History of abortion law

[rayilynlee <rayilynlee@xxxxxxx>]

[edit] Legal: History of abortion law
See also: Timeline of reproductive rights legislation and Abortion law
The history of abortion law dates back to ancient times and has impacted men 
and women in a variety of ways in different times and places. The Code of 
Hammurabi, which was promulgated ca. 1760 BC, contains the earliest known laws 
about abortion. The code required monetary compensation for causing a woman to 
miscarry.[69][70] While laws regulating acceptable forms of abortion were found 
with the Romans, widespread regulation to have an abortion did not begin until 
the 13th century.[citation needed]

There were no laws against abortion in the Roman Republic and early Roman 
Empire, as Roman law did not regard a fetus as distinct from the woman's body, 
and abortion was not infrequently practiced to control family size, to maintain 
one's physical appearance, or because of adultery. In 211 AD, at the 
intersection of the reigns of Septimius Severus and Caracalla, abortion was 
outlawed for a period of time as violating the rights of parents, punishable by 
temporary exile.[55] However, late Roman legislation is generally derived from 
a concern for population growth, and not as an issue of morality.[citation 
needed]

Historically, it is unclear how often the ethics of abortion (induced abortion) 
was discussed, but widespread regulation did not begin until the 18th century. 
One factor in abortion restrictions was a socio-economic struggle between male 
physicians and female mid-wives.[citation needed] In the 18th century, English 
and American common law allowed abortion if performed before "quickening." By 
the late 19th century many nations had passed laws that banned abortion. In the 
later half of the 20th century most Western nations began to legalize 
abortion.[citation needed]

According to English common law, abortion after fetal movement or "quickening" 
was punishable as homicide, and abortion was also punishable "if the foetus is 
already formed" but not yet quickened, according to Henry Bracton.[71]


[edit] 17th century to 19th century
  a.. 1765 - Post-quickening abortion was no longer considered homicide in 
England, but William Blackstone called it "a very heinous misdemeanor".[72] 
  b.. 1803 - United Kingdom enacts the Malicious Shooting or Stabbing Act 1803, 
making abortion after quickening a capital crime, and providing lesser 
penalties for the felony of abortion before quickening.[73] 
  c.. 1821 - Connecticut passes first statute that forbids using poison to 
induce miscarriages.[74] 
  d.. 1842 - The Shogunate in Japan bans induced abortion in Edo. The law does 
not affect the rest of the country.[25] 
  e.. 1861 - The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Offences against 
the Person Act 1861 which outlaws abortion.[citation needed] 
  f.. 1869 - Pope Pius IX declared that abortion under any circumstance was 
gravely immoral (mortal sin), and, that anyone who participated in an abortion 
in any material way had by virtue of that act excommunicated themselves from 
the Church. In the same year, the Parliament of Canada unifies criminal law in 
all provinces, banning abortion.[citation needed] 
  g.. 1873 - The passage of the Comstock Law in the United States makes it a 
crime to sell, distribute, or own abortion-related products and services, or to 
publish information on how to obtain them (see advertisement of abortion 
services).[citation needed] 
  h.. 1820-1900 - Primarily through the efforts of physicians in the American 
Medical Association and legislators, most abortions in the U.S. were 
outlawed.[75] 

