9781422281260

society, doctors, or the woman herself? Should the unborn fetus’s right to life be the most important factor? These issues will be discussed in the following chapters. We will also look at how advances in medical science and embryology affect abortion practice and learn the course of abortion legislation throughout history to the present day. There are also moral and ethical questions surrounding abor- tion in the light of medical and religious contexts, as well as social and economic factors in different cultures which need to be examined. Beginnings of Abortion The practice of abortion has existed since ancient times. The Assyrians and Babylonians, who lived 4,000 years ago in the Middle East, punished women who had abortions. In ancient Israel, anyone who assisted a woman in aborting her fetus was considered a criminal. In early Egypt, however, abortion was not against the law. There are medical texts dating from 1300 BCE that record concoctions of herbs, spices, and animal dung that were used by women as contraceptives and to induce an abortion. Ancient Greek and Roman texts over 2,000 years old also show evi- dence of powerful drugs and violent exercises being used by women as a means of aborting a fetus. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE ) taught that a fetus originally has a vegetable soul. This evolves into an animal soul during the early stages of pregnancy before finally becoming animated, or brought to life, with a human soul. This belief was called delayed ensoulment and was wide-

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Abortion