[Albion Wilde]

" 'Thou shall not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born.' (19.5) The latter phrase refers to the ancient Greek and Roman practice of abandoning newborns to die in unpopulated areas if the baby was the 'wrong' sex or suspected of health problems. "

Just a side note here regarding that practice of "exposing" unwanted infants to the elements, or leaving them at temples or church steps at night. Some died; some were found and nurtured, or made slaves. The ones saved by priestesses or nuns were sometimes given the surname "Esposito" (exposed) on their birth records; others came to be known by the name "Schiavo", which means "slave."

[TheFourthMagi]

That practice was rampant and one of the great contributions of the early Christian church was to take care of those little ones.

[AnAmericanMother]

Believe it or not, this practice continued into the eighteenth century, with unwanted infants in London being left on the steps of the Temple Church, on the border between the Inner and the Middle Temple (two of the Inns of Court). Babies so left were given the surname "Temple".

It's a very cool church, for one thing it's round. For another it isn't on a street - it's down a maze of alleys and courtyards, no vehicular traffic. Oliver Goldsmith is buried in the courtyard next to the altar end.