Medication Abortion is Nothing New

Self-managed abortion may seem to be relatively new, but an archaeological dig has turned up proof in a 19th-century outhouse that middle-class American women were self-inducing abortion with pills even 150 years ago. While digging out the outhouse of a family home in upstate New York, archaeologists uncovered fetal bones and an empty bottle of "Sir James Clarke's Female Pills," one of many drugs sold by mail in the mid-1800s to "regulate the menstrual period." Clarke's Female Pills in particular were made with savin, an herb known to cause miscarriage.

Medicine has improved dramatically since then, of course — the abortion pill (misoprostol and mifepristone) is so safe and effective that the World Health Organization considers it an essential drug. But the women of the 1860s would obviously understand wanting to take it in the privacy and comfort of your own home.

To get 21st century information about self-managed abortion with pills, visit AbortionPillInfo.com.