ABORTION
Abortion is the spontaneous or induced expulsion from the uterus of an embryo before it has reached a point of development sufficient for its survival, generally considered to be the twenty-eighth week of gestation.
Induced abortion is a term used for expulsion of the embryo in consequence of an intentional effort to terminate a pregnancy. Because it involves a purposeful act, it is a form of birth control and is therefore germane to this discussion. Spontaneous abortion is medical terminology for a miscarriage that occurs prior to the third month of fetal life. It is not a form of birth control.
The subject of abortion appears throughout history in social, economic, political, and—particularly—religious contexts. The Chinese are said to possess the oldest method of abortion, the procedure having been described in a manuscript over 4000 years ago. Aristotle considered birth control the best method of population control through which an orderly community might be developed, and he regarded abortion as an acceptable alternative if other methods of birth control failed.
Hippocrates rejected the concept of abortion as a means of population control. He included in his oath, still taken by physicians today, a pledge not to give a woman an abortive remedy, which he considered an interference with nature. Hippocrates was actually among the minority when he proclaimed against abortions. It is interesting to speculate on what present-day attitudes toward abortion would be, had someone from the majority group written the physicians' oath.
To the Romans, abortion was simply the removal of a portion of the body, like an arm or leg. The idea that abortion is akin to murder did not occur to them. Here again, considerations of population control predominated, although abortion came to be practiced so extensively among the ruling classes that the ratio of citizens to slaves became a matter of grave political concern. Efforts were made to outlaw abortion, but they met with only partial success.
As early as 1500 B.C. (and perhaps earlier), in adherence to the biblical mandate, "a life for a life," the Jewish people assessed the death penalty against those implicated in an abortion. This severity is more understandable when one remembers that the Jews of that day were a combative people desirous of increasing, rather than decreasing, the size of their tribes. Larger tribes, quite simply, provided greater protection against their foes.
The world has seen vast evolutions in its various civilizations since the days of ancient Greece and Rome. Yet abortion remains the principal method of population control in some countries and among certain primitive tribes. Among the world's most advanced nations, on the other hand, war and famine have been paradoxically accepted as "nature's method" of reducing burgeoning populations. This is an era in which man has gained almost inconceivable control over natural forces. Surely, then, he does not have to wait passively for a tragic war or the literal starvation of large masses of people to remedy the problem of overpopulation. Indeed, many physicians, medical societies, government officials, and certain religious groups are making increasing demands that laws regarding abortion and other methods of population control be restudied and revamped in the light of today's civilizations.
Authorities differ in their views on the value, incidence, and dangers of abortion.253 Some state that there are as many as 1,000,000 induced abortions per annum in the United States, while others set the figure at half that number. About 80% to 90% of all abortions are performed on married women, 22% of all married women having undergone at least one induced abortion.143 There is a greater incidence of abortion in urban communities—reportedly as high as one for every five births—than in rural areas, where one abortion is performed for every nine births. In Chile, the estimate is one illegal abortion for every two and a half live births.52
Reports on maternal deaths resulting from both therapeutic and illegal abortions seem to indicate that abortion constitutes a high percentage (about a third, some say) of the total maternal deaths in the United States. These figures are often used by those who are attempting to defend their stand against legalizing abortion, but the totals are not strictly valid because they lump together all abortions, legal and illegal. Most authorities will readily agree that if abortions are performed under the proper and sterile conditions of an operating room, the maternal death rate is no higher than in full-term deliveries.
One report reveals only three deaths in 30,000 abortions performed by capable persons. Unfortunately, too many abortions are performed under nonsterile conditions and by unskilled persons and the death rate in these circumstances is understandably high. Despite these undesirable conditions, the number of recorded fatalities from illegal abortions in New York City dropped from 140 in 1918 to 15 in 1951, probably as a result of the discovery and use of antibiotics. In addition to the physical hazards that confront a woman in an illegal abortion, there is also the psychological stress growing out of society's condemnation of her actions, which frequently has the effect of intensifying her feelings of guilt and shame.
Abortion has been attempted through a wide range of techniques. There are primitive methods, such as jumping on the abdomen; using sticks as uterine probes; using potions made from animal secretions, dung, herbs, and seawater; and having recourse to magic and mystical incantations. There are attempts at self-induced abortion through medications and violent physical exercise. And there are visits to illegal abortionists and to competent physicians.
Pills advertised to correct menstrual irregularities are frequently taken in the hope of inducing an abortion. These pills are usually extremely strong laxatives containing one or more such herbs as tansy, ergot of rye, aloes, or quinine. Strong medication of this type has been known to produce severe poisoning, leading to blindness and other permanent disabilities. Strenuous physical exertion—lifting of unusually heavy objects, jumping from high places, or violent exercise—is as ineffective in inducing an abortion as the pills just described.
When an abortion is induced by others, the method may involve drugs and spraying the uterus with chemicals. But the most common procedure is a form of dilation and curettage of the womb, which is most often done by the woman's husband or an abortionist who inserts some sort of instrument into the uterus and scrapes away the embryo.
Abortionists' fees vary according to the socioeconomic status of the patient and, supposedly, of the abortionist as well: the higher the status, the higher the cost. Single women pay a higher fee than married women, but the highest price of all is paid by widows and divorcees. Age and race are additional factors in the cost of abortion: women under thirty-one pay about 20% more than older women; Negroes pay less than white women. As would be expected, the cost of abortion increases with the cost of living; present-day fees range from $150 to $1000 or more. A staggering $350,000,000 is spent annually in the United States on abortions.
*17\300\2*
