part of the woman and abortion was legal. A husband who demanded his wife have an abortion was acting within social norms. Also he had the right to punish or divorce his wife if she had an abortion without his consent. Several millennia ago population control was rarely a factor. Women were not preoccupied with limiting family size. Instead, abortions were more likely sought to end pregnancies
             resulting from adultery or prostitution (4). The law was clearly unfair to women if the men made their choice to have a child or not.
             The first teachings of the Christian church scarcely mentioned abortion. However, by the end of the first century A.D. the church had proclaimed it a sin. In the fifth century a split developed between the Eastern and Western Catholic churches. While the Eastern church universally condemned abortion, Western Catholic theologians condoned procedures during early stages of pregnancy (4). The Western Catholic church
             shouldn't have condoned abortion in the early stages if they weren't going to overlook it in the later stages. Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, abortion was legal until the moment of quickening. In 1588 Pope Sixtus V called abortion the same as murder and thus subject to the same penalties. Within three years Pope Gregory XVI eliminated any penalties until ensoulment- which was then determined to be about 40 days after conception (5). Pope Gregory XVI shouldn't have changed the law because if you have an abortion which was murder then you should get the same punishment. The law should have stayed the same through history.
             In 1869 Pope Pius IX removed any distinction between formed and unformed fetuses and made the penalty for the sin of abortion excommunication regardless of the stage of fetal development. At about the same time abortion was banned in most of Europe. The decision of Pius IX was reaffirmed in 1917 with publication of the Code of Canon Law (5). The C...