Abortion from Antiquity to the Renaissance
Kahun Gynecological Papyrus (circa 1800 BC)
It was found at El-Lahun by Flinders Petrie in 1889 and first translated by F. Ll. Griffith in 1893 and published in The Petrie Papyri: Hieratic Papyri from Kahun and Gurob. The later Berlin Papyrus and the Ramesseum Papyrus IV cover much of the same ground, often giving identical prescriptions.
The text is divided into thirty-four sections, each section dealing with a specific problem and containing diagnosis and treatment; no prognosis is suggested. Treatments are non-surgical, comprising applying medicines to the affected body part or swallowing them. The womb is at times seen as the source of complaints manifesting themselves in other body parts.
The first seventeen parts have a common format starting with a title and are followed by a brief description of the symptoms, usually, though not always, having to do with the reproductive organs.
The second section begins on the third page, and comprises eight paragraphs which, because of both the state of the extant copy and the language, are almost unintelligible. Despite this, there are several paragraphs that have a sufficiently clear level of language as well as being intact which can be understood.
Paragraph 19 is concerned with the recognition of who will give birth; paragraph 20 is concerned with the fumigation procedure which causes conception to occur; and paragraphs 20-22 are concerned with contraception. Among those materials prescribed for contraception are crocodile dung, 45ml of honey, and sour milk.
The third section (paragraphs 26-32) is concerned with the testing for pregnancy. Other methods include the placing of an onion bulb deep in the patient’s flesh, with the positive outcome being determined by the odor appearing to the patient’s nose.
The fourth and final section contains two paragraphs which do not fall into any of the previous categories. The first prescribes treatment for toothaches during pregnancy. The second describes what appears to be a fistula between bladder and vagina with incontinence of urine "in an irksome place."
Source:
Ancient Egyptian Medicine
Abortion is ancient history:
Long before Roe, women terminated pregnancies
"Abortion today, at least in the United States, is a political, legal and moral powder keg. But for long stretches of history, terminating an unwanted pregnancy, especially in the early stages, was a relatively uncontroversial fact of life, historians say."
"Egyptian papyrus, Greek plays, Roman coins, the medieval biographies of saints, medical and midwifery manuals, and Victorian newspaper and pamphlets reveal that abortion was more common in pre-modern times than people might think."
The first written references to abortion are contained in an ancient Egyptian papyrus written about 3,500 years ago. The Ebers Papyrus, a medical text, suggested around 1550 BC that abortion could be induced using a “plant-fibre tampon coated with a compound that included honey and crushed dates.”
“People act like there’s only one acceptable attitude towards abortion if you’re Catholic, or if you’re Christian more broadly, or even if you’re religious more broadly. And there’s always been a diversity of viewpoints,” said Callan, the author of the book “Sacred Sisters: Gender, Sanctity, and Power in Medieval Ireland.”
Her research, along with other scholars, has uncovered four medieval Irish saints who celebrated ending pregnancy among their miracles, according to medieval manuscripts that described saints’ lives.
Source:
CNN online
By Katie Hunt, Published 7:29 AM EDT, Fri June 23, 2023
Abortion in Times of Old
Instructions for inducing an abortion appear in the Bible. In Numbers 5:11-31, God is described as instructing Moses to present “The Test for an Unfaithful Wife” (NIV) – a ritual to be used by priests against women accused by their husbands of unfaithfulness. The ritual involves the drinking of “bitter water,” a potion that will abort any pregnancies that result from “having sexual relations with a man other than your husband.”
Rickie Solinger, historian and author of Reproductive Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know and What Is Reproductive Justice?, which will be published next year, described the scope of methods used over time to Truthout [1].
“In Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance, John Riddle showed, through extraordinary scholarly sleuthing, that women from ancient Egyptian times to the 15th century had relied on an extensive pharmacopoeia of herbal abortifacients [2] and contraceptives to regulate fertility,” Solinger said.
The comprehensive timeline from 4000 Years for Choice, an organization which celebrates the reproductive roots of abortion and contraception through art and education, tracks abortion all the way back to the 3000s BCE, referencing the Royal Archives of China, which holds the earliest written record of an abortion technique.
“Women always have and always will have abortions,” Heather Ault, 4000 Years for Choice founder and graphic designer, told Truthout. “It’s fundamental to human existence, and all human societies around the world have practiced forms of controlling pregnancy, to various degrees of effectiveness with the tools and knowledge they had available at that time, whether it be toxic herbs, early surgical methods or magic and spells.”
Blogger's Footnotes:
[1] Truthout is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social justice issues. Truthout works to spark action by revealing systemic social, racial, economic and environmental injustice and providing a platform for progressive and transformative ideas, through in-depth investigative reporting and critical analysis.
[2] abortifacients = abortion-inducing drugs.
Source:
Truthout online
News Analysis | Reproductive Rights
Abortion Is as Old as Pregnancy: 4,000 Years of Reproductive Rights History
By Katie Klabusich, January 22, 2016
Historical Attitudes to Abortion
Abortion was accepted in ancient Rome and Greece. Through much of Western history abortion was not criminal if it was carried out before the foetus moved in the womb (around 18-20 weeks into the pregnancy).
This BBC Ethics Guide article discusses abortion practices from the ancient Greeks and Romans to English "Abortion Act of 1967".
Source:
BBC online/Ethics Guide
No author cited.