\nLeeches, Lye and Spanish Fly<\/h1>\n
By\u00a0KATE MANNING<\/p>\n
WHY would a woman put a leech inside her body, in the most private of female places? Why would she put cayenne pepper there?<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nWhy might a woman swallow lye? Gunpowder? Why would a woman hit herself about the abdomen with a meat pulverizer? A brickbat? Throw herself down the stairs?<\/p>\n
Why would she syringe herself, internally, with turpentine? Gin? Drink laundry bluing?<\/p>\n
Why might she probe herself with a piece of whalebone? A turkey feather? A knitting needle?<\/p>\n
Why would she consume medicine made of pulverized Spanish fly? How about powdered ergot, a poisonous fungus? Or strychnine, a poison?<\/p>\n
Why would she take a bath in scalding water? Or spend the night in the snow?<\/p>\n
Because she wanted to end a pregnancy. Historically, women have chosen all those methods to induce abortion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s historical willingness to endure horrible dangers, to submit to extreme and prolonged pain, to risk grave injury and death rather than remain pregnant, tells us something important about female desperation and determination, and the price women were \u2014 and still are \u2014 willing to pay to control their own bodies. What it tells us is that women will always find ways to end an unwanted pregnancy, no matter what the law says, no matter the risks to themselves.<\/p>\n
If the Supreme Court were ever to overturn Roe v. Wade, or if anti-abortion forces continue to successfully chisel away at a woman\u2019s access to safe abortion, many women will still choose abortion \u2014 by their own hands. Leeches, lye and Spanish fly are still among the many tools available to the self-abortionist. So are knitting needles, with predictable, disastrous consequences. There is no law that will end the practice of abortion, only laws that can protect a woman\u2019s right to choose it, or not, and to keep it the safe and private procedure still available to us in 2013, 40 years after the Supreme Court made it legal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This article brought two thoughts to mind. First, as a child and teen I saw abortion as a relatively new phenomenon, a result of the sexual revolution or of modern selfishness. Along that line, I think abortion opponents have a rather ahistorical view of abortion \u2014 a view articles like this aim to set straight. Second, it seems like abortion opponents generally tend to see abortion like any other crime, as though it\u2019s something you can just ban and have it over with. The thing is, trying to prevent abortion is a bit like trying to prevent starving people from stealing food. For one thing, abortion springs from a place of absolute\u00a0desperation. And for another thing, the consequences of not obtaining an abortion are life-altering in a way the consequences of not committing murder or\u00a0burglary\u00a0are not. This puts abortion in a very different category from most of the things we tend to slap a legal ban on, and this has consequences when it comes to things like enforcement.<\/p>\n
In the end, I think we don\u2019t talk enough about the history of abortion or about the reality of illegal abortion.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week the New York Times published an op-ed on the history and reality of illegal abortion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[104,183],"class_list":["post-12353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feminism","tag-abortion-2","tag-history"],"yoast_head":"\n
A New York Times Op-Ed on Illegal Abortion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last week the New York Times published an op-ed on the history and reality of illegal abortion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A New York Times Op-Ed on Illegal Abortion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week the New York Times published an op-ed on the history and reality of illegal abortion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love, Joy, Feminism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-29T18:04:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-28T21:04:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/graphics8.nytimes.com\/images\/2013\/01\/22\/opinion\/0122OPEDguldig\/0122OPEDguldig-articleInline.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html\",\"name\":\"A New York Times Op-Ed on Illegal Abortion\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-29T18:04:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-28T21:04:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\"},\"description\":\"Last week the New York Times published an op-ed on the history and reality of illegal abortion.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A New York Times Op-Ed on Illegal Abortion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/\",\"name\":\"Love, Joy, Feminism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\",\"name\":\"Libby Anne\",\"description\":\"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \\\"purity culture,\\\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A New York Times Op-Ed on Illegal Abortion","description":"Last week the New York Times published an op-ed on the history and reality of illegal abortion.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A New York Times Op-Ed on Illegal Abortion","og_description":"Last week the New York Times published an op-ed on the history and reality of illegal abortion.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html","og_site_name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","article_published_time":"2013-01-29T18:04:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-28T21:04:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/graphics8.nytimes.com\/images\/2013\/01\/22\/opinion\/0122OPEDguldig\/0122OPEDguldig-articleInline.jpg"}],"author":"Libby Anne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Libby Anne","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html","name":"A New York Times Op-Ed on Illegal Abortion","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-29T18:04:05+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-28T21:04:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2"},"description":"Last week the New York Times published an op-ed on the history and reality of illegal abortion.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/01\/a-new-york-times-op-ed-on-illegal-abortion.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A New York Times Op-Ed on Illegal Abortion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/","name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2","name":"Libby Anne","description":"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \"purity culture,\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.","sameAs":["http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}