File:1858AbortionAdReprint.jpg

Summary[edit]

"Dr. Miller's Female Monthly Powders" ad copy reprinted in an 1858 Boston Medical and Surgical Journal article condemning such abortifacient advertising. Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine. [1]

Full copy[edit]

The full text reads:

"Messrs. Editors,— As a new phase of quack advertising has of late presented itself, it may be proper to give it a little consideration. I refer to the practice of advertising drugs for producing abortion. These advertisements have become so villainously common that one can find a weekly newspaper whose columns are free from the nuisance; which, while they recommend abortions in an indirect manner, do not fail to impress upon the minds of the public that miscarriage can be produced, certainly and safely, with drugs! The following will serve as a specimen of the whole class. It is taken from a paper published and extensively circulated in Northern Ohio:—

"'Ladies in want of a pleasant and safe remedy of irregularities, obstructions, &c., should use Dr. Miller's Female Monthly Powders. It has been said that these powders will produce miscarriage. Without admitting the truth of this assertation, I will confess that it is the inevitable consequence of their use during the early months of pregnancy. Therefore ladies who desire an increase of family should not use them. If after this caution any lady in a certain situation should use them, she must hold herself responsible for the abortion which will surely follow. Price $5. Sent by mail to any part of the country.'

"Such notices cannot fail to do evil by familiarizing with the idea that abortion may be produced whenever one does not desire an increase of family, and it is strange that editors and publishers, who claim to be the guardians of the public health and morals, should thus aid in sowing broadcast the seeds of grossest immorality, crime and suffering, and in robbing the public of money and health.

Licensing[edit]

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