A Laconic History of Abortion

This has been a huge political and moral issue in the United States over the past few decades. American conservatives have rallied to fight what they term 'homicide' or 'murder' and American liberals have equally united to protect what they see as a matter of choice. As is common in such heated debates, it is extremely difficult for either side to appreciate the arguments of the other, and so civilized conversations are often replaced by sound bites or simply irate commentary (and various combinations in between). It has left some, like me, wishing to escape this quasi-miasmic situation and go to another realm where some form of sanity can be restored. Well today, that's exactly what we're going to do! This article will focus on the history of abortion before it was such a whirlwind political force, before Roe v. Wade; basically, before all the hoopla. Enjoy!

Let's first clarify that throughout human history the morality of abortion has never been debated to the amazing degree that it has been in contemporary times. Not only that, those types of debates have been rare. The attitude of Ancient cultures towards abortion at the early stages of the development of fetuses can be roughly described as permissive. Old Hindu scriptures allowed abortion until the fifth month, but the Pythagoreans of Greece did seem to stick out somewhat as they believed that the soul does not enter the body until conception. It is a bit more difficult to pinpoint the beliefs of Jewish cultures at these times, but there are indications that many Jews believed that not only was a fetus not a living being, but that a living being materialized about 30 days after birth! Christians in the early moments of their religion's development weren't warm to the idea of abortion, but, unlike today, they did not consider abortion a sin until something called "ensoulement" (when a fetus becomes a person), which occurred around 40 days after conception for a boy and 90 days after conception for a girl. An important force in shaping the views of early Christianity towards abortion was St. Augustine, who argued that only aborting a fully formed fetus was murder (when this occurred was subject to debate; it was thought somewhere around 40 to 80 days). In the sixth century, Byzantine Emperor Justinian settled the matter at 40 days. Rome instituted anti-abortion laws around the year 200, but evidence suggests these were politically and not ethically motivated. In Ancient times, women had abortions in various ways: some would use sharp sticks, others herbs or special exercises, and in Egypt they even used crocodile dung.

This brings us to the Middle Ages, and here views became slightly more diverse. In 1140, the monk John Gratian completed the "Harmony of Contradictory Laws," an opus that became the prime compilation of canonical law accepted by the church (just 14 years before the Great Schism, which permanently and officially split the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox faiths). This work was important because it assented with the ancients on abortion and concluded it was not homicide. Continuing on this theme, English common law did not punish abortion before fetus movement. The legendary theologian St. Thomas Aquinas, however, broke with tradition and theorized that abortion was a crime against nature and a sin against marriage. In 1588, Pope Sixtus V made Aquinas's views official church policy. However, just three years later, Pope Gregory XIV somewhat reversed this policy by making punishment on abortion before 17 weeks subject to local and regional laws, which varied significantly (indeed, they may have been inextant or impertinent in many locations).

With time, Catholic sentiments towards abortion intensified towards the bitter end of the scale. In 1869, Pope Pius IX banned abortion under all circumstances and required excommunication for anyone who had an abortion. Eventually, Western obsession with laws and regulations invaded this once "alegal" sphere. In 1920, Lenin made all abortions in the Soviet Union legal and 15 years later Iceland became the first Western nation to legalize some limited forms of abortion. Almost mirroring the near-erratic Catholic policy towards the issue, Stalin reversed Lenin's decision in 1936 to bolster population growth. Over the next few decades, abortion became thrust at ever-increasing rates into the public arena, and it eventually attained legal acceptance in many nations. Britain legalized abortion in 1967, Canada in 1969, the United States in 1973, France in 1975, West Germany in 1976, New Zealand in 1977, Italy in 1978, and Holland in 1980. These actions finally proved enough to earn the ire of some, the admiration of others, and all possible emotions in between. An issue that had largely been a tiny undercurrent of national policy throughout human history suddenly found massive publicity once it was touched by law. Almost immediately, many people began to call the practice names that would've wildly confused past humans.

So why is abortion so polemical? The answer is complex, and everyone involved has their own answers and reasons. It is certain, however, that for now abortion still remains a huge driving force in the political arena here in the States, especially since today moderate Justice Sandra O'Connor retired and must be replaced. It will be interesting to see how that plays out....