3/31/14
 |
| (Picture 1.1) |
Abortion first came around in the 19th century and was done by doctors with probes. These doctors would use probes that looked like picture 1.1 to break the membrane and cause the unborn fetus to discharge from the mother. This was a very expensive procedure and had many flaws. The doctors had no professional training nor did they really understand the anatomy of the female body. Because these type of abortions were inconvenient and costly, self-abortions became more popular. [1]
Self-abortions
came in all different styles. Many women would try to break the membrane on
their own, which was very risky, or buy abortion kits. Women also tried to use
home-remedies such as drinking rusty water or aloe, exercising, jumping,
douching, and even bleeding from their feet. Although these home-remedies were
not effective, they were still cheaper than going to a doctor. [2]
The
most common women having abortions were white, northern women in the middle or
upper class. Middle class women often were raped from their employer and became
impregnated. Being a pregnant, single, working woman meant that you were frowned
upon and men would not want to marry you. This also led to the woman losing her
job. Women in the upper class wanted to limit their family size so they could
have more money and climb the social ladder. [3]
Abortion
was frowned upon by mostly conservatives and laws were even put into place to
prevent it. The first law was called the Doctrine of Quickening. This law
stated that women could have an abortion until she felt the fetus move; which
was about three to four months. This law was also very ambiguous because many
women can lie about feeling it and the law also wasn’t strictly enforced. [4]
We see that this was the social
norm in the 1800s, but has anything changed now that we are in the 21st
century? Most people assume that the majority of abortionists are teenagers or
victims of rape. This a very wrong assumption because 72% of all abortions are
from women who are already mothers.[5]
Actually only 7% of abortions are by teenagers.[6]
But why are women with children having abortions? For the same reasons that
women were in the 19th century. Mothers are having abortions because
they feel like they are not in financial standings to support another child or
want to limit their family size. [7]
These women want to give all they can to the children they already have and
having another child essentially will take away from these children. [8]
There was an increase in the existing mother abortion percentage after the
recession, about 15%. [9]This
helps support that being in good financial standings is the main reason for
abortions, just like the 19th century.
(Picture 1.2)
Another similarity between the 1800s
and now is that abortion is more accepted in the north as opposed to the south.
According to picture 1.2, abortion is
more common in the north than in the south.[10]
Although slaves in the south are not trying to increase family size, the Bible
belt is still located in the south.[11]
The Bible belt is a group of states that represent a mostly conservative point
of view, therefor are usually more against abortion. Not only is the Bible belt in the south, but
picture 1.3 shows that there are more laws in the south prohibiting abortion
than in the south. [12]
(Picture 1.3)
Despite my viewpoint on abortion, there
is an increasing rate of abortions in the United States.[13]
This was also the trend in the 19th century: 1800-1830 one in twenty
five women were having abortions and in 1830-1850 one in five women were having
abortions. [14] Although
there is a 2 century difference between the 1800s and now, the reason behind abortion,
regional acceptance of abortion, and rate of abortions are still generally the
same.
[1] Moore, Crystal. “The History of Sexuality in America”.
Lecture, UNCC, Charlotte, NC, 2013-2014.
[2] See
1
[3]
See 1
[4]
See 1
[5] Sandler, Lauren. Slate, "The Mother
Majority." Last modified Oct. 11, 2011. Accessed March 30, 2014.
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2011/10/most_surprising_abortion_statistic_the_majority_of_women_who_ter.html.
[6] See
5
[7]
See 5
[8] See
5
[9]
See 5
[10] Joyce, Theodore, Ruoding Tan, and Yuxiu
Zhang. "Back to the Future? Abortion Before & After Roe." working
paper., National Bureau of Economic Research, 2012.
http://www.nber.org/papers/w18338.pdf?new_window=1.
[11]
See 1
[12] See
10
[13]
See 10
[14]
See 1
No comments:
Post a Comment