Few topics raise as much protest, fear, bigotry, & superficial reactions then the topic of abortion. Mention it a home, in the workplace, or in a church & you are sure to get reactions that range from hyped hysteria to whispered threats & accusations.
There have been several articles here in Gather.com & needless to say on the internet lately since the murder of Dr. George Tiller. Right, wrong, or indifferent every time abortion comes into the news media, it becomes increasingly difficult for all the other Drs. & women who follow after them & actually they are put in harms way again.
Why is there a constant blame & proverbial judgment put on the Drs. & the women who are seeking medical assistance? Abortions are a procedure neither of them want to be involved in, but through circumstances must face & commit to proper clinical procedures. Yes, you will always have the medical scammers & the women who take advantage of the system. But this is not the majority anymore. More & more women of all ages, have the advantage of seeking certified Drs. & medical clinics that will provide the aid that is needed. Thus preventing back alley abortions with painful assaults, unsanitary mutilations, & female & fetus genocide.
Yes, include a time table established by Drs. & the Law for what semester during pregnancy abortions are allowed, for the sake of the women & the fetus. But, to totally withhold 21st century clinical technology for a safe medical abortion is just as foolish as to allow all abortions no matter what.
The history of abortions needs to be noted likewise. Abortion has been in existence since the Ancient times & practiced by women all over the world. From primitive concoctions to barbaric tools, women have resorted to painful & humiliating procedures in order to induce a miscarriage. Take a look at the evolution of abortion:
2600 BC - First recorded recipe for an abortion producing drug.
1850 BC – Egyptians record recipe for contraceptive pessaries, one made from crocodile dung.
4th Century AD – St.Augustine lays down Catholic dogma sanctioning abortion up to 80 days for female fetus and up to 40 days for male fetus.
13th Century AD - St.Thomas Aquinas states Catholic dogma justifying sexual intercourse only for procreation.
1564 AD - Italian anatomist, Fallopius, discoverer of Fallopian tubes, publicizes condoms as anti-venereal disease devices.
1588 – Pope Sixtus forbids all abortions.
1591 – Pope Gregory XIV rescinds Pope Sixtus’ edict against abortion.
1803 – Great Britain makes abortion a misdemeanor.
1821 – Connecticut outlaws abortion after quickening, early abortions are legal
1860’s – All states pass comprehensive, criminal abortion laws. Most remain until 1973.
1869 – Pope Pius IX forbids all abortions in exchange for France’s Napoleon III acknowledging papal infallibility. France’s population experienced a sharp decrease over the previous 60 years.
1873 – Federal Comstock laws enacted prohibiting mailing or distribution of information on birth control and abortion.
1879 – Margaret Higgins Sanger is born. She led the movement for birth control in the U.S.
1882 – First “modern” birth control clinic in the world opens in Holland, sponsored by trade unions.
1913 – Margaret Sanger arrested for violation of Comstock laws because of feminist birth control columns in, The Woman Rebel.
1916 - Margaret Sanger & her sister, Ethel Byrne jailed for dispensing contraceptive information at first American birth control clinic in Brooklyn, NY.
1924 – First scientific confirmation of women’s ovulatory and fertility cycle.
1930 – Pope Pius XI affirms Catholic dogma that every act of sexual intercourse is a sin unless performed with a reproductive intent.
1942 – Margaret Sanger’s Birth Control Federation of America becomes Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
1956 – Dr. John Rock (a Catholic) and others developed the birth control pill. Their research was funded by two women.
1960’s – FBI crime reports showed organized crime rings made enormous profits performing dangerous abortions. Any doctors caught performing a safe abortion were sent to prison, fined, and had their medical license taken away.
1963 – Pope Paul IV issues encyclical Humanae Vitae condemning artificial birth control.
1965 – In Griswold v. Connecticut, U.S. Supreme Court rules Connecticut’s law prohibiting birth control for married couples violates a newly defined right of marital privacy.
1967 – Then-Governor Ronald Reagan of California signs the most liberal abortion law of the times allowing freedom of choice during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.
1970 – Hawaii, Alaska, and New York repeal criminal abortion laws allowing abortion in the first trimester.
