Previous to this case’s decision, much divisive persuasion came against women’s reproductive solutions and threatened their most basic rights and freedoms. The power and wonder of life is undeniable, but it is a well-known that men and women have attempted to control the process for thousands of years. In Egypt circa 1850 BC, we saw the most primitive device called the pessary, which was a mixture of crocodile dung, sodium carbonate and honey introduced into the vagina. This device attempted to block conception and fulfil the need as the first contraceptive. Many devices and procedures designed to block conception were attempted, but the most critical and controversial was infanticide. Overpopulation had become a societal issue in the preindustrial period. It was the most universal answer to a hugely population control problem known throughout the world at the time. At the time, abortion was a medical disaster and it was far riskier than that of infanticide. Abortion was also known to be painful and women stood a high risk of secondary infection from it. This act, if found guilty, was usually given the penalty of death. Women found guilty of this act faced hanging. Other types of contraceptive devices popular …show more content…
The condom was marketed toward venereal disease prevention rather than prevention of pregnancy. After World War I, condoms became acceptable because of their widespread use in prevention of venereal diseases. By 1860 in the US, legislation was enacted that made illegal all abortion unless they were to save the life of the mother. In the year 1869, Pope Pius IX claimed all abortion to be illegal, which led many to follow suit. Abortion was seen as a very risky procedure and humanitarianism in the mid-19th Century sought to protect women with laws. Aspects of medical care for women were usually carried out by woman mid-wives, but soon turned to male doctors. These same male doctors did not give women the respect to terminate their pregnancies. One doctor, Dr. Edmund Bliss Foote, became an advocate for women’s rights. His articles in the 1860s-70s authored a favorable view on birth control, sex, and the avocation of condoms and an early diaphragm iteration; the womb veil. As biological information grew in reference to the life of the fetus, attitudes about abortions soon changed. Religious groups and governments soon needed a population boom to fil their factories and farming areas. Right when women were beginning their understanding of conception techniques, and how to avoid it, they were subjected to laws that attacked birth