for conducting an abortion; the killing of a fetus and subsequently causing death of the victims, Catherine Laing and Jane Vaughn Gilmour. This essay will examine the historical context of the case, what the trial reveals about the nature of women’s lives in Toronto during the 1870s as subordinate women who are deemed as caretakers and how women managed to end unwanted pregnancies. During the late 19th century ending an unwanted pregnancy was an illegal offence because it was considered unethical to kill a fetus. Women were not able to access safer alternatives such as
Historically, abortion was not regulated in the United States until the 20th century. Prior to the 1900s, abortion occurred regularly and was performed by midwives, along with other reproductive health care procedures (Ehrenreich & English, 2010). The rise of the medical industry and a growing immigrant population led to more interest amongst doctors in restricting abortion (Davis, 1983; Solinger, 2015). The American Medical Association began to lobby for the criminalization of abortion and the medicalization of birth, claiming to be interested in protecting women from the harsh chemicals used to induce abortion (Solinger, 2015). Solinger (2015) writes:
In the paper titled “A Defense of Abortion” Judith Thomson uses several premises to bring the readers to the conclusion that Abortion is not morally wrong. After reading her paper I have concluded, that abortion is in fact morally wrong, excluding extenuating circumstances. In this paper I will show that abortion is morally wrong by way of the following argument:
It was argued that anti-abortion laws were “the product of a Victorian social concern to discourage illicit sexual conduct” (543). Another reason abortion was previously prohibited was because “the procedure was a hazardous one for the woman” (544). The court pointed out that this was no longer valid or relevant in this day of age. They explained that abortion was now “relatively safe”, and that “mortality rates for women undergoing early abortions, where the procedure is legal, appear to be as low as or lower than the rates of normal childbirth” (544). When abortion is prohibited, women seeking abortions sometimes tend to undergo illegal abortions, which are extremely unsafe. Therefore, the court said, “the state has a legitimate interest in seeing that abortion, like any other medical procedure, is performed under circumstances that insure maximum safety for the patient” (544). When abortion was illegal, the mortality rate for women having abortions was significantly higher than when it was made
The restrictions and the debate that surrounds the issue of abortion has changed dramatically throughout the course of history and it continues to change until this very moment. All around the world and in every known society, women have used abortion to control their reproduction, regardless of it’s legality. Abortion used to be exercised freely in the United Sates, up Until all the states started to ban It and place a lot of restrictions on it. They stated that a woman can not abort except in extreme cases in which the mother’s life might be in danger. After the restrictions caused a lot of health issues and raised concerns on women’s health, The Government abolished all the restrictions. In this paper I will analyze and discuss three main positions on the issue of abortion. First, there are those who associate themselves with the title “pro-life”. These individuals are anti abortion, birth control, embryo research or anything that can control or cause any harm to the fetus. Second, there are those who at the other end of the spectrum who firmly believe that if a woman decides to abort, then it is her constitutional right to do so without any interference from the government. Third, are those who believe that if a woman is raped or her life is in danger, then abortion should be completely and solely up to the woman, but other than that, abortion should be illegal. This group of individuals are also for birth control and do not oppose educating
Over the years, technology has changed the way medical procedure performs and has made abortion a safer option for women in all social and economic groups. During the 1880s, there were many surgical procedures that were found dangerous and risky for patients. Health professions and other people who were committed to providing abortion to women were not equipped with safe and sanitary surgical tools. They lacked skill, knowledge, and proper concern in abortion, which resulted in a significant number of deaths and severe health consequences for women. Groups such as the American Medical Association
This author has chosen to discuss the ethical issues of abortion. This is a highly debated topic that will exist amongst women. It is happening at high rates. “In 2013, 664,435 legal induced abortions
Abortion is the medical procedure when it is induced on purpose to extract the fetus from the uterus. When abortion occurs without purpose, it is usually referred to as miscarriage; such instance causes psychological problems in a woman and affects her perception of the fetus. The number of moral and ethical considerations on the problem of abortions can be considered from a variety of perspectives that include economic, medical, social, and religious aspects of the phenomenon. Many case studies are based on the need to make a choice, especially when talking about professional duties of doctors and such medical practices, as Hippocratic Oath. The controversy occurs every time some people cannot accept the right of the woman to have an