I came across an interesting topic in Lee Jacksons “The Dictionary of Victorian London”, which spoke of the opinions on abortions during the Victorian era.  The opening sentence states that there is no greater sin than “the destruction of the child while yet in the womb of the mother” (Jackson). Language, such as the word sin, allows the audience to understand that the article takes a religious stand-point on the topic of abortion, and that murder is one of the worst sins you can commit.  The act of abortion is even called murder and infanticide within the opening paragraphs of the piece—two strong words used to describe abortion; both of these words are sharp and invoke certain feelings and connotations with them.  The article uses many other strong word choices to negatively describe the act of abortion: “new-born are put to death”, “condemned to death”, “self-destruction”, and “moral-degradation”.

The article says that abortions are wrong, as they “avoid the cares, the expense, [and] the duty of nursing and tending a child” (Jackson); the accusatory remark only points fingers and attempts to shame women of this time period by arguing that the only reason they abort their children is to avoid the responsibility of having them.  The speaker continues to list various parts of the world and their common reasons for abortion, most of which include deformities in the child, or their mothers dying.  In contrast, it says that the women of Victorian England only had abortions for selfish reasons, like the ones aforementioned.

The majority of the article touches on cases of abortion where mothers had sick children, deformed children, or severe health risks, mentioning quite a few cases of women in New York.  The article itself was originally written and published in America, but was later republished in London.  The very closing of the article says, “and now I leave it with confidence that He who founded this great nation … will not leave it to self-destruction and moral degradation” (Jackson), meaning that the speaker is confident that God, the founder of the nation / world, will not allow such a sinful act like abortion to continue on in this world.

The article does not take a scientific approach to the topic of abortion, and models the views that would have been accurate for the Victorian time period—especially involving a highly religious view on the matter.  The religious view is not only accurate for this time period, but also stands with a lot of people in the current time period.

 

 

“Victorian London – Sex – Abortion – Opinions.” The Conjugal Relationships as Regards Personal Health & Hereditary Well-being. Victorian London Dictionary.  Web. 14 February 2016.

http://www.victorianlondon.org/sex/infanticide.htm