Quickening

Medical facts

The first natural sensation of quickening may feel like a light tapping or fluttering. These sensations eventually become stronger and more regular as the pregnancy progresses. Sometimes, the first movements are mis-attributed to gas or hunger pangs.

A woman's uterine muscles, rather than her abdominal muscles, are first to sense fetal motion. Therefore, her body weight usually does not have a substantial effect on when movements are initially perceived. Women who have previously given birth have more relaxed uterine muscles which are more sensitive to fetal motion during subsequent pregnancies. For them fetal motion can sometimes be felt as early as 14 weeks.

Quickening indicates the start of fetal movements, usually felt 14–26 weeks after conception, or between the fourth and sixth month. A woman pregnant for the first time (i.e., a primigravida woman) typically feels fetal movements at about 20–21 weeks, whereas a woman who has given birth at least once will typically feel movements around 18 weeks.

Common law

The study of the early history of common law in the context of the abortion debate presents some challenges. Over the years dedicated scholars have uncovered case law that supports the argument that abortion was considered murder, in at least some cases, even before quickening. However, due to the greater impact of local customs and contested jurisdictions in earlier stages of legal history, the customary origins of the common law are murky, and scholars can point to other cases where abortion was not considered such a serious matter.

The first legal writer to describe abortion of a quick fetus as homicide was Henry de Bracton in the early 13th century:

The fetal right to life post-quickening was recognized by the 18th century British legal scholar William Blackstone as a legally protected right "inherent by nature in every individual". Blackstone wrote that life became a legally protected right "as soon as an infant is able to stir in the mother's womb". Blackstone explained the subject of quickening in the eighteenth century, relative to feticide and abortion:

Blackstone's Commentaries and other widely consulted common law authorities drew a dividing line at quickening analogous to the viability line the Supreme Court attempted to draw in Roe v. Wade.

In England in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, a woman convicted of a capital crime could claim a delay in her execution if she were pregnant; a woman who did so was said to "plead the belly". The law held that no women could be granted a second reprieve from the original sentence on the ground of subsequent pregnancy, even if the fetus had quickened. In Ireland on 16 March 1831 Baron Pennefather in Limerick stated that pregnancy was not alone sufficient for a delay but there had to be quickening.

Notes

References

1. [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Quickening Quickening in Farlex dictionary], in turn citing The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. copyright 2000
2. Bakke, Odd Magne. "When Children Became People: The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity". Fortress Press.
3. Harms, Roger. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=s-7d20ulE8UC&dq=%22Mayo+Clinic%22+and+quickening&pg=PA480 Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy]'', page 480 (HarperCollins 2004). Retrieved 2007-02-15.
4. Van Der Ziel, Cornelia & Tourville, Jacqueline. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jciZAfJWoqsC&dq=quickening+and+%22plus-size%22&pg=RA1-PA70 Big, Beautiful & Pregnant: Expert Advice and Comforting Wisdom for the Expecting Plus-size Woman]'' (Marlowe 2006). Retrieved 2007-02-15.
5. Dine, Ranana. (August 8, 2013). "Scarlet Letters: Getting the History of Abortion and Contraception Right". Center for American Progress.
6. Reagan, Leslie J.. (June 2, 2022). "What Alito Gets Wrong About the History of Abortion in America".
7. Levene, Malcolm et al. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FHXtDkLzOHEC&dq=%22quickening%22+and+obese&pg=RA2-PA8 Essentials of Neonatal Medicine]'' (Blackwell 2000), page 8. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
8. (2007). "To "Bring Down the Flowers": The Cultural Context of Abortion Law in Early Modern England". William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender and Social Justice.
9. Henry de Bracton. (1977). "On the Laws and Customs of England". The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
10. See also Carla Spivack, [https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1042&context=wmjowl To "Bring Down the Flowers": The Cultural Context of Abortion Law in Early Modern England] 14 Wm. & Mary J. Women & L. 107 (2007), 133.
11. ''Blackstone's Commentaries: With Notes of Reference, To the Constitution and Laws, Of the Federal Government of The United States; And of the Commonwealth of Virginia, In Five Volumes''. Book I, Vol. II, Of the Rights of Persons, 130.
12. Blackstone, William. (1979). "[[Commentaries on the Laws of England]]". University of Chicago Press.
13. (1993). "Litigating Morality: American Legal thought and its English Roots". Bloomsbury.
14. Defoe, Daniel. (1722). "Moll Flanders".
15. ''Limerick Evening Post'' and ''Clare Sentinel'', 18 March 1831.