1970 – Belotti v Baird II decision allows states to require parental consent for abortion so long as there is a confidential judicial bypass.
1972 – Supreme Court finds the right to privacy of unmarried persons violated by Massachusetts law against distribution of contraceptives in Eisenstadt v Baird. Justice Brennan in the majority opinion states that all Americans have a right to bear and beget children free from government interference.
1973 – On January 22, 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision, hands down Roe v Wade making a 1st trimester abortion a private decision between a woman & her physician. In the 2nd trimester states can put limitations on abortion with regard to the health of the pregnant woman. In the 3rd trimester states can make abortion illegal except to save the life of the woman.
1973 – Indiana passes first call for a Constitutional Convention to ban abortion.
1976 – Hyde Amendment is passed barring the use of federal Medicaid funds to provide abortions to poor women.
1977 – A revised Hyde Amendment is passed which allows states to deny Medicaid funding except in cases of rape, incest, or severe and long lasting damage to the woman’s physical health. Rosise Jimenez, a 27- year-old mother on welfare, died of an illegal abortion as she could not afford to get a legal abortion due to the Hyde Amendment.
1977 – First reported arson at an abortion clinic (in St. Paul, MN) and first know bombing of an abortion clinic (in Cincinnati, OH).
1980 – 19 of the 34 states required have passed calls for a Constitutional Convention.
1989 – Webster v Reproductive Health Services is handed down by Supreme Court allowing states to place increased restrictions on access.
1991 – Supreme Court upholds Title X gag rule (restriction on mentioning abortion in federally funded clinics) in Rust v Sullivan. Congress votes overwhelmingly to overturn gag rule, but override of Pres. Bush’s veto fails narrowly.
1993 – Newly inaugurated President Clinton reverses several anti-choice policies of Reagan & Bush administrations including gag rule.
1993 – Dr.David Gunn is murdered by anti-choice fanatic in Florida. He is the first of a series of abortion providers shot in the following years.
1994 – President Clinton signs Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) making it a federal crime to interfere with the provision of reproductive health care.
1994 – Dr. John Britton, Lt. Col. Jim Barrett, Shannon Lowney, and Leanne Nichols are murdered in shootings at three abortion clinics.
1995 – U.S. clinical trials of mifepristone (RU486)
1998 – 25 years of legal abortion in America.
From this extensive history we can draw but one conclusion. Abortions are still a necessity in this day & age. This article is not to advocate a pro or con point of view, but to present a factual investigation & realization about abortion.
Whether we come from a religious point of view or a cultural point of view; abortions remain a decision that need to be met on an individual basis between the the pregnant female & her own elective Dr. of choice.
Society needs to remain informed, up to date, & watchful for the protection of our personal individual rights. These human rights are not over reacted upon by groups who blame, hate, or try to dictate harmful laws against that same society or group within that society. Laws are needed to protect & defend according to human rights & humane rights. Providing individualized balance & direction in the pursuit of our society & our humanity.
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Comments: 7
Good article and a lot of history. There was a hospital in Kent Wa that defied the law and provided abortions. The government never could shut them down for some reason. Probably because it was the only hospital in miles and served all patients, not just abortions.
Thanks for posting to Fugitives from Ignorance, Conformity, and Peer Pressure
I am not opposed to abortion but am opposed to the active withholding of information women don't get when they are told it is just an operation like removing a wart. There are endless studies that have shown debilitating ramifications to women's health post abortion and there is an active suppression of this warning to women considering an abortion. It's no different than cigarette companies hiding information that cigarettes are addictive.
Why are the tolerant understand pro-abortion liberals so opposed to exposing scared women from the potential ramifications their choice might cause, ramifications that don't die as easily as a fetus? Why?
thank you for each comment Col. George, Jan, Linda, Jeff
i do hope this opens up more discussion & comments ... i think many are afraid to approach this subject with any transparancy in facts & not emotions.
It is important for the debate to be in the open where we can all see regress, progress, festering wounds before they become lethal. Don't whisper. On the other hand, what we need no more of (been there, done that, have plenty thank you) is angry diatribe, hatefilled warmongering, blasting emotions into situations that are already fraught and frightening thank you.
... well said libramoon C.
... thanks for commenting!