# A Serious Q for the Women - May be squicky for some **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510 "2010-07-13T08:42:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/21 "2010-07-13T14:42:22Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Having read [Dr. Dan Sloan’s](http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1309629/the_making_of_an_abortion_doctor.html?cat=9) book about perorming illegal abortions pre-Roe v. Wade, I learned that Dr. Sloan started doiing this after seeing women come into the mergency room suffering from the effects of do-it-yourself abortions. A popular technique was douching with Lysol :eek:! Interesting. I’m familiar with Lysol douches being touted for [general](http://chawedrosin.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/lysol-ad-2.jpg) [feminine](http://www.maudnewton.com/images/20060913_lysol_feminine_hygiene.jpg) [hygiene](http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/images/2007/06/06/lysol_douche.jpg) (that “not-so-fresh” feeling) and also as a contraceptive - [this link](http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featmclaren_180.shtml) notes: > [@](#): > > Lysol offered booklets explaining “What feminine hygiene really is” for those not astute enough to realize that the repeated claims to “kill germs” were meant to be read as “kill sperm.” …but I’ve never heard it suggested as an abortifactant. ETA: As **kapri** said, my mother could barely provide me with the basic facts of reproduction, and as an upstanding Christian woman, would never have given me any information on how to have an abortion, even if she knew. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/22 "2010-07-13T14:50:16Z")
Yep. Dr. Sloan wrote that after a while he could identify the smell od a Lysol attempted abortion. It turned the organs black, and they used a baking soda douche to neutralize it. Obviously, the woman suffered great pain and organ damage. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/23 "2010-07-13T15:08:25Z")
The thing is, pretty much any herbal abortifacent, as far as I’ve heard, works by making you so sick your body decides to jettison the baby. It’s like chemo - it’s a game of chicken where you see if the cancer gets poisoned before you do. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/24 "2010-07-13T15:14:18Z")
As late as 1979 Lysol had on its label instructions for douching, possibly even later, but that’s when I first saw it. It was something like a tablespoon of Lysol per quart of water. I would read it again and again at the variety store because I couldn’t believe it. It was like finding out Lysol was made by Dr. Bronner or something. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/25 "2010-07-13T21:14:46Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > **Gyrate** named the herb that comes directly to mind for me; I think there might have been others but that’s the only one I recall at the moment. [Ergot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot)of rye is another I’ve heard of, anecdotally a more extreme measure when the pregnancy is too far advanced for pennyroyal. Side effects can include, erm, dying, as well as nausea, seizures, gangrene and limb loss… ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/26 "2010-07-13T21:50:01Z")
I’ve seen historical advertisements for pills and potions for ‘female problems’ in old-timey newspapers. They were rather vague as to what those problems might be, but I guess underground word went around - probably just quackery. I once read an article by a doctor in recent times, concerning a girl (illegal alien, no English) who swallowed pennyroyal and was brought in gushing blood from her ears, eyes, nose, mouth, vagina, and rectum. Don’t know if it worked, but she died before they could find out what it was she took. No, I’ve never heard of any old family secret for getting out of a fix. Jumping up and down, throwing yourself down the stairs, beating, starving, douching, inserting knitting needles, and swallowing poisons have all been tried. If it was men who got pregnant, there would be no pooh-pahing around. There would be clinics in every town. Maybe next door to every oil change place. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/27 "2010-07-13T22:03:12Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > As late as 1979 Lysol had on its label instructions for douching, possibly even later, but that’s when I first saw it. It was something like a tablespoon of Lysol per quart of water. I would read it again and again at the variety store because I couldn’t believe it. It was like finding out Lysol was made by Dr. Bronner or something. All one or none! All one or none! ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/28 "2010-07-13T22:05:45Z")
I’m aware of a method described as using a doubled length of boiled string (or cord). However, I have no idea how it was supposed to work, and anyway, I didn’t hear this from my mother or grandmother, and I’m not a woman. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/29 "2010-07-13T22:13:10Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > People used to drink gin and take hot baths, I guess. And a few years ago there was a case in town where some girl paid a guy a bunch of money to punch her in the stomach. So there’s that. Being pushed down the stairs works sometimes too, but hardly qualifies as “safe” or “effective.” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/30 "2010-07-13T23:38:20Z")
I used to hear of camel drivers who would supposedly put an apricot pit in the camel’s uterus to prevent pregnancy, like an IUD. I have no idea if this really occurred or not. But it makes me wonder if inserting something (sterilized first) into a woman’s uterus could cause a miscarriage, or would it just end up causing an infection and killing her? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/31 "2010-07-13T23:49:02Z")
I read about a pennyroyal method, not involving ingestion, but to rub the essential oil on the bottoms of the feet. It was in a book on herbs and their uses I bought maybe 10 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/32 "2010-07-13T23:51:42Z")