[edit] 1920s to 1960s
  a.. 1920 - Lenin legalized all abortions in the Soviet Union.[76] 
  b.. 1931 - Mexico as first country in the world legalized abortion in case of 
rape.[citation needed] 
  c.. 1932 - Poland as first country in Europe outside Soviet Union legalized 
abortion in cases of rape and threat to maternal health.[77] 
  d.. 1935 - Iceland became the first Western country to legalize therapeutic 
abortion under limited circumstances.[citation needed] 
  e.. 1935 - Nazi Germany amended its eugenics law, to promote abortion for 
women who have hereditary disorders.[78] The law allowed abortion if a woman 
gave her permission, and if the fetus was not yet viable,[79][80] and for 
purposes of so-called racial hygiene.[81][82] 
  f.. 1936 - Joseph Stalin reversed most parts of Lenin's legalization of 
abortion in the Soviet Union to increase population growth. Stalin's reversal 
was repealed in 1955.[83] 
  g.. 1936 - Heinrich Himmler, Chief of the SS, creates the "Reich Central 
Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion". Himmler, inspired by 
bureaucrats of the Race and Settlement Main Office, hoped to reverse a decline 
in the "Aryan" birthrate which he attributed to homosexuality among men and 
abortions among healthy Aryan women,[84] which were not allowed under the 1935 
law, but nevertheless practiced. Reich Secretary Martin Bormann however refused 
to implement law in this respect, which would revert the 1935 law.[citation 
needed] 
  h.. 1938 - In Britain, Dr. Aleck Bourne aborted the pregnancy of a young girl 
who had been raped by soldiers. Bourne was acquitted after turning himself into 
authorities. The legal precedent of allowing abortion in order to avoid mental 
or physical damage was picked up by the Commonwealth of Nations.[citation 
needed] 
  i.. 1938 - Abortion legalized on a limited basis in Sweden.[citation needed] 
  j.. 1948 - The Eugenic Protection Act in Japan expanded the circumstances in 
which abortion is allowed.[85] 
  k.. 1959 - The American Law Institute drafts a model state abortion law to 
make legal abortions accessible.[74] 
  l.. 1961 - California state legislature introduces an abortion reform law 
based on the American Law Institute model.[74] 
  m.. 1966 - Mississippi reformed its abortion law and became the first U.S. 
state to allow abortion in cases of rape.[citation needed] 
  n.. 1967 - The Abortion Act (effective 1968) legalized abortion in the United 
Kingdom (except in Northern Ireland). In the U.S., Colorado, California, and 
North Carolina reformed their abortion laws based on the 1962 ALI Model Penal 
Code (MPC). 
  o.. 1967-1970 - Colorado becomes first state to loosen its abortion laws 
followed by Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, New 
Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, and Virginia.[74] 
  p.. 1968 - President Lyndon Johnson's Committee on The Status of Women 
releases a report calling for a repeal of all abortion laws.[74] 
  q.. 1969 - Canada passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69, which began 
to allow abortion for selective reasons.[citation needed] 
  r.. 1969 - Senator Robert Packwood of Oregon introduces legislation to 
legalize abortion in Washington D.C.; no action is taken.[74] 
  s.. 1969 - The ruling in the Victorian case of R v Davidson defined for the 
first time which abortions are lawful in Australia.[citation needed] 
  t.. 1969-1973 - The Jane Collective operated in Chicago, offering illegal 
abortions.[citation needed] 

