Abortions in the Under-Russian Ukraine in the 19th – early 20th centuries: modernization vs. traditional culture

Abstract

The article considers the attitude of the society of the Under-Russian Ukraine of the 19th – early 20th centuries to abortion through the prism of confronting the values of traditional culture with its condemnation of abortion as a sin of infanticide, and new urbanization trends that justified abortion. The growth in the number of abortions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which was a natural consequence of the deformation of the family institution against the background of modernization processes, has been demonstrated. The reasons that pushed women to have an abortion have been analysed. If among rural girls the main reason was the fear of being punished by the community for premarital sex or adultery, becoming an outcast (single mother), etc., among urban residents the material factor dominated (inability to feed a large number of children). At the same time, it was determined why abortions were low popularity among peasant women (strong positions of the Christian doctrine of infanticide, high probability of death during the operation, the dominance of the cult of the mother). Methods of abortion (mechanical and chemical) are given. The criminal liability of women and midwives for miscarriage is shown. The author provides significant statistics on the number of people convicted of criminal abortion not only in the Russian Empire, but also in the world, as well as examples of public struggle for the decriminalization of abortion. Legislation of the Russian Empire in the early twentieth century demonstrates a much more loyal attitude towards women who have resorted to abortion, given the new realities and challenges of the time. The probability of punishment for abortion was low, because, on the one hand, most miscarriages were made voluntarily, and therefore cases were rarely sent to court, except in the case of a woman’s death during surgery, and on the other hand – jurors often acquitted abortions. women and midwives.