Pity for Evil: Suffrage, Abortion, and Women’s Empowerment in Reconstruction America

After the Civil War, pioneers in women's rights, medical education, and public-private charitable partnerships worked to reduce the incidence of abortion in America by examining it as a structural problem sustained by quack doctors and the unscrupulous press. They provided vulnerable women with resources for "self-extrication" from the depths they had sunk, illuminating the early history of women's rights and abortion in America.

Format: Hardback
Length: 360 pages
Publication date: 21 December 2023
Publisher: Encounter Books,USA

In the years that followed the Civil War, a remarkable coalition of pioneers emerged to address the issue of abortion in America. These individuals, who hailed from the fields of womens rights, womens medical education, and public-private charitable partnerships, brought a unique perspective to the debate. Drawing upon their roots in the abolitionist movement, they approached abortion as a structural problem, akin to their previous critiques of slavery. Abortion, they recognized, was not merely a moral issue but also a consequence of societal and economic factors. They viewed it as a self-evidently evil act perpetuated by quack doctors and unscrupulous press, which profited from its prevalence.

These advocates held deep sympathy for women seeking abortions, recognizing that they had often been deprived of their ability to act freely, rationally, and well in the world, often by external forces. They saw their suffering sisters and felt pity for their physical and moral injuries. Driven by a desire to alleviate their pain, early womens rights advocates worked tirelessly to uplift vulnerable women and provide them with the necessary material and moral resources to escape the depths into which they had fallen.

The authors of this book have approached their subject with a critical eye, delving not only into the public speeches of early womens rights advocates but also into the networks and institutions they built. Through their research, they have unveiled a previously untold story that sheds light on the early history of womens rights and abortion in America. This insightful work provides valuable insights into the complex interplay of social, political, and economic factors that shaped these critical issues during a pivotal period in American history.

Dimension: 228 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781641773393