Chronography of Birth control and Abortion
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modified 19/2/2022
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17/9/2004, Luis E Miramontes, who
co-developed the Pill, died.
23/10/1998, Dr Barnett Slepian was shot dead
outside his home by anti-abortionist activist James Charles Kopp.
10/3/1993, Dr David Gunn, gynaecologist,
was murdered by an anti-abortion campaigner.
2/10/1958,
Marie Stopes,
promoter of
birth control, died (born 1880).
5/10/1951,
The oral
contraceptive was patented
1/10/1847, Annie Besant, social reformer
and theosophist, was born. With radical atheist Charles Bradlaugh, she promoted birth
control, for which she was prosecuted.
500 BCE, Abortion was commonly practised by the ancient Romans and Greeks,to the extent that the plant
used to induce it, silphium, became�
extinct (silphium was supposedly hard to cultivate, and animal grazing
also likely caused the end of the species).
1550 BCE, The Egyptian Ebers Papyrus comntained a recipe for
inducing abortion, as a form of birth control.
1700 BCE, Abortion in Mesopotamia was prohibited under the Hammurabi
Code.
3000 BCE, Chinese Emperor Shennong reputedly gave his
concubines mercury to induce abortions.
Argentina
30/12/2020, Abortion was legalised in Argentina.
1921,
Abortion was
made illegal in Argentina, except in cases of rape or where the
mnother�s life was at risk.
Belgium
3/4/1990,
In Belgium, King
Baudoin temporarily abdicated to allow the passing of a law legalising abortion, which he refused to sign
on principle.
Canada
14/5/1969, Abortion and contraception were legalised in Canada.
France
1975,
French anti-abortion laws were liberalised.
1967,
France repealed its 1920 law which forbade the sale of
contraceptives. Earlier, in 1956, Dr Marie-Andree Weill-Halle
started the Mouvement Francais pour le
Planning Familial. She also set up technically illegal family planning
clinics in France, to which the Government turned a blind eye. The first such
clinic opened in Grenoble in 1961 and by 1966 there were 200 such clinics
across France. Contraceptives were (illegally) imported from the UK by plain
postage to clients.
1920,
Abortion was
made illegal in France, because of
population losses suffered in World War One. However the law was widely flouted
and by 1970 there were 500,000 illegal abortions a year in France, with botched
operations causing some 500 deaths per year. Moreover, all publicity for
birth-control, and the dale of contraceptives, was also banned.
1814,
France made
abortion illegal except where the life of the mother was gravely threatened.
Germany
1872,
Germany
enacted a new law punishing abortion by up to 5 years in
prison.
Iceland
28/1/1935. Iceland
became the first country to legalise abortion, on medical grounds, under Law no.38,
allowing abortion at up to 28 weeks if there was a threat to the mental or
physical health of the mother. Most
subsequent abortion laws followed this pattern.
Ireland
25/5/2018, Ireland
voted to legalise
abortion by a large majority of 66.4%. This left Northern Ireland as
rather an anomaly, with its strict anti-abortion laws, whilst abortion was now
legal in both Ireland and Great Britain. However the Democratic Unionist Party
of Northern Ireland, whose support Mrs Theresa May, British Conservative PM, needed
to remain in power, was like all other NI Parties, anti-abortion.
7/3/2002, In a Referendum in Ireland, the legalisation of abortion was narrowly rejected.
1936, Ireland made it a felony to sell,
import or advertise any form of birth control.
Italy
17/5/1981, In a
referendum, Italy
voted to legalise
abortion.
1971, Italy
legalised
the sale of birth control information and contraceptives.
1930, Italy, under Mussolini, made abortion �a crime against the integrity and health of
the race�; however illegal abortions in Italy continued at more than
500,000 a year.
Japan
1948, Japan
legalised abortion, over concerns about continued
population growth; the population of Japan had risen from 64 million in 1930 to
almost 80 million in 1948.
Mexico
7/9/2021, In Mexico the Supreme
Court voted unanimously do decriminalise abortion.
Netherlands
1878,
The world�s
first birth control clinic opened in Amsterdam by Dutch suffragist
leader Aletta Jacobs, aged 29. She was also the first female physician to
practice in The Netherlands.
Portugal
2007,
Portugal
legalised
abortion.
Romania
12/1989,
Abortions were legalised in Romania. Previously, not only had it been illegal
but there had also been a special tax on childless women.
San Marino
1865,
Abortion was
made illegal in San Marino.
Switzerland
2002,
Switzerland
decriminalised
abortion.
UK
25/4/1990. The UK Parliament reduced the time limit for abortion from 28 to 24
weeks. There were certain
exceptions, such as danger to the mother�s health.
30/4/1987,
In Britain, the Court of Appeal ruled
that a man could not prevent a woman who was
carrying his child from having an abortion.
17/10/1985, In Britain, the House of Lords voted to allow
doctors to prescribe contraceptives to girls aged under 16 without
parental consent, despite a campaign against this by Catholic
mother Mrs Victoria Gillick.
26/7/1983, Mrs Victoria
Gillick lost her case in the High Court to prevent
doctors prescribing contraceptives to girls under 16 without parental consent.
5/1974,
In Britain, family planning advice was available free on the NHS. Shadow Home
Secretary Sir
Keith Joseph caused controversy, and was even accused of
resurrecting WW2 eugenics, when he expressed concern that the highest birth
rate was amongst the poor and least educated.
1/4/1972.
Hounslow
Borough Council began to offer free contraception on the rates.
There was no restriction on the type of contraception nor on the marital status
of the applicants; they only had to be aged 16 or over and resident in Hounslow.
