SYNOD OF ANCYRA
The Synod was held in Ankara, the current capitol of modern Turkey, and at the time, the provincial Roman capitol of Galatia, The Church leaders wanted to make the punishment more lenient than the lifetime of penance that had previously been required. Abortion was very frequent at the time. Note that the penalty was a religious one that did not curtail the civil freedom of the offending woman. When abortion has been outlawed by law in the last century, the penalties have been much harsher than 10 years of penance.
The Synod of Ancyra was an ecclesiastical council, or synod, convened in Ancyra (modern-day Ankara, the capital of Turkey), the seat of the Roman administration for the province of Galatia, in 314. The season was soon after Easter; the year may be safely deduced from the fact that the first nine canons are intended to repair havoc wreaked in the church by persecution, which ceased after the overthrow of Maximinus II in 313. Only about a dozen bishops were present, nonetheless representing nearly every part of Syria and Asia Minor. Either Vitalis, Bishop of Antioch, or Marcellus of Ancyra presided, and possibly both were present, although the Libellus Synodicus, also known as the Synodicon Vetus, assigns to the latter.
