-
Period: to
Laws Prohibiting
The criminalization of abortion state-by-state was, accomplished nationwide by 1880, to 1920. -
Anti-abortion Campaigns
Anti-abortion campaigns developed when women asserted sexual independence, as during the Progressive Era -
Laws Against Abortion
A crackdown on abortion occurred between 1890 and 1920 as specialists in obstetrics renewed the earlier campaign against abortion, and the medical profession was drawn into the state's enforcement system -
Abortion in Hospitals
Abortion became more available and changed location. As the practice moved from private offices and homes to hospitals and clinics, abortion was consolidated in medical hands and became more visible. The changes wrought by the Depression accelerated the pace of change in the coming decades, particularly in the methods of enforcing the criminal abortion laws. -
Accepted Somewhat Socially
Abortion was widely accepted and was practiced in women's homes and in the offices of physicians and midwives. -
More Publicity
Abortion became more available and changed location. As the practice moved from private offices and homes to hospitals and clinics, abortion was consolidated in medical hands and became more visible. The changes wrought by the Depression accelerated the pace of change in the coming decades, particularly in the methods of enforcing the criminal abortion laws. -
Period: to
Increased Restrictions
Increasing restrictions on abortion by state and medical authorities and intensifying demand for abortion from women of all groups. This period begins in 1940, when the new methods of controlling abortion were first instituted, and continues through 1973. -
Period: to
Opposition
In reaction to the growing practice of abortion as well as apparent changes in female gender and reproductive patterns, a backlash against abortion developed. 1940 marks a dividing line as hospitals instituted new policies, and police and prosecutors changed their tactics. The repression of abortion was part of the repression of political and personal deviance that took place in the 1940s and 1950s. -
Decriminalize
The movement to decriminalize abortion began in the mid-1950s and arose out of the difficult experiences from the repression of abortion. In the 1950s, physicians began to challenge the abortion laws their profession had advocated a century earlier. Progress of that challenge attests to the continuing power of the medical profession to make public policy regarding reproduction. As legal reform moved forward, a new feminist movement arose, which transformed the movement for legal change. -
Support For Abortions
Nonprofessional women forged two early alternatives to the professional movement to reform abortion law in the early 1960s. -
Solution to Over Population?
Many new environmentalists picked up the theory of the impending population explosion and embraced population control in the name of protecting the earth from destruction. [42]Demonstrating the popularity of these ideas, in 1970 Senator Robert Packwood (R. Ore.) introduced a bill into Congress to liberalize the abortion laws as a solution to the perceived "population explosion." -
Legalization of Abortion
Abortion was effectively "legalized." Roe v. Wade court case decision... substantially reduced the number of women dying from illegal abortion and reduced the rate of death and complications associated with abortions.
