I spent a depressing year researching and writing  Coat Hangers and Knitting Needles. I make no money on this book but the information could be beneficial to both sides.

 

 

 What women will put in their mouths or up their vaginas to end a pregnancy is horrifying, especially when many of the treatments are poisonous.

 

All societies have found ways to prevent pregnancies with varying degrees of efficiency.

Sanskrit texts have been found which suggest pressing the front of the testicle with a finger during sex, hopefully blocking sperm from escaping.

Other methods included:

•       Sperm-barring suppositories were sometimes covered with honey, acacia leaves, palm leaves, red chalk, even crocodile dung, depending on the locale. They were placed in the vagina to block or create a hostile environment to any ambitious sperm.

•       Pessaries such as peach seeds or other items were inserted to block the opening of the uterus and later removed.

•       Sea sponges were attached to a string for removal.

•       Douching with vinegar and other liquids. Recipe books have been found with abortion methods. Douching methods are available on the internet today. It is a practice used mainly by American women.

•       Coitus interruptus (studies in the 1920s showed this was one of the most popular forms in New York).

•       Coitus reservatus–the man holds back completely.

•       Rhythm–unfortunately a woman’s fertility cycle was not fully understood until the late 19^th and 20^th century.

•       Condoms.

The exact history of condoms is lost to us, although in 16th century Italy, Gabriele Falloppio (15231562) claimed to have invented them. His was a chemical-soaked, penis-shaped piece of linen. It was dried before use and tied onto the penis at the base with a ribbon. I wonder if the color of the ribbon was important and how many times the condom was resoaked and reused.

The purpose of the condom was more to stop venereal disease than prevent pregnancy.

Birth control was condemned by Jewish and Roman Catholic leaders in various documents as “a crime against nature.”

Just as women have a variety of terms for their periods, they had a variety of terms for being pregnant and for trying to get rid of it. Most documents of the time thought of the timeframe before the baby quickened as a missed period rather than killing a child. Different phrases were used to explain the process between women discussing the problem or in advertising by abortionists:

•       Restoring the menses

•       Taking the trade

•       Restoring female regularity

•       Removing from the system every impurity

Physical Abortion Methods Mentioned in Historical Documents and Art

The methods of premodern abortion were varied with differing degrees of efficiency and results:

•                 Blood-letting

•                 Climbing

•                 Coconut heated and then laid on the stomach

•                 Diving

•                 Fasting

•                 Girdle-tightening

•                 Hot water poured on the abdomen

•                 Jumping up and down, touching the buttocks with the heels at each leap

•                 Miscarriage-encouraging drugs

•                 Pressure on the abdomen

•                 Sitting over a pot of steam

•                 Sitting over a pot of stewed onions

•                 Candles shoved in the cervix (no reference on whether they were lit or not)

•                 Any pointed device shoved into the vaginal canal

•                 Water flushed into the uterus

•                 Liquids of many types, some that burned the vaginal cavity beyond recognition

•                 Foreign objects that would create an infection if left in the vaginal canal Surgical attempts were less frequent, but they did exist.

Oral Abortifacients

What women will put in their mouths or up their vaginas to end a pregnancy is horrifying, especially when many of the treatments are poisonous. To them, the risk was better than bearing a child at that time in their lives.

Over the centuries plants and metals have been used to bring on abortions alone or in combinations with varying effectiveness including:

•       Birthwort

•       Cyprus

•       Diachylon, a mixture of lead and plant juices

•       Dill

•       Ergot*

•       Galen

•       Gin

•       Hellebore, white and black

•       Iron chloride

•       Iron sulfate

•       Italian catnip

•       Lavender

•       Opium

•       Pennyroyal

•       Potassium permanganate tablets

•       Rue

•       Sage

•       Savin (juniper)

•       Savory

•       Scammony

•       Soapwart

•       Slippery elm

•       Spanish fly

•       Squirting cucumber

•       Tansy

•       Tea marjoram

•       Thyme

•       Turpentine

•       Watercress seed

•       Worm fern or prostitute root

•       Spanish fly

 

*Ergot, a fungus found on rye, was most often used by doctors, nurses, midwives and others for abortion. In the late stage of labor, it reduces hemorrhaging, blood loss and postpartum. The negative effect is that it causes unremitting contractions. If the fetus did not move as expected, the drug could cause the uterus to mold itself around the child, rupturing the uterus and killing the child and/or the mother.

Extreme Oral Abortifacients

Other remedies for unwanted pregnancies flash through historical references. The list may show the desperation to have an abortion. They include:

•       Black-tailed deer dissolved in fat

•       Camel saliva

•       Crushed ants

Euphemistic Terms in Advertising for Abortion Products and Services

Advertisements during the 1800s for abortion and abortifacients were common until various states declared such advertisements illegal. The words were often couched in delicate terms rather than direct.

•       Delayed period

•       Female complaints

•       Irregularity

•       Menstrual suppression

•       Obstruction

•       Restoring female regularity

•       Removing from the system every impurity