Let’s go back to before the beginning. In the 19th century, abortion was whatever. It wasn’t just that the legal system was in its infancy so it didn’t get to it yet, but that culturally it was acceptable. The idea was if you didn’t feel the baby “quicken” (e.g., kick), maybe that shit wasn’t alive. And if that’s throwing off your bodily humours, eject that little parasite quick. Not that there weren’t prudes back then too, but even the Church that was queasy of abortions made the distinction between pre- and post-quickening abortions showing at least some sort acceptance of it.
As an unregulated practice, a bunch of people, male and female, threw their hats in the ring and the abortion business took off until, that is, a young professionalizing medical industry wanted a lot more power. Evidently, a way to legitimize your profession is to kick all the women out. Bonus points for holding that over them. As the father of gynecology said on criminal abortion (a distinction you know we’ll talk about), “We are the physical guardians of women. … The case is here of life or death—and it depends, almost wholly, upon ourselves.”
Just like that American Medical Association (AKA the AMA) won. Abortions started getting criminalized across the US and A using the rhetoric that women were just their uteruses and/or these criminal abortions were so dangerous they needed to be reeled in. They really flexed their professionalism when the new criminal statutes led, not to fewer abortions, but more abortion complications. Surprise! Legislation doesn’t change the demand structure and underground markets tends to be sketchier than unregulated ones. Doctors of the AMA took the very Hippocratic position of not treating the women unless they confessed. There was one silver lining, I guess, some doctors found their conscience and broke the law to help these women.
These “doctors of conscience” were refuted pretty quickly. One psychiatrist, in 1962, basically told them to shut the fuck up because everyone knew “women’s main role here on earth is to conceive, deliver, and raise children.” They had to do something to get the ladies that kept domestic operations afloat to gtfo of the economy (until capitalism ramped up and required two-income households). And a really good way to do that was to get them ladies to be moms either in practice or actuality. So, although arguably men are socialized more to be their dicks than women their uteruses/uteri/uterodes, the “women are uteruses” rhetoric thrived.
And I know, just because an argument was disseminated disingenuously it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have genuine believers or merit. All I’ve said so far is a little bit of history and a curated one, at that, with the agenda that it’ll prime you to think like me. I just want to get some basics down first. If you’ll indulge me, I’m going to spend another post’s worth taking us to present day.
Wake Up Sheeple! 