In an effort to dehumanize preborn babies to justify the morality of abortion, modern pro-abortion rhetoric argues that fetuses are just “a clump of cells”. However, just 60 years ago, the general understanding of life in the womb was much different.
In 1965, LIFE magazine published a landmark photo essay showcasing “the drama of life before birth”. The series of photos by Lennart Nilsson featured fetuses at various stages of growth. For the first time in history, we had a window into the amazing process of fetal development. Seeing preborn babies up close, in such detail, revealed the humanity of preborn babies and enthralled people across the globe.
California law used to recognize the personhood of babies in the womb. A law enacted in 1850 made abortion illegal except when performed to save the mother’s life. Unfortunately, a mere two years after the eye-opening LIFE article, abortion was made legal in California. The 1967 Therapeutic Abortion Act expanded legal abortions to include those performed because pregnancy would “gravely impair the physical or mental health” of the mother. Since then, abortion has become increasingly accessible in the state. In less than two centuries, we went from protecting life to being a “safe haven” for abortion access.
This is a timeline of how abortion laws in California have changed over time:
- 1850: California law made it a crime to perform an abortion, with the exception of when a physician performed it to save the mother’s life.
- 1900: Abortion was banned in California.
- 1953: California law allowed minors to receive medical care for a pregnancy without parental consent.
- 1962: California adopted a version of the American Law Institute’s model penal code, which allowed physicians to perform abortions in certain circumstances.
- 1967: California enacted the “Therapeutic Abortion Act”, which allowed physicians to perform abortions in hospitals up to the 21st week of pregnancy in certain circumstances.
- 1969: California’s highest court recognized abortion rights under the California Constitution.
- 1973: Abortion was nationally decriminalized.
- 2002: California law guaranteed women the right to have an abortion before fetal viability, or when necessary to protect the woman’s life or health.
- 2022: Californians approved Prop 1, which added abortion and contraception rights to the state constitution.
The science was clear 60 years ago. Back then, we already had photographic evidence of how the preborn baby is so much more than just a “clump of cells”. The state’s understanding of life has gone from scientifically proven in 1965 to fiction in 2025. What can we do to help our communities return to a scientific understanding of fetal personhood?
- Talk about it with your friends and family, especially with the younger generation. Show them the pictures from the 1965 LIFE article and share facts about fetal development.
- Invite the Pregnancy Help Center to your church, school, youth group or organization to speak about life and how to support women facing unplanned pregnancies.
- Support the Center in our efforts to help our clients recognize and embrace the precious life growing within them.