Abortion Laws Of The Early 20Th Century: A Historical Perspective

Abortion laws have fluctuated throughout history, and the period between 1920 and 1950 was no exception. In the early 20th century, abortion was illegal in almost all US states and territories, and in Canada, it was a serious criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment. However, despite the laws, thousands of women still underwent illegal abortions each year, and hundreds died from botched procedures. In the 1920s and 1930s, many cities had physicians who specialised in abortions, and other doctors would refer patients to them off the books.

In the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin legalised abortion on request in 1920, making it the first country to do so. In 1936, however, Joseph Stalin reversed most parts of this legislation to encourage population growth.

In the US, the period between 1920 and 1950 saw the emergence of a movement to liberalise abortion laws, which was part of rising feminist activism that had already resulted in victories in the area of birth control. In 1929, the Infant Life Preservation Act was passed in Britain, which amended the law so that an abortion carried out in good faith to preserve the life of the mother would not be considered a criminal offence.

In the 1950s, abortion remained illegal in most places, and in the US, up to 1.2 million illegal abortions were performed each year. However, the practice was becoming increasingly unsafe, and in the 1950s and 1960s, it was the cause of nearly 2,700 maternal deaths per year.

Abortion was illegal in almost all states and territories

Abortion Laws in the US between 1920-1950

The Early 20th Century

By the early 20th century, abortion was illegal in all US states, with nearly every state having anti-abortion laws in place. These laws were enacted following a campaign by physicians, who were seeking to standardise the medical profession and eliminate competition from untrained abortion providers.

The campaign against abortion was also driven by concerns over women's increasing education, autonomy, and the extension of rights. By restricting abortion, physicians and their supporters were able to reassert women's connection to and limitation by their own reproductive anatomy.

While abortion was illegal, there were some exceptions. Most of the laws passed during this time included a therapeutic exception, which allowed licensed physicians to provide abortions if they deemed it necessary to preserve the life of the mother. However, this created a large black market for women who could not access or obtain abortions through medical channels.

Enforcement

Between 1900 and 1965, there was little in the way of an anti-abortion movement as the state took on the role of enforcing the laws and prosecuting abortionists and women who procured the procedure. During this time, abortion was a serious criminal offence, punishable by life imprisonment.

Despite the laws and potential penalties, many women still sought abortions. By the early 20th century, it was estimated that thousands of women were undergoing illegal abortions each year, and hundreds were dying from botched procedures.

Changing Attitudes

In the 1960s, attitudes towards abortion began to shift. Americans were increasingly exposed to the heartbreak of infant death and extreme fetal deformity, and a nascent feminist movement began to argue that women could not be full citizens unless they had control over their reproduction.

As a result, some states began to reform their abortion laws. In 1967, Colorado became the first state to decriminalise abortion in cases of rape, incest, or where pregnancy would lead to permanent physical disability in the woman. This was soon followed by similar laws in California and New York.

However, these reforms also sparked the birth of the modern anti-abortion political movement, with small groups of Catholic doctors, nurses, lawyers, and housewives joining together to oppose liberalisation. Despite their efforts, abortion was legalised across all 50 states with the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision.

Abortion was a criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment

Between 1920 and 1950, abortion was a criminal offence in many countries, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. In Canada, abortion was outlawed in 1869 and remained a serious criminal offence until 1969, when the Canadian Parliament amended the Criminal Code to authorise hospital committees to approve therapeutic abortions on a case-by-case basis. During this time, women who wanted to terminate their pregnancies resorted to a range of methods, including traditional methods and abortifacient medicines advertised in newspapers and sold in local drug stores.

In the United States, abortion was outlawed in the late 1800s, and by 1910, it was illegal in every state. These laws were largely pushed by physicians, who were anxious about their professional status and sought to weed out competition from other healers. As a result, abortion was a criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment for the doctor performing the procedure and up to a year in prison for the woman receiving it. However, these laws were unevenly enforced, and it was difficult to prosecute abortion cases as quickening (when the pregnant woman could feel the fetus move) was hard to prove.

In the United Kingdom, abortion was made a capital crime in 1803 under Lord Ellenborough's Act, which provided that it was an offence for any person to perform or cause an abortion. This law was later amended in 1828 and 1837, removing the distinction between women who were pregnant and those who were not, and eliminating the death penalty as a possible punishment.

In Japan, abortion was banned in Edo (now Tokyo) in 1842, but this law did not affect the rest of the country.

Abortion was a quiet reality until quickening

The concept of "quickening" is central to the history of abortion laws. Quickening refers to the first movement of the fetus in utero, typically felt by the mother between the fourth and sixth month of pregnancy. Before modern advancements in medical knowledge and technology, quickening was the only sure way to confirm a pregnancy. Thus, until the mid-19th century, abortion was generally considered a "quiet reality" and was legal until quickening.

