Herbs & tinctures "to regulate the menses" were advertised in Colonial newspapers. Every time I hear

[Hekate]

…that the most-used method of abortion in the 21st century is Mifepristone, which they “self-manage” at home — okay, long clause, sorry.

But every time I hear that women “self-manage” my mind automatically inserts the phrase from 200-300 years ago: “to regulate the menses.” Because Mifepristone is for very early pregnancies.

My head hurts.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. The anti-choice people seem to think

that no one had abortions before Roe v. Wade. And they are convinced that overturning it will magically result in no abortions. These are the same people who think if you don't tell kids about sex, they won't do it.

[Hekate]

2. Actually they think that abortion was *always* illegal & that it existed in back alleys where...

… bad women and dirty-handed abortionists went, so that the bad women met a well-deserved fate.

In the 20th century there was a thriving adoption trade in healthy white babies that crashed when Roe was passed. That alone should send a message, but the only message the anti-abortion fanatics got was that bad girls and bad women were getting away with something and were not being punished.

All of this shows up in Dobbs. Sam Alito is a medieval *hole, and it shows. He doesn’t mind purveying provable lies to make his point.

[Lettuce Be]

3. There are herbs that can be used, as they bring on the menses, thus flushing the uterus

Which is basically what Mifepristone does (could be wrong). Mifepristone is used for other purposes, including after a miscarriage to ensure nothing is left behind that could cause infection.

Just research which herbs to avoid if you are pregnant and you'll know which work. My guess is this was what was used to "regulate the menses" since once pregnant there is nothing to regulate as the uterus is occupied.

[markie]

6. herbalists know

can be dangerous... I used pennyroyal successfully years ago... use wisely

"It’s an unassuming flower, the pennyroyal, with its small, pointed, lavender petals cupped by deep green leaves. Pennyroyal flowers grow in kusudama-like clusters that thread a single, delicate stem. A cousin to mint, pennyroyal smells good (if a bit overwhelming) and can help keep fleas and mosquitoes at bay. Ingested as a tea or an oil, pennyroyal can hurry along an annoyingly late period. And in high enough doses, the story goes, pennyroyal can allow a pregnant woman to expel the contents of her uterus, inducing an abortion.

Women have used pennyroyal, or other herbal abortifacients such as rue or tansy, to exert some control over their reproductive systems for centuries. There is evidence that women in ancient Greece prepared pennyroyal concoctions as a part of religious rituals, perhaps to prevent unwanted pregnancies.[1] Before safe surgical abortion methods were invented, abortifacients like pennyroyal were one of the few options women had to prevent childbirth after conception had occurred. In times and places where surgical abortions were unavailable, illegal, or taboo, these herbs provided an appealing alternative to other back-alley methods. After all, pennyroyal is just a flower—a spice, a perfume, a decorative bouquet, a cup of tea: how dangerous can it be?

[The Magistrate]

4. Still Being Advertised Well Into the Forties, Ma'am

I have an interest in old pulp magazines and such from between the world wars, and their advertisements are instructive. Nostrums to 'unblock menses' can be found in 'racy' titles aimed at men, and stage and romance titles aimed at women. I've no idea if they worked, mind, but people certainly sent off for them often enough to support the frequent advertisements.

[Hekate]

7. Thank you, Sir. In some ways you are just my kind of scholar, querying not just the headlines...

…but the back matter for insight into the times and the audience.

I learn, I keep learning, and too often since the years leading up to Dobbs it’s with the sinking feeling of “Why didn’t I know that?” I thought I was educated and knowledgeable, and in a way, I really was. Yet over the years at DU I have read some of our members insisting that “We won’t go back,” and they are so very sure that history and everyday knowledge cannot and will not be lost. Whereas I, in my mid-70s, stand testament to centuries of suppressed and therefore lost women’s reproductive history. And Sam Alito stands testament to the power of fanatics to state adamantly and under oath that abortion was “always” illegal and felonious, and that there was never any such thing as women’s reproductive rights because they aren’t rights.

Thank you for adding yet another data point to what I know.

[in2herbs]

5. Name one pharma remedy that does not have its basis in plant medicine. So, if Mifepristone is

banned, re-able it to name the herbs that are the basis for the pharma remedy instead of the listing the pharmaceutical names. This would remove it from FDA oversight and from judicial decisions like this TX A*hole is likely to do.