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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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FACT BRIEF

Does the practice of abortion date back thousands of years?

By Austin Tannenbaum
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YES

Historical records show that abortions have been written about and performed for thousands of years.

Citing the textbook "Human Reproductive Biology," ScienceDirect writes, "A work by the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung, 4,600 years ago, contained a recipe to induce abortion using mercury."

Ancient Egyptians also used abortion techniques, which were documented in the "Ebers Papyrus," a medical book written around 1550 B.C.E.

Abortions were recognized in ancient Greece and Rome. The Greek physician Dioscorides wrote about them in "De materia medica," a book about herbal medicine, as did Roman author Pliny the Elder in his encyclopedia "The Natural History."

In Medieval times, monasteries, which doubled as infirmaries, performed abortions. The German Catholic nun Hildegard von Bingen wrote about emmenagogues (menstruation stimulators) and abortifacients (abortion inducers) in her medical texts "Physica" and "Causae et Curae."

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
ScienceDirect Induced Abortion
University of California Berkeley Abortion in the Middle East and North Africa
Encyclopædia Britannica Birth Control: Methods
JSTOR Daily Abortion Remedies from a Medieval Catholic Nun(!)
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Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.