Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy (Galaxy Books) [Paperback]

James C. Mohr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 1979 | ISBN-10: 0195026160 | ISBN-13: 978-0195026160

'The history of how abortion came to be banned and how women lost--for the century between approximately 1870 and 1970--rights previously thought to be natural and inherent over their own bodies is a fascinating and infuriating one.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fascinating book which sets to rest a number of preconceptions on the subject. Easy to read and yet hard-hitting."--Marlette Rebhorn, ustin Community College

"Should be an eye-opener to those who think that religious objections were at the root of anti-abortion legislation and equally to those who think that abortion has been a matter of life and death."--Carl N. Degler, Stanford University

"A superb example of the way history can inform a current contentious controversy."--Journal of American History

"Mohr makes it abundantly clear that Supreme Court decisions of the 1970s were not a modern weakening of moral standards but a return to what Americans believed and practiced a hundred years ago."--The Christian Century

"An altogether lucid review of American abortion policy in the 19th century."--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

About the Author

James C. Mohr is at University of Oregon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 20, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195026160
• ISBN-13: 978-0195026160
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #811,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent analysis of the evolution of abortion policy., September 5, 1999

By 

J. Reeves (Woodworth, Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy (Galaxy Books) (Paperback)

James Mohr's "Abortion in America" is a breath of fresh air in the abortion debate. Scholarly, unbiased, and betraying no hint whatsoever of any kind of agenda -- pro or con -- regarding abortion policy, the book is nevertheless revelatory concerning the development of abortion law in this country. From the colonial and early republican period, when abortion was perfectly legal (partly because doctors, hampered by inadequate medical knowledge, -- the difference between a pregnancy and some kind of uterine "stoppage" was unclear -- frequently administered medications that caused abortions) to the 1890s, when virtually every state had a system of laws prohibiting abortions, the story is capably told. And the truth ought to startle anyone who thinks religious activism was in any way responsible for the late 19th-century wave of anti-abortion legislation. I'll leave it to prospective readers to discover who or what was actually responsible, and how self-interest (as opposed to an interest in the unborn) played a crucial role. An eye-opener, and an important read for people for either side of the debate.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading for Those Interested in the Issue, June 21, 2000

By 

Susan Nunes (Medford, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy (Galaxy Books) (Paperback)

Mohr's groundbreaking work is a history of abortion in the United States from the colonial days until the present (as of the late 1970s). What is fascinating about this book is how the medical establishment railed against the increased use of abortion in the 1800s but became among its foremost advocates a century later. Mohr also shows the reader how legalizing abortion in recent years was not a result of lax morals but rather was a return to the past.

This is a brief book, but it is one of the very finest books on this controversial issue.