The two articles by Smith (1875) and Sanger (n.d) show that reasons and methods of abortion were similar irrespective of the timeframe. Though Sanger's article is dateless, it must have been written towards the end of the 1920s as it describes many events that happened before the 1920s. The two articles also indicate that in as much as abortion used to be carried out by the poor women who felt that they were not in a position of raising the children they were carrying, women from the rich background also went for it as they did not want more children. More so, the two articles also bring forth the idea that women during these two-time frames may have wanted to have control over their reproductive health. Still, many of them, especially the poor women, were denied access to information that could have helped then decide when to conceive, or the number of children to bring forth.
The two article says that women or girls who got into the family way used crooked methods to terminate their pregnancies. Smith enumerates some of these crooked ways as including tansy, savine, ergot, cotton root, horse trotting (Smith 259, second column par 3). When these methods failed to procure an abortion, the last resort was to use a knitting needle (Smith 259, second column par 3). It appears that concoctions that could lead to the termination of a pregnancy were in place as early as the1870s. More so, the use of the needle to pierce the uterus and eventually flush out the growing child must have been in practice since time immemorial. Sanger also describes a lady who got into the family way without her knowledge. She describes the many unknown pills that the woman was given, but they did not bring out the desired results. She says that she was given powder pills, which did not work (Sanger 310). From here, the girl went to another doctor who probed her womb and told her that she expected her to be sick that night (Sanger, 310). It means that after the drugs in powder form failed, a rough approach of prodding the womb had to be used.
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Something else that the two writers bring out is that backstreet abortions have adverse effects on the women, where some women have gone to the extent of losing their lives in the process of procuring an abortion. The reason is that many people engaged in helping the women abort used trial and error methods, which means that they were not sure of what they were doing. However, they used to do it with confidence that could make those who went for abortion to feel that professionals were attending to them. Smith describes how a wire with a handle could be passed through a woman's birth canal to reach the fetus and destroy it (Smith 259 par 4). While killing the fetus, the life of the woman was almost being destroyed too (Smith 259 par 4). Sanger talks about a terrible scream that emanated from a house in which a girl had gone to seek abortion services (Sanger 311). The girl, later on, died during the abortion process (Sanger 311). The description of the scream from the girl shows that she must have undergone some suffering before she died. The implications of the presentation by Smith and Sanger show that there were high chances of abortion leading to deaths of the pregnant women seeking it.
Many people who either carried out the abortion or those who sought to terminate their pregnancy never wanted other people to know about it. That was why they either visited the abortion clinics at night under cover of darkness or used other means to ensure that their identity was not revealed. Smith talks about “one old doctor near here” (Smith 259, par 5). By not disclosing his/her name, it is possible to see that those who aided in abortion never revealed their real names. Sanger talks about a "doctor from Wautoma" (Sanger 311). By not disclosing his/her name, this doctor may not have been known to the outer world that he was taking part in abortion-related activities.
In as much as poor women were the ones seeking an abortion, as they could not afford taking care of their children, the rich women were also trying it for unknown reasons. Smith says that he knew of three married women who were also respectable to the community who used to give abortion instructions to others (Smith 259). While one would think that since those women were happily married, they could not seek an abortion, it is ironical that they were doing it. Sanger says that in the 1920s, only wealthy women had access to information on how to control births (Sanger 312). By this, it implies that even rich women did not want to have more children. That was why they sought information on birth control.
In conclusion, abortion has been there since time immemorial. Abortion practices used to have several similarities, irrespective of the period they were carried out. More so, abortion used to take place under secrecy. That was why those who sought it or those who helped women to procure it never wanted to be known. The use of crooked methods to terminate pregnancies used to be practiced. Most of these nefarious methods eventually led to the deaths of pregnant mothers in many instances. The most crooked method was the use of a needle to pierce the uterus so that the foetus could be flashed out. Other unknown concoctions were also in use, and they had various side effects. Moreover, it is not just the poor women who sought an abortion, but even rich the women.
References
Sanger, (n.d). Major problems in the history of American sexuality: The politics of
reproduction.
Smith, W.W. (1875). The prevalence of abortion. Medical and Surgical Reporter (1858-
1898), 33 (13) page 259
