When did abortion become illegal throughout much of the United States?

Most states outlawed or restricted abortion during the period 1830-1880.

Before then, abortion in the first months of pregnancy (until “quickening”, or the first perception of fetal movement) was legal throughout most of the country in keeping with colonial common law.

The drive to prohibit abortion came from a variety of sources, including the desire of the medical profession to regulate surgical procedures, concern about falling birth rates, and reaction to the women’s rights movement.

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