Illegal operation (euphemism)

[10] Some feminists and midwives argue that "the era of dangerous, illicit abortion was a blip in history, less than 100 years," during which the criminalization itself meaningfully increased the physical risks to women.

[14] A 1937 New Zealand government study found induced abortion to be "exceedingly common" and estimated that approximately 6,000 were performed annually, 4,000 of which were done, in one way or another, "criminally.

[6] In the U.S., the Comstock laws (which specifically prohibited selling or shipping "articles or medicines for the prevention of conception or procuring of abortion," along with a laundry list of other sexual material) led to heavy censorship across mass media.

"[17] One Australian history described pre-legalization abortion as "the thing that had no name, that was known only as 'an illegal operation', 'tampering with the womb', 'a certain event', 'being interfered with' or 'bringing the courses on.

'"[18] "Illegal operation" could arguably describe any number of prohibited practices but was readily understood by the general public as specifically meaning induced abortion.

A survey of late-1920s New York City tabloid articles mentioning "illegal operation" found that they "consistently linked abortion to horrible consequences…these sampled sensational newspapers seemed to be sending a message that abortionists were immoral liars whose practice was filled with greed, fraud and abuse of women.

"[6] A historian studying deaths from illegal abortion in Washington state reported, "The news focused mostly on arrests, trials, and punishment, saying little about the victims, and never raising the issue of why these women were driven to take such risks.

"Illegal operation" was typically deployed by news writers after the deed was done; classified advertisements also offered abortion services thinly disguised by euphemism.

"[39][40] A 1942 Michigan Supreme Court decision referenced the widely acknowledged meaning of the intentionally-opaque euphemistic terms associated with abortion:[41] This claim is based upon the statement alleged to have been made by the declarant, as testified to by her mother, 'She said that she had had a criminal operation…asked her who did it.

"[4][42] While the modern understanding of the word operation implies the use of surgical implements and cutting, in 1928 one Michigan doctor who pleaded guilty to the charges against him made a point to tell the judge, "There was no instrument used.

[54] The 1968 Michael Crichton novel, A Case of Need, written under the pseudonym Jeffrey Hudson, is about criminal abortion in Boston and includes the line, "The trouble with this country…is that the women have no guts.