In this country abortion was legal until time of “Quickening”. When the woman could feel the baby kick. About the fourth month.
Even then they knew there was something alive and pardon the pun “kicking”
http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft967nb5z5&chunk.id=d0e195&toc.id=d0e71&brand=ucpress
Thank you for this. It has great theological implications.