Abortion In The 1900's

576 Words3 Pages

be controversy, this was when groups rose up to oppose abortion. The results of abortions legality remained unchanged; however, society changed, and any woman getting an abortion was disowned because it was immoral and selfish. Eventually, years and years later, as the 1900’s were approaching, laws on abortion were set into action, some of which can still be seen in today’s world. In the early 1900’s abortion was of insignificance, even if it was legal. Abortion at most was considered a misdemeanor. Showing that there was no significance of the fetus to them or they did not know much about the human body still, or what to think about this topic, as well as the uncertainty of the existence and development of the unborn. Like today the women who got abortions back in the day were often unmarried. They would get abortions to hide the fact that they had …show more content…

The shocking part is that it was still common for women to get an abortion. Studies showed that in between the 1800’s and 1900’s the average amount of women went from 7.04 to 3.56 children, no doubt due to the increase in abortions. This process included poison, not poison that we think of nowadays, but dangerous concoctions of many different things that were said to induce a miscarriage. This concoction often included tansy oil, pennyroyal, rue, ergot, and many other things sometimes with opium included, etc. If mixed with the right amounts and right ingredients it can induce a miscarriage. More often than not there were side effects to taking this poison. Similar to consequences of getting an abortion today, there would be internal organ damage, increased percentage of cancers and other diseases. Only difference being that the likelihood of a consequence was increased tremendously when getting an abortion in old times. (Powers, Meghan. The Abortion Rights Movement,