The history of Arizona's Civil War-era abortion ban
How conspiring doctors, questionable tonics, and twisted patriotism
led to the 1864 Arizona abortion ban that was just upheld in court.
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Abortion laws of the mid-1800s were the product of discussions among
lawyers and doctors and were designed to professionalize abortion
services and medicine writ large --- a seemingly noble cause, but also
one driven by physicians' self-interests and the desire to both boost
(white) women's birth rates and weaken a nascent feminist movement.
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For much of the first half of the 19th century, there were few laws in
the US that were specifically concerned with abortion. Rather,
abortion was understood in the tradition of British common law: It was
only a crime after "quickening," when a fetus's movement could be
detected -- around four or five months of gestation. Before
quickening, people could be ignorant (or have plausible deniability)
about being pregnant.
Generally, the American public at this time had few moral qualms about
abortion before quickening. In particular, it was a service that many
believed should be offered to unmarried women, who risked reputational
ruin if they proceeded with the pregnancy and often came from poor
backgrounds, as historian James Mohr writes in his 1978 book, Abortion
in America.
https://www.vox.com/politics/24128840/arizona-abortion-total-ban-law-roe-court-1864
one driven by physicians' self-interests
Still laws exist for these types (lawyers, physicians,
optometrists...), which increases their income.
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