27/4/1968. Abortion was legalised in Britain, as the 1967 Abortion Act became
Law. The Liberal MP David Steel had
introduced the Abortion Act to Parliament. In the 10 months 25/4/1968 to
25/2/1969, the UK had 28.859 abortions, and by July 1969 they were averaging
over 1,000 per week in England and Wales. The NHS paid for 60% of the cost of
an abortion.
27/10/1967, The UK�s Abortion Act received Royal Assent.
25/10/1967. UK Parliament passed the Abortion Act, decriminalising
abortion.
14/7/1967. Parliament in the UK voted to legalise
abortion. This was after a record 64 hour debate. The 1967 Abortion Act allowed for the legal
termination of pregnancy if two registered doctors believed that continuation
of the pregnancy could damage the physical or mental health of the woman, or of
members of her family, or where there was substantial risk of the baby being
born with physical or mental abnormalities. The normal time linit was the 24th
week of pregnancy, unless there was grave danger to the mother.
11/1/1967, In Britain, the Society for the Protection of Unborn
Children was formed.
19/2/1966. Lord Silkin�s Bill to legalise
abortion ran into difficulties in the House of Lords.
4/12/1961. The birth
control pill became available on the National Health Service.
30/1/1961. The contraceptive pill went on sale in Britain. It was called Conovid, see
18/10/1960.
14/8/1930, The Church of
England grudgingly accepted birth control.
15/10/1927.
Britain�s Public Morals Committee attacked
the use of contraceptives for �causing poor hereditary
stock�.
17/3/1921. First birth control clinic opened
in Holloway, London, by Marie Stopes.
1803,
In Britain,
abortion, alrady an offence under Canon law, was made a statutory crime.
28/4/1780, The first
advertisement for an abortion clinic appeared on the
back page of London�s
Morning Post. The address was 23,
Fleet Street, London.
USA
1/9/2021, The US State of Texas considerably
tightened the law on abortion, making it illegal; after a foetal
heartbeat could be detected, at 6 weeks. This also applied where the pregnancy
was due to incest or rape.
14/5/2019, The US State of Alabama passed very restrictive
abortion laws,
16/1/1987,
The first US commercial for condoms was aired, shown on KRON in San Francisco.
20/6/1977, The US Supreme Court ruled that States were not required to fund elective abortions on Medicaid.
22/1/1973, The US Supreme Court ruled, in Roe vs Wade;
a ruling that resulted in the liberalisation of
abortion laws, so women had the freedom to choose a private
abortion. Abortion was subsequently legalised in
France (1975) and Italy (1977). The actual case was between Henry Wade,
Dallas County District Attorney, and Norma
McCorvey; McCorvey�s name
was disguised as Jane Roe.
22/3/1972, The US Supreme Court ruled that a Massachusetts State
law forbidding the sale of contraceptives to unmarried people was
unconstitutional.
25/4/1967, Colorado became the first
US State to liberalise its abortion laws. Abortion was now permissible in the
case of rape or incest, where the woman�s physical or mental health was in
danger, or was likely to result in a child with severe mental or physical
issues. The abortion had to be performed in a licenced hospital with the
approval of three physicians.
7/6/1965, The US Supreme Court ruled
that Connecticut�s State Law of 1879 prohibit8ing
the sale of birth control techniques was unconstitutional..
1964,
A dozen US States now had tax-funded birth-control programmes. These were
mainly in the soutern USA, where Catholic influence was weaker and Whites
desired to hold down higher Black birth rates. Overall the US hosted 450 birth
control clinics. In 1965 the US hosted 700 birth control clinics, with 33
States giving, or about to give, tax funding to birth control programmes.In
1965 Connecticut�s 1879 law prohibiting the sale of birth control devices was
ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
18/10/1960, The first approved contraceptive pill,
called Enovid 10, went on sale in the USA; it was only available to married
couples. Catholics objected. See 30/1/1961.
9/5/1960, The US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA)approved a birth control pill. By 1965 some 5 million US
wpomen were using the Pill.
18/8/1960.
The birth control
pill, the
world�s first oral contraceptive, was launched in America.
7/6/1956, The US Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut,
ruled that the State could not prevent married couples accessing contraception.
1940, US President Roosevelt publically endorsed birth control.
1924, The practice
of birth control was endorsed by the New York Obstetrical Society, the New York Academy of
Medicine and the American Medical Association.
1920,
The American
Birth Control League was founded (see 10/9/1916).
16/10/1916, The first brth-control clinic outside The
Netherlands was opened at 46 Amboy Street,� Brooklyn, New York, by Margaret Sanger. She distributed leaflets in
English, Italian and Yiddish to advertise the clinic.She was arrested and
jailed for 30 days. After her release she founded the New York Birth Control League (see 1920) and began publishing Birth Control Review.
1873,
In the US,
the Comstock Act authorised the
postal services to restrict dissemination of information about contraception, even
from doctors.
1/11/1872, US Congress passed the Comstock Law,
prohibiting the transport or postage of any article intended to prevent
conception or to cause abortion. The law was named after New York
moralist Anthony
Comstock, aged 28, head of the Society for the Suppression of Vice.
1830,
Abortion was
made a statutory crime in the USA.
USSR
1955, Legalised abortion was restored in the
USSR, although both abortion and birth control were
discouraged.
1936, The 1920 legalisation of
abortion in the USSR was
reversed; abortion was now only permissible if the woman�s
life was in danger or the child was likely to have some certain specified
inherited disease.
1920, Abortion was legalised in the USSR.