Abortion
“Though often clouded by shame, secrecy, and misunderstanding, abortion is as old as humanity and probably occurs in all cultures.” (David 81)
Birth Control
As adolescents were not taught about sex, they were definitely not taught about birth control. In the nineteenth-century, “the majority of students were woefully ignorant of available birth control methods" (Tarausch 291). Even today some schools teach abstinence only and refuse to give students the information needed to practice safe sex. Birth control was not discussed merely because it is connected with sex, but because it was against the teachings of the Bible as well. Birth control methods were unreliable and oftentimes unsafe. Known methods of birth control included:
Abortion
Documentation of abortion goes all the way back to 1566 when midwives were brought into homes to administer abortions. From there, the history of abortion grew to be used not just for mothers of illegitimate children, but women trying to limit family size as well. Abortions were administered by all kinds of people not medically qualified to do so including "doctors, midwives, matrons, pharmacists, herbalists, veterinarians, bone-setters, masseurs, and quacks" (McLaren 472). The various methods of abortions are outlined below.
Just as religion played a role in birth control methods, it played a role in abortion methods as well. Catholic women who didn't want their children tended to abandon their babies, while Protestant women were more likely to have an abortion (Richter). Reasons for getting an abortion included "personal honor and attendant hopes for future marriage" (Richter). Women were willing to risk anything for an abortion because "if an unmarried girl were forced to bear a child, her chance of living a normal life would be doomed, and her likely fate would be one of poverty, crime, or prostitution" (McLaren 480).
Prevalence
Methods
The Laws
In 1872, German law dictated the punishments for any activity related to abortion. Laws against abortion may have been put in place because "abortion constituted a threat to social order and male authority" (Rubin 16). The laws were set as follows:
Sources:
Brodie, Janet. Contraception and Abortion in 19th Century America. Cornell University Press, 1994. Print.
David, Henry P., Jochen Fleischhacker, and Charlotte Hohn. "Abortion and Eugenics in Nazi Germany." Population and Development Review 14.1 (1988): 81-112. JSTOR. Web. 10 September 2014.
London, Kathleen. "History of Birth Control." Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Yale University, 1982. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.
McLaren, Angus. "Abortion In France: Women And The Regulation Of Family Size 1800-1914." French Historical Studies 10.3 (1978): 461. Humanities International Complete. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.
Richter, Jeffrey S. "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, And Abortion In Imperial Germany." Journal Of Interdisciplinary History 28.4 (1998): 511. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.
Rubin, Eva R., ed. The Abortion Controversy: A Documentary History. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994. Print.
Tarausch, Konrad H. "Students, Sex and Politics in Imperial Germany." Journal of Contemporary History 17.2 (1982): 285-303. JSTOR. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.
As adolescents were not taught about sex, they were definitely not taught about birth control. In the nineteenth-century, “the majority of students were woefully ignorant of available birth control methods" (Tarausch 291). Even today some schools teach abstinence only and refuse to give students the information needed to practice safe sex. Birth control was not discussed merely because it is connected with sex, but because it was against the teachings of the Bible as well. Birth control methods were unreliable and oftentimes unsafe. Known methods of birth control included:
- Withdrawal of the penis before ejaculation. This method was also referred to as Onanism, in reference to Onan, the son of Judah, who would pull out to avoid impregnating his brother's widow. This was the most widespread and simple method of birth control.
- One method of birth control was called the Rhythm Method. Many Victorians believed that women had an infertile period sometime between each menstrual flow. The safe period was believed to be anywhere from eight to sixteen days after cessation of the menstrual flow" (Brodie 28).
- A book on sexual health from the nineteenth-century suggested that as soon as sexual activity ceased, a woman should stand up and dance around to try to get the semen to flow out of her vagina.
- Condoms made of animal skin were available.
- Douching or washing of the vagina after sex was also an option.
- As a last resort, abortion was used as means of fertility control. Infanticide (killing babies shortly after birth or abandoning them somewhere) was also very common.
