Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-04-19

lE threatened with utter C0rEupbLOn
and decay. Such is the fact now with
the crime Of infanticide before birth,
OF. more accurately, fBtieide. So gen
eFal and destructive has this crime be-
eoHas as 20 Gauss reasonable alarm, and
at length the silence is broken, and
the doctors Of medicine and divinity
unite IN solemn EenonstrHnee and ap-
peal against its guilt and danger. A
most impressive article on the subject
appears Ia the Boston GongTegational-
igt from tho pen Of Rev. Or. Todd, Of
Pittsaeld. DIR. Morse Stewart, an m
huentiai physician OF Detroit, Mlchl-
gan, has contributed TO the Western
Medical Review, g paper discussing
the physiOlOgical effects Of abortion,
as we'll Is the moral guilt Of the prac-
tice, a1d making startling disclosures
as 20 Its prevalence. and the immense
amount Of disease and death resulting
from it The Uhicago Northwestern
advocate, the leading Methodist pa
per Of that section, Is treating the sub
1ectsWitlI great piatumesg aDd fidelity,
aud there il q general disposition
among the respectable medical jOurn-
ais ard the denOmiuatiOnaI press so to
discuss thsWhOle subject that the crime
shsIl no longer be ignoraHtly commit
ted by their fasdeTs. 1t is work IN
which the secular press may well CO.
operate.
Dr. ssewaRb dsslares that his stat
isGioa. confined By the 0D5gFVatIon Of
physioians, prove that there is no crime
more surely punished IN the PERSONS
of those committing it than that Of
abortion, and that more lives are lost
bVih Ehsu- a6P childbirth Of those
who survive the operation the msjOri-
b. ere made invalid for life by a COM
plioatiau Of incnrable disorders that
break down the constitution and often
pFoaHaa 1nsanity. w hen The attempt
fails. ths child tbat escaped the fate
plotted for 10, and often the succeeding
Children will be deformed, idiotie OF
diseased II Various ways. The crime
fsnsveP safe, and when the evil oOnse-
duenoeg Of the unnatural act are ap-
parentIY eVaded at the tine, they are
certain to be developed later and to
bring terrible retzibUtion upOR the
mother.
There is general Concurrence IN the
OpiniOn thar the pracfiee of abortion
has rapidly increased within few
years until it may be said to be com
NOR DR.. Stewart declares that if ev-
cry mother guilty OF It should be hung
for murder the married women would
be almost =decimated, for ths criminals
are chiefly married women. For the
single woman, deceived and betrayed,
there would seem 90 be some excuse
in resoFting to this means to conceal
her shame The wife, who desires to
escape the pain Of childbirth and the
trouble of rearing offspring, and so
Il nN in
stincts and destroys her unborn chill
dren, cannot satisfy her conscience
with the selfish and cOWardly reasons
which move her to the unnatural
crime
A New York physician states that
there are in that city over four hun
dred professional abcrdonists, most OF
whom do an extensive Business and
some of whom advertise in the leading
papers. There are estabEIs hments for
the purpose adapted to the different
classes. some fitted up luxuriougi9 for
the rich, who pay as high as 5000 For
the service. Besides the pFOfessed
Rbortionists, there are some regular
phvsieians who secretly assist their pa
tienfs b she commission of the crime
at their own homes, and hundreds Of
ignorant quacks, men and women, to
fall into whose hands is almost certain
death, and whose sole recommendation
Is that they do their terrible work
quickly and chsHply. The species ad-
vertised in the metropolitan papers
for causing abortion are generally but
bats and advertisements Of the prac-
tising abortionists, for they almost IN
variabIy fail Of their purpose. while the
directions accompanying them point
to the ablishmenBs where the work
may be surely accomplished. In ad-
diGion to these systematic methods of
procuring abortion, the physicians say
they are called to prescribe for many
women who have attempted the crime
upOn themselves, with such crude
means as were in their power, and these
are some of the worst cases In their re-
suits of sickness aud pain.
Abortion would seldom be practiced
if IL We're felt TO be crime. There is
q prevailing notion that the life of the
human gerI6 is not sacred, that 1t may
be destroyed without guilt at any mo-
ment before it exhibits life, or, indeed,
at any moment previous to birth. Or.
Todd tells Us that Catholic Cbflstlans
are better instructed on this subject
than PFOtGstants. The confessional
guards human life from Its first stage,
and fearful penalties are threatened
alg8Iasa those who interfere with its
natural growth. The Catholic Bishop
OF Boston Bsys on this subject:
The very Instant conception has
taken place, there lies the vital germ
Of & man. True, tits hidden In the
darkness of the womb, and lt Is help
less but has sacred rights, founded
on God's law, and SO much the more
to be respected because it is helpless.
lit may be already 3 living man, for
neither mother nor physicians can tell
when life is infused they can only
tell when its presence is manifested,
and there is q wide difference between
the two things. AtaBy rate, it is from
The first moment potentially man,
with a body and soul destined most
surely By the will of the Creator and
by his law, to be developed into the
fullness of human existence. No one
can prevent that development without
resisting and Rnnulliug one of the most
sacred and important laws established
bv the Divine Author Of the universe,
and be is q criminal, q murderer, who
deals an exterminatiBg blow to the
incipient man, and drives back into
nothingness a being to whom God de-
immortal SOU" j"
DR.. Todd thinks it quite time that
the Protestant Church, through its
pastors and teachers. should bear an
equally decided testimony against the
crime. And there is the more need of
this if, as he asserts, the practice is far
more common among Protestants than
among Catholics. In this fact doubt
less lies fhe explanation, in whole or
in part, of the decline of our Protest
ant population as compared with the
Catholic. 1t is not common to find
more than two or three children in
our Protestant families. and those who
have abundant means for the care and
education of children are more likely
to limit their families BY unnatural
methods than their poorer neighbOrs.
Women In the higher circles Of society
evade the duty Of maternity on the
pFetense that they are too delicate for
If and by that evasion nffan baoouon