Attitudes towards pregnancy termination in historical times (Part I)

Abortion is a subject discussed and performed since the ancient times. The difference is that whereas women now have the choice to go through it with Mifepristone and Misoprostol tablets or surgery; people in ancient times used abortifacient herbs and other dangerous methods. Just as the topic is discussed contentiously in today’s political and social climate, it was also discussed by then scholars from all over the world.

Here are some of the outlooks on abortion by various societies and cultures throughout history

Ancient Rome and Greece

The Greeks and Romans were not much interested or concerned with the right to existence of the unborn fetus. The only time the termination was opposed was when and if the father wanted the child and felt entitled to have one.

The early Greek and Roman philosophers argued that the fetus was not fully formed and begun to live until after 40 days after conception for a male and 80 days for a female.

In his book Politics, Aristotle states that if the couple has children in excess, then they should consider abortion before “sense and life” has begun. According to him, the legality of the process depends upon the matter of ‘life and sensation’.

Aristotle believed that the female embryos took longer time to develop than the male ones; however they made up for the delay by developing fast after birth. Theorists believed that he came to the idea after examining the differences in development between male and female miscarried fetuses.

Biblical times

The Old Testament contains several passages referring to pregnancy termination; however the reference is depicted in manner in terms of loss of property rather than the ethics of abortion. 

The status of a fetus in the Bible is merely shown in terms of property by the laws of that time. Therefore if anyone causes a miscarriage, a fine must be paid to the husband of the woman. If the attempt of abortion killed the woman, the perpetrator is liable to punished to death.

The New Testament doesn’t explicitly mention abortion.

Western History of pregnancy termination

Throughout much of the western history, aborting was not considered a criminal offence if it was carried out before “quickening”. This refers the time before the fetus moves in the womb, i.e. up to 18 to 20 weeks of gestation. Until that time period, the fetus was considered to be a part of the mother and thus its removal posed no ethical problem than any other types of surgical procedure.

Attitude towards pregnancy termination became a lot liberal after the beginning of the 20^th century. By the 70’s the abortion had been legalized in most of the European countries. After the invention of abortion pills in France in 1988, many women now choose to abort by Mifepristone and Cytolog pills. Initially permitted only within 40 days, the new FDA rule in 2016 stated that medical pregnancy termination is now viable till 70 days, i.e. 10 weeks.

However women had to struggle a lot before the reality of legality and easy access was available. In the next blog, we will discuss how laws and perception over pregnancy termination changed over time in England and America.