For centuries prior to 1800 the key to the common law's attitude towards abortion had been a phenomenon associated with normal gestation as quickening. ... The common law did not formally recognize the existence of a fetus in criminal cases until it had quickened. ... A knowledge of various drugs, potions and techniques was available from home medical guides, from health books for woman, for mid-wives and irregular practitioners, and trained physicians. ... As late as 1834 it was axiomatic to a medical student at the University of Maryland, who wrote his dissertation on spontaneous aborti...

• Word Count: 4259
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

For centuries prior to 1800 the key to the common law's attitude towards abortion had been a phenomenon associated with normal gestation as quickening. ... The common law did not formally recognize the existence of a fetus in criminal cases until it had quickened. ... A knowledge of various drugs, potions and techniques was available from home medical guides, from health books for woman, for mid-wives and irregular practitioners, and trained physicians. ... As late as 1834 it was axiomatic to a medical student at the University of Maryland, who wrote his dissertation on spontaneous aborti...

• Word Count: 4179
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Knowledge of various drugs, potions and techniques was available from home medical guides, from health books for woman, for mid-wives and irregular practitioners, and trained physicians. ... As late as 1834 it was axiomatic to a medical student at the University of Maryland, who wrote his dissertation on spontaneous abortion, that woman who feigned dysmenorrheal in order to obtain abortions from physicians were woman who had been involved in illicit intercourse. ... The earliest laws that dealt specifically with the legal status of abortion in the U.S. were inserted into Americans criminal cod...

• Word Count: 3983
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: Undergraduate