The Ancient History of Abortion and When it Began

The Ancient History of Abortion and When it Began Abortion is often presented as if it were new, cutting-edge, scientifica product of the modern erawhen it is, in fact, as old as recorded history. Earliest Known Description of Abortion The earliest known description of abortion comes from the Ebers Papyrus (ca. 1550 BCE), an ancient Egyptian medical text drawn, ostensibly, from records dating as far back as the third millennium BCE. The Ebers Papyrus suggests that an abortion can be induced with the use of a plant-fiber tampon coated with a compound that included honey and crushed dates. Later herbal abortifacients included the long-extinct silphium, the most prized medicinal plant of the ancient world, and pennyroyal, which is still sometimes used to induce abortions (but not safely, as it is highly toxic). In Aristophanes Lysistrata, Calonice refers to a young woman as well-cropped, and trimmed, and spruced with pennyroyal.Abortion is never explicitly mentioned in the Bible, but we know that the ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Romans, among others, would have practiced it during their respective eras. The absence of any discussion of abortion in the Bible is conspicuous, and later authorities attempted to close the gap. The Babylonian Talmud (Niddah 23a) suggests a Jewish response, by a Rabbi Meir, that would have been consistent with contemporaneous secular sources permitting abortion during early pregnancy: [A woman] can only abort something in the shape of a stone, and that can only be described as a lump. Chapter two of an early Christian text prohibits all abortion  but does so only within the context of a longer passage that also condemns theft, covetousness, perjury, hypocrisy, and pride. Abortion is never mentioned in the Quran, and later Muslim scholars hold a range of views regarding the morality of the practicesome holding that it is always unacceptable, others holding that it is acceptable up to the 16th week of pregnancy. Earliest Legal Ban on Abortion The earliest legal ban on abortion dates from the 11th-century BCE Code of Assura  and imposes the death penalty on married women who procure abortions without the permission of their husbands. We know that some regions of ancient Greece also had some sort of ban on abortion, because there are fragments of speeches from the ancient Greek lawyer-orator Lysias (445-380 BCE) in which he defends a woman accused of having an abortion. But, much like the Code of Assura, it may have only applied in cases where the husband had not granted permission for the pregnancy to be terminated. The Hippocratic Oath forbade physicians from inducing elective abortions (requiring that physicians vow not give to a woman a pessary to produce abortion), but Aristotle held that abortion was ethical if performed during the first trimester of pregnancy, writing in the Historia Animalium that there is a distinctive change that takes place early in the second trimester: About this period (the ninetieth day) the embryo begins to resolve into distinct parts, it having hitherto consisted of a fleshlike substance without distinction of parts. What is called effluxion is a destruction of the embryo within the first week, while abortion occurs up to the fortieth day; and the greater number of such embryos as perish do so within the space of these forty days. As far as we know, surgical abortion was not common until the end of the 19th century and would have been reckless prior to the invention of the Hegar dilator in 1879, which made dilation-and-curettage (DC) possible. But pharmaceutically-induced abortions, different in function and similar in effect, were extremely common in the ancient world.

