Throughline

Abortion Before Roe

37 snips
Jun 19, 2025
Leslie Regan, a historian and professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, dives into the history of abortion before Roe v. Wade. She reveals how abortion was once commonplace, facilitated by women and midwives, before a medical crusade shifted that narrative. Discussion topics include the rise and fall of figures like Madame Restell, the male-dominated medical assault on women's reproductive autonomy, and the ethical and racial motivations behind the criminalization of abortion in the 19th century.
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ANECDOTE

Madame Ristel's Public Abortions

  • Madame Ristel, known as the wickedest woman in New York, ran a thriving abortion business openly in the 1830s.
  • She lived luxuriously until facing criminal prosecution near her death in 1878, which led to her suicide.
INSIGHT

Early Abortion Was Accepted

  • Abortion was legal and widely practiced in early America until it was criminalized in the late 19th century.
  • It was considered a private, commonly accepted practice performed by women and midwives before quickening.
INSIGHT

Men Enter Childbirth Domain

  • Male doctors started entering childbirth, a domain held by women and midwives for millennia.
  • This disrupted established norms and introduced professional and gender tensions in mid-1800s obstetrics.
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