During this period, abortion was a widespread and largely stigma-free experience for women in the United States. Herbal concoctions and other methods were commonly used to induce abortions before quickening. Post-quickening abortions were, however, considered a crime, though only a misdemeanour. Even so, prosecutions for abortion were rare before the mid-19th century, as it was challenging to prove quickening, and the testimony of the mother was usually the only evidence available.

The legal landscape began to shift in the mid-19th century with the formation of the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1847. The AMA, dominated by male physicians, sought to regulate reproductive healthcare and phase out the services provided by midwives and nurses. They launched a criminalisation campaign against abortion, arguing that advances in medical knowledge showed that quickening was not a more or less critical step in gestation. This campaign, along with efforts by concerned legislators and other doctors, led to the enactment of anti-abortion laws across the United States.

By 1880, all states had laws restricting abortion, with some exceptions for cases where a doctor deemed it necessary to save the life or health of the mother, or for therapeutic reasons. The stigma surrounding abortion grew as it became criminalised, and by 1910, abortion was outright illegal at every stage of pregnancy in every state. These laws disproportionately impacted women, as 95% of doctors at the time were men, giving them the power to decide whether an abortion was justified.

The criminalisation of abortion pushed the practice underground, leading to unsafe procedures and high maternal death rates. In 1930, nearly 2,700 women died due to illegal and unsafe abortions, accounting for almost one out of every five recorded maternal deaths that year. The negative consequences of criminalisation and the growing demand for reproductive rights sparked the abortion law reform movement in the 1960s and 1970s, ultimately leading to the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973, which legalised abortion nationwide.

The American Medical Association campaigned to end abortion

The American Medical Association (AMA) was formed in 1847 by doctors who wanted to establish themselves as the authority on medical practices. The organisation was male-dominated and its members believed they should have the power to decide when abortions could be legally performed. Notably, these physicians lacked expertise in pregnancy and reproductive health.

AMA members launched a campaign to criminalise abortion and female abortion providers. This campaign was successful in influencing state legislatures to ban abortion. By 1880, all states had laws restricting abortion, with some exceptions if a doctor deemed that an abortion was necessary to save the patient's life or health, or for therapeutic reasons.

The criminalisation of abortion led to a growing stigma surrounding the procedure. By 1910, abortion was not only restricted but completely illegal at every stage of pregnancy in every state. These bans had some exceptions if a patient's life was in danger—a decision that only doctors, 95% of whom were men, could make.

The AMA's campaign to end abortion resulted in abortion becoming the exclusive domain of doctors. This shift occurred in the context of broader efforts to standardise the medical profession and eliminate competition from untrained or informal abortion providers.

The AMA's stance on abortion contributed to a "century of criminalisation", which was only ended by the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973.

Many women died from botched procedures

The criminalization of abortion in the late 1800s and early 1900s led to a rise in dangerous, illegal abortions. In the US, the American Medical Association (AMA) launched a campaign to criminalize abortion, and by 1910, abortion was illegal at every stage of pregnancy in every state. In Canada, abortion was made illegal in 1869.

These laws had devastating consequences, and many women died from unsafe, illegal abortions. In the US, nearly 2,700 women died from unsafe abortions in 1930, accounting for almost 18% of recorded maternal deaths that year. In Canada, it is estimated that thousands of women underwent illegal abortions each year in the early 20th century, and hundreds died from botched procedures.

One such case was the trial of Bessie Parker in 1923. Parker, a middle-aged woman who ran a boarding house in Saint John, New Brunswick, was accused of performing an abortion on Emily Frontin, a young woman who later died in the hospital. Frontin had made a 'dying declaration' in which she detailed what had happened, and Parker was arrested and spent over 100 days in jail before her trial. The trial featured heated exchanges between the prosecution and defence, and the jury ultimately failed to reach a verdict, with eight members favouring acquittal and four favouring a conviction for manslaughter. The case against Parker was dismissed.

Another tragic case was that of Gerri Santoro, who died in 1964 after undergoing an illegal abortion in Connecticut. Her photo became a symbol of the abortion rights movement.

The criminalization of abortion not only led to dangerous procedures but also pushed the practice underground, making it difficult for women to access safe and legal abortions. This was particularly true for women of lower socioeconomic status, who often relied on untrained providers and unsafe methods.

The movement to liberalize abortion laws emerged in the 1920s and '30s as part of rising feminist activism. Campaigners such as Marie Stopes in England and Margaret Sanger in the US worked to bring the issue into the open and establish birth control clinics. In 1929, the Infant Life Preservation Act was passed in Britain, amending the law so that abortions carried out in good faith to preserve the life of the mother were not considered an offence.

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