“When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society – so when a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances she has been greatly wronged.” ,
The Revolution, September 2, 1869, pages 138 and 139.
“Child murderers practice their profession without let or hindrance, and open infant butcheries unquestioned…Is there no remedy for all this ante-natal child murder?…Perhaps there will come a time when…an unmarried mother will not be despised because of her motherhood…and when the right of the unborn to be born will not be denied or interfered with.”
Woodhull’s and Claffin’s Weekly, November 19, 1870
“When we consider that woman are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit.”
Letter to Julia Ward Howe, October 16, 1873, recorded in Howe’s diary at Harvard University Library
She classified abortion as a form of “infanticide.” The Revolution, 1(5):1, February 5, 1868
Also from Stanton:
“Dr. Oaks made the remark that, according to the best estimate he could make, there were four hundred murders annually produced by abortion in this county alone….There must be a remedy to such a crying evil as this. But where should it be found, at least begin, if not in the complete enfranchisement and elevation of women?”
The Revolution 1(10) 146-147 March 12, 1868
Cited in Rachel McNair, Mary Krane Derr, and Linda Naranjo-Hubbl. Pro-Life Feminism: Yesterday and Today (New York: Sulzburger & Graham Publishing, Ltd.)
Note: although Elizabeth Cady Stanton emphatically believe that abortion was murder, she was compassionate towards women who were in desperate circumstances. She successfully advocated for the release and pardon of a woman convicted of infanticide in the death of her newborn baby.
“Every woman knows if she were free, she would never bear an unwished-for child, nor think of murdering one before its birth.”
Woodhull was the nation’s first female presidential candidate, who ran under the banner of the Equal Rights Party in 1872. Wheeling, West Virginia Evening Standard, November 17, 1875
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“We are aware that many women attempt to excuse themselves for procuring abortions, upon the ground that it is not murder. But the fact of resort to so weak an argument only shows the more palpably that they fully realize the enormity of the crime. Is it not equally destroying the would-be future oak to crush the sprout before it pushes its head above the sod, as to cut down the sapling, or cut down the tree? Is it not equally to destroy life, to crush it in the very germ, and to take it when the germ has evolved to any given point in its line of development?”
Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin – Woodhull and Claflin’s Weekly, 20 June 1874
Dr. Liley,a scientist who is known as the “Father of Fetology”:
“We know that he [the unborn baby] moves with the delightful easy grace in his buoyant world, that fetal comfort determines fetal position. He is responsive to pain and touch and cold and sound and light. He drinks his amniotic fluid, more if it is artificially sweetened, less if it is given an unpleasant taste. He gets hiccups and sucks his thumb. He wakes and sleeps. He gets bored with repetitive signals but he can be taught to be alerted by a first signal for a second different one. And, finally, he determines his birthday, for unquestionably, the onset of labor is unilateral decision of the fetus.”
11 weeks
A.Liley “A Case against Abortion” Liberal studies,Whitcombe & Tombs, Ltd., 1971
“In adults, when we contemplate a physical move or action from a resting state, heart rate accelerates several seconds before the motion. The fetal heart does the same thing. [It} speeds up 6-10 seconds prior to fetal movement.”
N. Lauerson & Hochberg, “Does the Fetus Think?” JAMA, volume 247, number 23, July 18, 1982
“In its seventh week [the unborn baby] bears the familiar external features and all the internal organs of the adult….The brain in configuration is already like the adult brain and sends out impulses that coordinate the functions of other organs….The heart beats sturdily. The stomach produces digestive juices. The liver manufactures blood cells and the kidneys begin to function by extracting uric acid from the child’s blood….The muscles of the arms and body can already be set in motion. After the eighth week….everything is already present that will be found in the full-term baby.”
feet of an unborn baby at eight weeks
From an amicus curiae brief submitted by physicians (95:13-14)
John Ankerberg and John Weldon “When Does Life Begin? And 39 Other Tough Questions About Abortion” (Brentwood TN: Wolgemuth and Hyatt Publishers, 1989) 6
I was 16 and it was the first time I had sex. I lied to my new boyfriend that I was using birth control. My girlfriend drove me to the clinic and brought me back home. I do not remember how I paid for it.
All I remember was gripping the nurse’s hand due to the pain involved. I remember also seeing the vacuum suction machine and the tube leading to it. I will never be able to get these out of my mind.
It’s easy to say I’ve had an abortion, but it tears you apart when you realize you took the life of your own child.
Because of the abortion, I am actually speaking out against abortion. My husband and I are associated with local Christian Action Council. I try to personally educate others about Life in the Womb.
