History of abortion
（重定向自Abortion history）
![Indirect advertisements for abortion services, like these in The New York Sun in 1842, were common during the Victorian era. At the time, abortion was illegal in New York.[1]](/Images/godic/202412/13/Mrs.Bird&MadameCostello-February24,1842NewYorkSun5932.jpg")
![Bas relief at Angkor Wat, c. 1150, depicting a demon performing an abortion upon a woman who has been sent to the underworld.](/Images/godic/202412/13/AngkorWatAbortionAD11505933.JPG")
![Cyrenian coin with an image of silphium, an abortifacient.](/Images/godic/202412/13/Silphium5933.jpg")
![Art from a 13th-century illuminated manuscript features a herbalist preparing a concotion containing pennyroyal for a woman.](/Images/godic/202412/13/Medievalpreg5933.jpg")
The practice of abortion--the medical removal of a fetus--has been known since at least ancient times. Various methods have been used to perform an abortion, including the administration of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and other techniques.