Abortion has existed since ancient times, with natural
abortifacients being found amongst a wide variety of tribal people and in most written sources. The earliest known records of abortion techniques and general reproductive regulation date as far back as 2700 BC in
China, and 1550 BC in
Egypt. Early texts contain little mention of abortion or abortion law. When it does appear, it is entailed in concerns about male
property rights, preservation of social order, and the duty to produce fit citizens for the state or community. The harshest penalties were generally reserved for a woman who procured an abortion against her husband's wishes, and for slaves who produced abortion in a woman of high status. Religious texts often contained severe condemnations of abortion, recommending penance but seldom enforcing secular punishment. As a matter of
common law in
England and the
United States, abortion was illegal anytime after
quickening—when the movements of the
fetus could first be felt by the woman. Under the
born alive rule, the fetus was not considered a "reasonable being"
in rerum natura; and abortion was not treated as
murder in English law. In the 19th century, many Western countries began to codify abortion laws or place further restrictions on the practice.
Anti-abortion movements were led by a combination of groups opposed to abortion on moral grounds, and by medical professionals who were concerned about the danger presented by the procedure and the regular involvement of non-medical personnel in performing abortions. Nevertheless, it became clear that illegal abortions continued to take place in large numbers even where abortions were rigorously restricted. It was difficult to obtain sufficient evidence to prosecute the women and abortion doctors, and judges and juries were often reluctant to convict. For example,
Henry Morgentaler, a Canadian
pro-choice advocate, was never convicted by a jury. He was acquitted by a jury in the 1973 court case, but the acquittal was overturned by five judges on the
Quebec Court of Appeal in 1974. He went to prison, appealed, and was again acquitted. In total, he served 10 months, suffering a heart attack while in
solitary confinement. Many were also outraged at the invasion of privacy and the medical problems resulting from abortions taking place illegally in medically dangerous circumstances. Political movements soon coalesced around the legalization of abortion and
liberalization of existing laws. By the first half of the 20th century, many countries had begun to liberalize abortion laws, at least when performed to protect the woman's life and in some cases on the woman's request. Under
Vladimir Lenin, the
Soviet Union became the first modern state in legalizing abortions on request—the law was first introduced in the
Russian SFSR in 1920, in the
Ukrainian SSR in July 1921, and then in the whole country. The
Bolsheviks saw abortion as a social evil created by the capitalist system, which left women without the economic means to raise children, forcing them to perform abortions. The Soviet state initially preserved the
tsarist ban on abortion, which treated the practice as
premeditated murder. However, abortion had been practiced by Russian women for decades and its incidence skyrocketed further as a result of the
Russian Civil War, which had left the country economically devastated and made it extremely difficult for many people to have children. The Soviet state recognized that banning abortion would not stop the practice because women would continue using the services of private abortionists. In rural areas, these were often old women who had no medical training, which made their services very dangerous to women's health. In November 1920, the Soviet government legalized abortion in state hospitals. The state considered abortion as a temporary necessary evil, which would disappear in the future communist society, which would be able to provide for all the children conceived. In 1936,
Joseph Stalin placed prohibitions on abortions, which restricted them to medically recommended cases only, in order to increase population growth after the enormous loss of life in
World War I and the
Russian Civil War. amended in May 1949 to allow abortions for economic reasons. Abortion was legalized in 1952 in
Yugoslavia (on a limited basis), and again in 1955 in the Soviet Union on request. Some
Soviet allies (Poland,
Hungary,
Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia,
Romania) legalized abortion in the late 1950s under pressure from the Soviets. In the
United Kingdom, the
Abortion Act of 1967 clarified and prescribed abortions as legal up to 28 weeks (later reduced to 24 weeks). Other countries soon followed, including
Canada (1969), the United States (1973 in most states, pursuant to
Roe v. Wade—the
U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion nationwide
until 2022),
Tunisia and Denmark (1973),
Austria (1974),
France and Sweden (1975),
New Zealand (1977),
Italy (1978), the
Netherlands (1984), and
Belgium (1990). However, these countries vary greatly in the circumstances under which abortion was to be permitted. In 1975, the West German Supreme Court
struck down a law legalizing abortion, holding that it contradicted the
constitution's
human rights guarantees. In 1976, a law was adopted which enabled abortions up to 12 weeks. After
Germany's reunification, despite the legal status of abortion in
former East Germany, a compromise was reached which deemed most abortions up to 12 weeks legal, but this law was struck down by the
Federal Constitutional Court and amended only to remove the punishment in such cases, without any statement to legality. In jurisdictions governed under
sharia law, abortion after the 120th day from conception (19 weeks from
LMP) is illegal, especially for those who follow the recommendations of the
Hanafi legal school, while most jurists of the
Maliki legal school "believe that
ensoulment occurs at the moment of
conception, and they tend to forbid abortion at any point [similar to the Roman Catholic Church]. The other schools hold intermediate positions. ... The penalty prescribed for an illegal abortion varies according to particular circumstances involved. According to sharia, it should be limited to a fine that is paid to the father or heirs of the fetus." ==Timeline of abortion on request==