Abortion
Documentation of abortion goes all the way back to 1566 when midwives were brought into homes to administer abortions. From there, the history of abortion grew to be used not just for mothers of illegitimate children, but women trying to limit family size as well. Abortions were administered by all kinds of people not medically qualified to do so including "doctors, midwives, matrons, pharmacists, herbalists, veterinarians, bone-setters, masseurs, and quacks" (McLaren 472). The various methods of abortions are outlined below.
Just as religion played a role in birth control methods, it played a role in abortion methods as well. Catholic women who didn't want their children tended to abandon their babies, while Protestant women were more likely to have an abortion (Richter). Reasons for getting an abortion included "personal honor and attendant hopes for future marriage" (Richter). Women were willing to risk anything for an abortion because "if an unmarried girl were forced to bear a child, her chance of living a normal life would be doomed, and her likely fate would be one of poverty, crime, or prostitution" (McLaren 480).
Prevalence
- "Demographic data suggests, interestingly enough, that noble or grand bourgeois women rarely carried illegitimate children to term, since they had the means and the information to obtain abortions. In contrast, lower-middle and lower-class women had recourse only to folk remedies” (Tarausch 291).
- “In 1926 Hamburg reported about two abortions per three live births. In Berlin, abortions exceeded live births” (David 84).
- Abortion was used not only by women pregnant with illegitimate children, but also by married women trying to limit family size.
Methods
- "A standard method of inducing abortion (ancient and modern) is the abortifacient or potion. Abortifacients are part of a folk culture of herbal medicine handed down among women for thousands of years. In German folk medicine marjoram, thyme, parsley and lavender in tea form were used" (London).
- Other forms of abortifacients included rue, savine, and ergot of rye.
- If abortifacients failed, women would try "bleedings, hot baths, violence exercises, and whatever friends might reccommend" (McLaren 474).
- Girls often died from blood loss associated with the abortion or from infections and other problems related to the surgery. "Prior to scientific understanding of germ theory and antisepsis, any surgical intervention was likely to be fatal" (Rubin 14).
The Laws
In 1872, German law dictated the punishments for any activity related to abortion. Laws against abortion may have been put in place because "abortion constituted a threat to social order and male authority" (Rubin 16). The laws were set as follows:
- “According to German law as of 1872, any woman who “purposefully caused herself to abort [...] was subject to a penitentiary sentence of up to five years” (David 83).
- Any person who helped the woman to end the pregnancy could receive the same sentence.
- “Any person who, for the purpose of financial gain, procured, applied, or administered the means whereby a pregnant woman caused herself to abort or kill the fetus would be subject to a penitentiary sentence of up to ten years" (David 83).
- "Moreover, any person who purposely caused a pregnant woman, without her knowledge or desire, to abort or kill her fetus could be subject to a penitentiary sentence for a term of not less than two years. If the act resulted in the death of the pregnant woman, a penitentiary sentence for a term of not less than ten years, or life, was prescribed” (David 83).
Sources:
Brodie, Janet. Contraception and Abortion in 19th Century America. Cornell University Press, 1994. Print.
David, Henry P., Jochen Fleischhacker, and Charlotte Hohn. "Abortion and Eugenics in Nazi Germany." Population and Development Review 14.1 (1988): 81-112. JSTOR. Web. 10 September 2014.
London, Kathleen. "History of Birth Control." Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Yale University, 1982. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.
McLaren, Angus. "Abortion In France: Women And The Regulation Of Family Size 1800-1914." French Historical Studies 10.3 (1978): 461. Humanities International Complete. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.
Richter, Jeffrey S. "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, And Abortion In Imperial Germany." Journal Of Interdisciplinary History 28.4 (1998): 511. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.
Rubin, Eva R., ed. The Abortion Controversy: A Documentary History. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994. Print.
Tarausch, Konrad H. "Students, Sex and Politics in Imperial Germany." Journal of Contemporary History 17.2 (1982): 285-303. JSTOR. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.