Average ACT Score - which one matters to you

Average ACT Score - which one matters to you SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You're probably curious about how you stack up against average ACT scores. But how many types of averages are there, and which averages are important for you? How about the national average ACT score? Or ACT score averages by gender and by ethnicity? We'll discuss official results for all these questions and tell you which ACT average actually matters for your future. What is the ACT average score? That depends on which group of students you're looking at.We'll look at national averages, averages by gender, and averages by ethnicity. Then we'll discuss which average ACT scores actually matter to you. National Average ACT Score The national average for the ACT stays roughly the same from year to year. For the graduating class of 2014, the ACT reported 1,845,787 total test takers. These were the average scores by section, and as a composite score: Composite: 20 English: 19-20 Math: 19-20 Reading: 20-21 Science: 20-21 All scores reported are the 50th-percentile score, meaning half the students scored above this number, and half scored below. If you scored the national average of 20 composite, you have a decent selection of schools that you have a great chance of getting into. If you raise your score by just a few points, this can make a huge difference in the schools that you're likely to get into. Now a few more ACT average scores for curiosity: Average ACT Scores by Gender Students Percent English Mathematics Reading Science Composite Males 856,651 46 20.0 21.4 21.1 21.2 21.1 Females 977,127 53 20.7 20.5 21.5 20.5 20.9 Interestingly, just like the SAT, boys tend to score higher in mathematics and science, while girls score higher in English and reading. Of course, these are national averages - just because you're a particular gender has little influence on the score you'll receive. It's much more up to the individual - if you stay motivated and prep for the ACT, you can earn a high score. Average ACT Scores by Ethnicity When registering for the ACT, the College Board allows students the option to specify their ethnicity. Most students do share their ethnicity, and the ACT has reported average scores across ethnicity: Ethnicity Students Percent English Mathematics Reading Science Composite All Students 1,845,787 20.3 20.9 21.3 20.8 21.0 Black/African American 241,678 13% 15.8 17.2 17.3 17.0 17.0 American Indian/Alaska Native 14,263 0.8% 16.6 18.1 18.4 18.3 18.0 White 1,038,435 56% 22.0 22.0 22.8 22.1 22.3 Hispanic/Latino 281,216 15% 17.7 19.2 19.1 18.8 18.8 Asian 80,370 4% 22.8 24.9 22.8 23.2 23.5 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 5,676 0.3% 17.5 19.2 18.7 18.6 18.6 Two or more races 70,013 4% 20.6 20.9 21.7 21.0 21.2 No response 4,136 6% 20.0 20.7 21.1 20.5 20.7 Once again, take this information with a huge grain of salt. While there are score differences by ethnicity, these are very rough metrics that may not apply to you. Because these are national averages, it ignores the ability of you as an individual to exceeds the average. Just by searching for this information, you're already outperforming doing more than what most students do to learn about the ACT. Now we get to the real question - which average ACT scores actually matter for you? The answer is: Average ACT Scores for Your Target Colleges The average ACT score that you should care about is the average ACT score at the colleges you're planning to apply to. If you're applying to selective colleges like those in the Ivy League, you'll need to score much higher than the national ACT score average of 20. Likewise, if you're applying to local community colleges, you may not need to score as high as 20 on the ACT. Your score target is unique to you, based on the schools you're interested in. We're going to take you through an easy process to figure out what ACT score you need to aim for, based on just 10 minutes of work. Step 1: Download this Worksheet To work through the following steps, we'll be filling out a worksheet for all the schools you're planning to apply to. Click here to download it, or click the image below. I recommend you print it out so that you can write on paper and keep it next to your work space. Step 2: Fill in the schools you want to get into in the first column. Include your reach schools (or schools that you have a smaller chance of getting into). Don't include your "safety schools," or schools that you're 90% sure you'll get into (because you're likely already scoring well enough to get into those schools). If you don't know what schools you're aiming for yet, feel free to use ones that have been suggested to you, or schools that your friends are interested in. I recommend that you take the time to research schools first, though, so that we have a realistic target score. Step 3: For each school, Google for "[name of school] average ACT". For example, if I'm interested in U Alabama, I'll do the following search: Most schools will have an about.com link or the school website, as shown here. Either page will usually list the25th/75th percentile scoresfor current U Alabama students. As a reminder of what this means: 25th percentile means that 25% of the students attending have a score at or below that number (this is below average). 75th percentile means that 75% of students have a score at or below that number. In essence, this covers the middle 50% of all students admitted to U Alabama. If you score at the 75th percentile for any school,you have a great chance at getting in. If you're at the 25th percentile, you'll need to have a strong application to boost your odds of getting in. Fill out the worksheet this way for all the schools on your list. Step 4: Calculate your Final ACT Target Score Finally, take the average of both columns - 25th percentile, and 75th percentile. I recommend that youuse the 75th percentile average as your target score.If you achieve this score through hard work, you'll have a very strong shot at getting into many of the schools on your list. For you, this is what your "Average ACT score" should be. It's unique to you - not the nation at large, and not your state or gender average score. Finally, you should set a target for your score for each section. My suggestion would be to use the composite score for each section. If you're applying to engineering schools or as a science major, your math and science scores can be higher than your other sections. Similarly, if you're applying to liberal arts programs or as a humanities major, your English and Reading scores can be higher. Step 5: Share Your Target Score As a last step, I suggest that you do two things with your score target: Share it with your parents. This will be a helpful conversation around your personal goals and how you want to achieve your target ACT score. Tape it to your wall. This will keep your goal in mind so that you can guide your studying powerfully. What to Do Next: Is the ACT easier than the SAT? Read to learn the details. Get a free guide to improving 4+ ACT points. Find out the best ACT test dates and build your personal testing schedule. Check out our online ACT prep program.We have a 4 point improvement guarantee - if you don't improve your score by 4 points, you get every penny of your money back. Plus, you get a 5-day free trial, so if you don't feel that it's helping you, you can cancel at any time.