Abortion

While abortion was not subject to explicit legal regulation in Greece and Rome until the third century ce , it was the object of considerable ethical problematization by Greek and Roman authorities. Abortions were most commonly induced through herbal concoctions taken either orally or as vaginal suppositories; most of these were toxic to the mother as well as the fetus, and were thus dangerous. The Hippocratic Oath was generally considered to ban advice on abortion, and most medical writers are reluctant to recommend it except in cases where the mother's life or health are at risk. Some philosophical texts suggest it was permissible only before the fetus assumed human form and sensation (i.e. about forty days after conception). Abortion was banned in all cases in the Persian Empire, perhaps reflected in the sacred laws of some Greek cities in the east. Hellenistic Jewish and Christian writers condemn abortion strongly.

Abortion · Ancient history · Art · Hippocratic Oath · Judaism · Literature · Oath · Political science · Pregnancy · Problematization · Subject (documents) · American Constitutional Law and Politics · History · Law · Medicine · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Health and Technologies