The voluntary interruption of pregnancy – carried out now by means of the history of obstetrical and gynaecological medicine, whose most significant exponent, Soranus of Ephesus, active in the Trajan’s and Hadrian’s Age, reveals in fact a particular and refined predisposition to distinguish clearly between procured abortion, determined by family, social and economic causes, and therapeutic abortion, understood as a precautionary and preventive measure aimed at safeguarding the physical integrity of the pregnant woman in the event of a pregnancy at risk. various and often abrupt external stimuli, now by means of dangerous abortifacient drugs, and now even by means of an actual ‘demolishing’ surgical intervention – has been the subject of in-depth analysis both in its implications with Christian morality and from the point of view of the Roman law thought elaborated between the reign of Hadrian and that of Justinian, while it does not seem to me that this ‘sensitive’ theme has received as much attention in the perspective of
L’interruzione volontaria della gravidanza – effettuata ora mediante svariate e spesso brusche sollecitazioni esterne ora per mezzo di pericolosi farmaci abortivi ora addirittura attraverso un vero e proprio intervento chirurgico ‘demolitivo’ – è stata oggetto di approfondita analisi sia nelle sue implicazioni con la morale cristiana sia dal punto di vista del pensiero giusromanistico elaborato fra il regno di Adriano e quello di Giustiniano, mentre non mi sembra che questo tema ‘sensibile’ abbia ricevuto altrettanta attenzione nella prospettiva della storia della medicina ostetrica e ginecologica, il cui esponente più significativo, Sorano di Efeso, attivo in età traianeo-adrianea, rivela in effetti una particolare e raffinata predisposizione a distinguere nettamente fra aborto procurato, determinato da cause familiari, sociali ed economiche, e aborto terapeutico, inteso come misura cautelativa e preventiva finalizzata a salvaguardare l’integrità fisica della gestante in caso di gravidanza a rischio.
Non la fede né il diritto: ‘etica’ dell’aborto in Sorano di Efeso
Gaetano Arena
2025-01-01
Abstract
The voluntary interruption of pregnancy – carried out now by means of the history of obstetrical and gynaecological medicine, whose most significant exponent, Soranus of Ephesus, active in the Trajan’s and Hadrian’s Age, reveals in fact a particular and refined predisposition to distinguish clearly between procured abortion, determined by family, social and economic causes, and therapeutic abortion, understood as a precautionary and preventive measure aimed at safeguarding the physical integrity of the pregnant woman in the event of a pregnancy at risk. various and often abrupt external stimuli, now by means of dangerous abortifacient drugs, and now even by means of an actual ‘demolishing’ surgical intervention – has been the subject of in-depth analysis both in its implications with Christian morality and from the point of view of the Roman law thought elaborated between the reign of Hadrian and that of Justinian, while it does not seem to me that this ‘sensitive’ theme has received as much attention in the perspective ofI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.