I could have sworn that Cecil devoted an entire column (in the past 10 years or so) to a herb that women of the Roman Empire era used for abortion—I can’t recall the details of his findings, but if I recall, maybe the plant is now extinct, due to over-harvesting… Anyone else remember that one? ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/33 "2010-07-14T00:21:53Z")
I remember warnings about herbs like either Black or Blue Cohosh…? I also knew about the taking extra birth control - like the morning after pill - but really only effective if taken in time. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/34 "2010-07-14T00:22:14Z")
For those who think that, for 1000’s of years, women ALWAYS just said “oh well” when faced with a socially and financially ruinious pregnancy: Hippocratic Oath: “…and in like manner I will not give to a woman a pessary to produce abortion…” Since you probably do not forswear the impossible, I suspect that even old Hippcrates knew a couple. And, for the internet age, see “abortifacient”. Yes, these chemical/herbal solutions forced miscarriages - I doubt that all came down to forcing the body to dump the embryo in order to survive. Try quinine water by mouth and hot bath until you get a little red spot - the proper Southern ladies’ solution. The town pharmacist knew who was knocked up by who suddenly had urgent need for quinine. I can’t believe adults would find it impossible to believe that such a serious problem as an unwanted pregnancy would have never been solved. By anyone. Anywhere. Do people no longer think for themselves? Do we watch TV and call doing so “life”? For the sake of your gods, get off your intellectual butts and start thinking for yourselves! Don’t expect some “expert” to do all your thinking for you! ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/35 "2010-07-14T00:27:00Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I could have sworn that Cecil devoted an entire column (in the past 10 years or so) to a herb that women of the Roman Empire era used for abortion—I can’t recall the details of his findings, but if I recall, maybe the plant is now extinct, due to over-harvesting… > > Anyone else remember that one? [Here it is](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2676/did-the-ancient-romans-use-a-natural-herb-for-birth-control). It references birth control more than abortion, and the specific herb referred to is silphium, which has attained a sort of mythical status because it was common in Roman times and is now extinct. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/36 "2010-07-14T00:28:48Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > [Here it is](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2676/did-the-ancient-romans-use-a-natural-herb-for-birth-control). It references birth control more than abortion, and the specific herb referred to is silphium, which has attained a sort of mythical status because it was common in Roman times and is now extinct. Thank you… ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/37 "2010-07-14T00:29:56Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Do people no longer think for themselves? Do we watch TV and call doing so “life”? > For the sake of your gods, get off your intellectual butts and start thinking for yourselves! Don’t expect some “expert” to do all your thinking for you! Just out of idle curiousity, what the mollyfock are you talking about?!? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/38 "2010-07-14T00:36:29Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I can’t believe adults would find it impossible to believe that such a serious problem as an unwanted pregnancy would have never been solved. By anyone. Anywhere. Solved, yes, but solved reliably and safely? Maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/39 "2010-07-14T00:43:04Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Try quinine water by mouth and hot bath until you get a little red spot - the proper Southern ladies’ solution. Wikipedia cites a PubMed article, “Use of quinine for self-induced abortion” (interestingly, it’s from The Southern Medical Journal): > [@](#): > > Despite popular belief, quinine is an ineffective abortifacient (in the US, quinine is listed as Pregnancy category D). Pregnant women who take toxic doses of quinine will suffer from renal failure before experiencing any kind of quinine-induced abortion. The problem may have been _treated_ prior to the advent of modern surgical abortion, but it was never _solved_. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510/40 "2010-07-14T00:55:53Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Do you know of a means (NOT mechanical - no instruments used) to abort? I’ve heard of all kinds of things, but none that could be called especially safe or reliable. Like most of the other posters have been saying, non “mechanical” methods include ingesting any number of dangerous substances or violently injuring the pregnant woman badly enough that she miscarries. > [@](#): > > \*Did you learn this from your mother or other significant woman in your development? \*I wasn’t even born until after Roe v. Wade, so there never would have been any reason for my mother to tell me about home abortion methods. I can’t remember her ever telling me anything about obtaining a surgical abortion either, come to think of it. I knew they were available, though. My knowledge of home abortion methods comes almost entirely from novels and movies. > [@](#): > > \*Have you told your daughters (and, possibly just as important, your sons) about this? \*If I had kids the only thing I’d ever tell them about home abortions would be to never, EVER attempt anything of the sort. We have legal abortions in this country for a reason. I don’t need my children or my children’s girlfriends bleeding to death or poisoning themselves when it’s possible to obtain a safe abortion from a qualified medical professional. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-serious-q-for-the-women-may-be-squicky-for-some/546510.md?page=3)