Abortion didn't suddenly come into existence c. 1970 - it became legal and safe. There were significant numbers of deaths from illegal, 'backstreet', and even medically performed abortions before then, particularly pre-antibiotics and blood transfusion. During the early C20th many women habitually took what they believed to be pills to 'bring on the period' (these were 99.999 recurring % scams), sometimes even before the period was actually late, because they were so scared of another pregnancy in times when birth control was hard to obtain and not very reliable.
And I could go back a lot further, e.g. to ancient Egyptian texts which detail supposedly abortifacient procedures.
Women's desire not to be pregnant in particular personal life-circumstances has immensely deep historical roots. And women used to die horribly in great numbers, or suffer serious lasting effects to their health, for that reason.
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Date: 2007-09-08 08:13 pm (UTC)And I could go back a lot further, e.g. to ancient Egyptian texts which detail supposedly abortifacient procedures.
Women's desire not to be pregnant in particular personal life-circumstances has immensely deep historical roots. And women used to die horribly in great numbers, or suffer serious lasting effects to their health, for that reason.
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