The Dark History of Abortion: Women Threatened by Death and Punishment
Abortion has not always been a legal medical procedure; throughout history, it has often been criminalized and violently punished. The harrowing story of women like Anna Harding highlights this grim reality, where providing reproductive care could lead to torture and execution.
In the early 17th century, Anna Harding, a healer in the German town of Eichstätt, faced severe repercussions for her knowledge and services related to reproductive health. Born in Swabia and widowed for several years, Harding treated women seeking assistance with their menstrual cycles and provided remedies that, in some cases, led to abortion.
Traditional Practices and Herbal Remedies
During her trial in 1618, Harding detailed the herbal concoctions she used, which included alamander, muselblue, and galgans. While not all these plants can be definitively identified today, it’s reported that “alamander” refers to a wildflower known as an abortifacient since ancient times. “Galgans” likely relates to a spice used similarly in other regions, while the exact nature of “muselblue” remains uncertain.
Harding’s clients included unmarried women who sought her help to terminate unwanted pregnancies discreetly. For instance, a woman named Maria Mayr turned to Harding for assistance, enabling her to eventually marry without societal shame. Additionally, married women like Eva, the wife of a butcher, sought assistance to manipulate their reproductive lives.
Changing Legal Landscapes
By the time of Harding’s interrogation, the regulations surrounding abortion had dramatically shifted due to the Protestant Reformation, which emphasized the sanctity of marriage and enacted stricter penalties against extramarital sexual relations. Abortion began to be treated as a capital offense in many regions, with harsh outcomes for women found guilty of providing or obtaining the procedure.
Abortion was now a capital crime in some places; women could be—and were—executed for either providing or getting an abortion.
As a result, legal measures intended to control women’s reproductive choices increasingly targeted those deemed guilty of illicit sexual behavior, particularly unmarried women. However, married women were not exempt from prosecution either, as demonstrated by cases in which an older woman faced charges for aiding her daughter.
A Society in Turmoil
The 16th century also witnessed a wave of witch trials across Europe, with many women like Harding caught in the crosshairs of these societal panics. For instance, witch commissioners interrogated Harding using questions that delved into her personal life, often implying a connection between her practices and demonic influences. Witnessing the fallout of numerous witch trials, Harding faced grave dangers.
Despite her steadfast denial of any wrongdoing, Harding’s confessions were coerced under torture. Ultimately, she was convicted of witchcraft and executed by burning in 1618. This alarming end shows how ordinary healing practices, viewed with misogyny and fear, were twisted into accusations of witchcraft.
Abortion and Its Enduring Legacy
Harding’s tragic fate reveals the broader social forces that shaped reproductive restrictions during her time—religious reformations, warfare, and deeply rooted misogyny drove home the persecution of women for their reproductive choices. Yet even in this hostile environment, knowledge about abortion-inducing plants endured, passed discreetly from woman to woman.
As history progressed, the network of herbal knowledge and healing practices around abortion traveled beyond Europe through colonization and cultural exchange, intertwining with Indigenous and enslaved women’s practices across the globe. These threads of history remind us of the resilience of women in the face of oppression and highlight the complex narrative surrounding women’s reproductive rights.
