ABSTRACT
The termination of a pregnancy by any means was punishable as a felony in Victorian Britain. Despite the illegality and the difficulty of procuring a safe or effective abortifacient, women clearly regarded abortion as an acceptable means of fertility control. Traditional methods adopted by Victorian women included herbal remedies, such as tansy, squill, ergot, and pennyroyal, as well as hot baths and vigorous exercise. More dangerous practices involved the use of knitting needles or other sharp instruments to induce miscarriages. By the end of the century, working-class women in the Midlands had begun using white lead as an abortifacient. While lead was easy to obtain and effective if taken in large enough quantities, it had serious and sometimes lethal side effects.
