Since prehistorical era, the human has desired to control reproduction artificially. However, abortion, one of the productive methods has been prohibited to a certain degree by law in some countries, but the operation of abortion has been done in practice. Also, controversial arguments on legitimacy of abortion have been raised. In Korea, physicians operates abortions more than 2 million times each year. In spite of serious social problems, arguments on abortion have not been common yet. The efforts to find a good solution for abortion have not been very sufficient. Therefore, this study is to investigate the concerns for the conditions of abortion since 1945 (this year is the independent one from Japan's government) through a historical perspective and to suggest the efficient direction in policy. Since 1945, many women have had no choice but abortion for their basic life. The Korean government of legislated the Crimes of Abortion in Criminal Law in 1953. However, the number of women who underwent abortion increased since 1962 due to the governmental Family Planning Policy. In addition, the Mother and Fatherless Child Health Act was enacted in 1973 that tolerated abortion to some extent. The disparate treatment of abortion between Criminal Law and the governmental policy fueled the confusion to potentially pregnant women. The first reason why Korean women choose abortion is wrongful pregnancy. Compared to other countries, in Korea, abortion were operated for sex selection. To conclude, it is important to be implement positive sex education, proper contraception education by government and social publicization of arguments on abortion.
Abortion, Induced/*history ; English Abstract ; History of Medicine, 20th Cent. ; History of Medicine, 21st Cent. ; Korea ; Public Health Practice/*history

This paper aimed to examine the debate over the fertility decline in the German Empire, focusing on the role of the SPD. During the German Empire, the fertility rate dramatically declined and the growing awareness of a continuous decline in the birth rate prompted a massive debate among politicians, doctors, sociologists, and feminist activists. The fertility decline was negatively evaluated and generated consciousness of crisis. However, it was not the only way to face this new phenomenon. Indeed, the use of birth control among the upper class was interpreted as a part of a modernizing process. As the same phenomenon reached the working class, it suddenly became a social problem and was attributed to the SPD. The debate over the fertility decline in imperial German society ridden with a fierce class conflict was developed into a weapon against the SPD. Contrary to the assumption of conservative politicians, the SPD had no clear-cut position on this issue. Except for a few politicians like Kautsky and the doctors who came into frequent contact with the workers, the "birth strike" was not listed as the main interest of the SPD. Even Clara Zetkin, the leader of the Social Democratic women's organization viewed it as a concern of the individual person which could not be incorporated in the party program. The women's organization of the SPD put priority on class conflict rather than issues specific to women. As a result, the debate over the birth rate decline within the SPD was not led by the women themselves. There could have been various means to stimulate the birth rate. Improvement in the welfare system, such as tax relief for large families, better housing conditions, and substantial maternity protection, could have been feasible solutions to the demographic crisis. However, Germany chose to respond to this crisis by imposing legal sanctions against birth control. In addition to paragraphs 218-220 of the German criminal law enacted in 1872 which prescribed penal servitude for anyone who had an abortion or people who helped to practice it, Paragraph 184.3 of the civil code was enacted in order to outlaw the advertising, display, and publicizing of contraceptives with an 'indecent' intention, although selling or manufacturing contraceptives was not forbidden. Such a punitive approach was especially preferred by the government and conservative parties because it was easy to implement and "cheap" in comparison with the comprehensive social welfare program. What made the SPD different from other conservative parties was the fact that the SPD opposed the government's attempt to prohibit contraception by means of strengthening a penal code. According to the SPD, it was not only morally unacceptable, but also technically impossible for the government to intervene in family limitation. Moreover, politicians from the SPD criticized that such a punitive policy targeted the working class because the upper echelon of the society could easily evade the ban on contraceptives. However, the SPD did not proceed to draft comprehensive social welfare measures in order to fight the fertility decline. The miserable condition of working class women remained as an invisible social phenomenon even within the SPD. The German women who could not find the proper means to practice contraception were driven to have abortions. Annually, hundreds of the women were accused of practicing abortion and imprisoned. In sum, German society ran about in confusion and did not know how to properly respond to the unprecedented decline in fertility. By defining the fertility decline just as a social disease due to moral decay and influence of socialism, German society lost a chance to rationalize itself. Given that women, the main actors, had no way to take part in the debate over this issue, it is not surprising that German society fought against the symptom of the disease, not against its root.
Abortion, Induced/history/legislation & jurisprudence ; *Birth Rate ; Contraception/history ; Family Planning Policy/*history ; Female ; Germany ; History, 19th Century ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Politics ; Social Welfare/economics/history

Brucellosis is the most important bacterial disease of livestock in Bangladesh. The present study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of brucellosis in goat and sheep in Mymensingh and Bogra districts of Bangladesh using slow agglutination test and Rose Bengal test as screening test and indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay as confirmatory test. Questionnaire based data on age, gender, area, client's complaint, number of animals in herds, disease history, reproductive problems such as abnormal uterine discharge, abortion or previous abortion in sheep and goat and their reproductive diseases were recorded. A total of 200 sera samples were collected from 80 sheep and 120 goats. The prevalence of brucellosis in goat was 2.50% and 1.25% in sheep. Positive reactors were only detected in female of both goat and sheep. In this study, there existed a significant association among abortion and the prevalence of brucellosis (p < 0.01). The prevalence of brucellosis in sheep and goat in Bangladesh is not negligible, and it is therefore worth considering the adoption of preventive measures.
Abortion, Induced ; Adoption ; Agglutination Tests ; Animals ; Bangladesh ; Brucellosis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Goats ; Humans ; Livestock ; Mass Screening ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Reproductive History ; Rose Bengal ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Sheep