Changes

This change didn’t occur within a vacuum, however. In the late 19th century, targeting abortions and abortion providers—like midwives and “irregulars”—occurred within the context of the professionalization of the medical field. Individuals like Dr. Horatio Storer attempted to legitimate themselves as professional medical men, and they did so at others’ expense. In claiming that pregnancy and childbirth were not natural events, where women and midwives could maintain authority, they argued that pregnancy and childbirth were medical conditions requiring physician intervention.

Throughout the 20th century, law enforcement continued to enforce local abortion statutes with limited success. Due to the nature of this criminal activity—specifically how legally ambiguous it was—it was often difficult to bring an abortion case to trial unless a woman died from the procedure. Under these conditions, it perpetuated the idea that abortions were dangerous procedures, and reformers and AMA members latched onto it with as much zeal and vigor as possible in order to advance their goals.