Week 3: Who Prescribed the First Abortion Bans?
Welcome to week 3 readers! This week I spent time researching the early anti-abortion movement that gained traction and drove significant changes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Until the founding of the American Medical Association (AMA) in 1847, abortion was a common and mostly unregulated feature of American life. Following colonial-era laws, Abortion was legal in the U.S. until “quickening”, the first time a woman feels her baby move during pregnancy. The AMA, established to regulate medicine, became a powerful force in shaping abortion laws. Many male physicians sought to strengthen their professional position and expand their practices, so they targeted freelance midwives, nurses, and other abortion providers.
Through successful lobbying and legal pressure from the AMA, over 40 anti-abortion laws were passed between 1860 and 1880. By 1880, every state had criminalized abortion. This forced many women, particularly those who were low-income, to resort to unsafe, illegal procedures. They also drove midwives and abortion providers either to shut down or go underground.
Midwifery, a profession that was largely practiced by African American and Indigenous women. The AMA not only consolidated medical authority to white male leadership, but they also worked to discredit and eliminate a field dominated by women of color. Their efforts deregulated abortion and altered public perception of abortion and midwifery.
There is a clear pattern. Influential groups like the AMA and Moral Majority don’t just have an impact on politics, they shape public opinion. Just like Moral Majority worked to reframe the anti-abortion movement as a religious and moral crusade, the AMA discredited midwives, describing them as “unhygienic, dangerous, and barbarous”. These efforts created lasting stigmas that continue to influence reproductive healthcare.
Another key figure in the anti-abortion movement was Anthony Comstock, a devout Christian and anti-vice crusader. Unlike the AMA, Comstock targeted both abortion and contraception because of his religious and moral beliefs. He successfully lobbied for the Comstock Act passed as federal legislation, making it illegal to distribute “obscene materials” through the US mail. The broadly written law banned distribution of contraception information, devices, and abortion-related items, effectively criminalizing the spread of reproductive knowledge.
Together, Comstock and the AMA’s influence ushered in the “Century of Criminalization”. This period forced abortion care to become secret, limiting access to reproductive healthcare and setting up the stage for our current political and social battles over abortion today.
Thank you so much for reading! Next week we’ll (maybe) talk about modern consequences to these 2 broader anti-abortion movements. Readers, let me know if you are getting bored with this type of blog. I might switch it up next week to save you from reading another history lesson!
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