[edit] 1970s to present
  a.. 1970-1970 - Hawaii, New York, Alaska, Washington and Florida repealed 
their abortion laws and allowed abortion on demand; South Carolina and Virginia 
reformed their abortion laws based on the Model Penal Code.[citation needed] 
  b.. 1971 - The Indian Parliament under the Prime Ministership of a lady Prime 
Minister Indira Gandhi, passes Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 (more 
commonly referred to as simply MTP Act 1971). India thus becomes one of the 
earliest nations to pass this Act. The Act gains importance, considering India 
had traditionally been a very conservative country in these matters. Most 
notably there was no similar Act in several US states around the same time.[86] 
  c.. 1973 - The U.S. Supreme Court, in Roe v. Wade, declared all the 
individual state bans on abortion during the first trimester to be 
unconstitutional, allowed states to regulate but not proscribe abortion during 
the second trimester, and allowed states to proscribe abortion during the third 
trimester unless abortion is in the best interest of the woman's physical or 
mental health. The Court legalized abortion in all trimesters when a woman's 
doctor believes the abortion is necessary for her physical or mental 
health.[citation needed] 
  d.. 1973-1980 - France (1975), West Germany (1976), New Zealand (1977), Italy 
(1978), and the Netherlands (1980) legalized abortion in limited 
circumstances.[citation needed] 
  e.. 1976-1977 - Senator Harry Hyde of Illinois sponsors the Hyde Amendment, 
which passes, allows states to prohibit the use of Medicaid funding for 
abortions.[74] 
  f.. 1979 - The People's Republic of China enacted a one-child policy, leaving 
some women to either undergo an abortion or violate the policy and face 
economic penalties in some circumstances.[citation needed] 
  g.. 1983 - Ireland, by popular referendum, added an amendment to its 
Constitution recognizing "the right to life of the unborn." Abortion is still 
illegal in Ireland, except as urgent medical procedures to save a woman's 
life.[citation needed] 
  h.. 1988 - France legalized the "abortion pill" mifepristone (RU-486). In R. 
v. Morgentaler, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down regulations of abortion 
for violating a woman's constitutional "security of person"; Canadian law has 
not regulated abortion ever since.[citation needed] 
  i.. 1989 - Webster v. Reproductive Health Services reinforces the state's 
right to prevent all publicly funded facilities from providing or assisting 
with abortion services.[74] 
  j.. 1990 - The Abortion Act in the UK was amended so that abortion is legal 
only up to 24 weeks, rather than 28, except in unusual cases.[citation needed] 
  k.. 1992 - In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court of the United 
States overturned the trimester framework in Roe v. Wade, making it legal for 
states to proscribe abortion after the point of fetal viability, excepting 
instances that would risk the woman's health.[citation needed] 
  l.. 1993 - Poland banned abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, severe 
congenital disorders, or threat to the life of the pregnant woman.[citation 
needed] 
  m.. 1994 - Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act is passed by the United 
States Congress to forbid the use of force or obstruction to prevent someone 
from providing or receiving reproductive health services.[74] 
  n.. 1996 - Republic of South Africa the 'Choice on Termination of Pregnancy 
Act 92 of 1996' comes into effect (Repealing the 'Abortion and Sterilization 
Act 2 of 1975' which only allowed abortions in certain circumstances) lawfully 
permitting abortions by choice. Act is often challenged in Court.[citation 
needed] 
  o.. 1998 - Republic of South Africa the abortion question is finally answered 
when the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa in 
Christian Lawyers Association and Others v Minister of Health and Others held 
that abortions are legal in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South 
Africa.[87] 
  p.. 1999 - The United States Congress passed a ban on intact dilation and 
extraction, which President Bill Clinton vetoed. 
  q.. 2000 - Mifepristone (RU-486) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA). In Stenberg v. Carhart, the Supreme Court of the United 
States overturned a Nebraska state law that banned intact dilation and 
extraction.[citation needed] 
  r.. 2003 - The U.S. enacted the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and President 
George W. Bush signed it into law. After the law was challenged in three 
appeals courts, the U.S. Supreme Court held that it was constitutional because, 
unlike the earlier Nebraska state law, it was not vague or overly broad. The 
court also held that banning the procedure did not constitute an "undue 
burden," even without a health exception.[citation needed] (see also: Gonzales 
v. Carhart) 
  s.. 2007 - Supreme Court upholds the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 
2003.[74] 
  t.. 2007 - The Parliament of Portugal voted to legalize abortion during the 
first ten weeks of pregnancy. This followed a referendum that, while revealing 
that a majority of Portuguese voters favored legalization of early-stage 
abortions, failed due to low voter turnout. Although, at the 2nd referendum, 
the vote for the legalization won. President Cavaco Silva signed the measure 
and it went on effect.[88] 
  u.. 2007 - The government of Mexico City legalizes abortion during the first 
12 weeks of pregnancy, and offers free abortions. On August 28, 2008, the 
Mexican Supreme Court upholds the law.[89] 
  v.. 2008 - The Australian state of Victoria passes a bill which 
decriminalizes abortion, making it legally accessible to women in the first 24 
weeks of the pregnancy.[citation needed] 

Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
rbrown@xxxxxxxxx

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