Was Frederick Douglass pro life

Answer 1

First, there is no way to retroactively apply 20th and 21st century attitudes (and terminology) to the era in which Frederick Douglass lived. There were no expressions like "pro-life" or "pro-choice" back then; and in fact, abortion was rarely discussed in the early to mid-1800s. There was a reason for this: abortion was legal at that time, and there was little organized opposition to it. It was not encouraged, nor was it banned. It did not occur often, but when it did, it was not a crime. It would not be until much later in that century (circa the 1890s to early 1900s) when some social reformers, church leaders, and medical personnel began to change their attitude about abortion, expressing their doubts about its morality, and trying to make it illegal. As for Frederick Douglass, that was not where his interests were. He was mainly concerned with abolishing slavery, and then, with creating a better life for people of color after emancipation. He was also passionate about women's rights. But the subject of abortion was not one that was commonly talked about by Douglass or by most other people of the early to mid-1800s, so it is difficult to say he was either "pro-life" or "pro-choice."