Feminists For Choice

I recently tried to tackle Cynthia Gorney’s book Articles of Faith: A Frontline History of the Abortion Wars. I will admit that I had quite a bit of trouble getting through it.

The book is an account of the early years of the abortion struggle and the doctors, nurses, clergy and other persons involved in greasing the wheels towards making it legal. My major struggle with reading this book was not the message or even the content on a whole, but more how it was presented. I found it to be a little too dry and I wasn’t easily captivated. While the facts stated were indeed interesting and mind expanding, I found myself almost not caring, which I didn’t like. I encourage everyone to at least attempt reading this book, as you will most likely learn things you didn’t know.  I for one didn’t know that so many men of the cloth were involved in helping women get the services they needed, and organized somewhat of an underground railroad of abortionists. I also was intrigued by the laundry list of measures taken to abort a baby:

Lysol douche
Hexol douche
Bleach douche
Green soap and glycerin douche
Powdered kitchen  mustard douche
Hydrogen peroxide douche
Potassium permanganate corrosive tablets
Intrauterine installation of kerosene and vinegar
Gauze packing
Artist’s paintbrush
Curtain rod
Slippery elm stick
Garden hose
Rubber tube
Polyethylene tube
Glass cocktail stirrer
Ear syringe
Telephone wire
Copper wire
Coat hanger
Nut pick
Pencil
Cotton swabs
Clothespin
Knitting needle
Rubber catheter
Woven silk catheter
Catheter with stylette
Chopsticks
Bicycle pump and tube
Football pump and plastic straw
Plastic tube with soap solution
Gramophone needle
Bulb syringe
Castor oil by mouth
Quinine by mouth
Ergot by mouth
Humphries No. 11 tablets by mouth
Turpentine by mouth         

These were all methods seen on women who made it to a hospital, most of whom were in serious distress and risk of dying. There are also of course those who didn’t make it in and we can only imagine other methods used. But in light of this list of documented methods, it just goes to show the lengths to which a woman was willing to go in order to stop a baby from being born, and in knowing this, it pains me to think that it took so long, so many casualties, before it was legal, and that there are still people who want to take that right away from us.

While I myself would most likely never attempt to read this book again for fear of my head exploding, I do encourage you to try. It may take some time to finish, but it is well worth the read. Thank you to all the men and women who came before us.