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Abortion has historically always been part of contraception. It's only been recently that we've been able to separate the two, creating categories. Women have been using abortifacients for as long as there have been women. It's in all the earliest writings on women's health.
Do you think "moon tea" is an invention of George Martin? Since humanity became agricultural, women have known which herbs cause miscarriages & have used them to bring on menses.
Midwives, wise women, healers, they were the ones in charge of women's health. They performed medical & surgical abortions & no one thought anything of it. Women's was in women's hands. If you missed a period, you'd get out your pennyroyal & rue and hope it worked.
This was common. It was normal. It's how women spaced their kids before men took over women's care & decided they knew better than the "old wives" and their tales.
Women had many bizarre ways of trying to stop conception. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't. If they didn't, abortion was the next choice. These were not separate practices for most of human history.
I say because the anti-choice crowd wants us to think that abortion is some new thing that a perverted, downward-spiraling populace has invented. It's not. It's part of women's history since forever. The new thing is men & govt's trying to control women's choices in the matter.
When people say "abortion isn't birth control" they are historically inaccurate. Abortion has always been used as birth control. We only separate it now because of science & religion. Science showed us ovulation/implantation, religion took control and influenced laws.
I think that everyone should read a book called "Sex and Herbs and Birth Control", by Ann Koblitz, as well as "Eve's Herbs", by John Riddle. Gain a little education and perspective on the matter so you can stop spouting ignorant bullshit about contraception & abortion.
As a side note, don't forget that "old wives tales" came from men trying to dismiss the knowledge of wise women, midwives, and female healers. I personally hate that phrase.
Even in the early colonies, "quickening" was used as the measurement for a new life becoming life. Early abortion was common. There's a great book called "Sex and the Constitution", Geoffrey Stone, that every American should read as well. It goes in depth into this history.
Abortion is, has always been, and will always be a vital part of women's health care. It's not some extra, some weird & unnecessary alternative medicine. It's just a procedure that some women need, like a tubal or an ablation. Part of holistic medicine for those with a uterus.
