The Law of Abortion: Past, Present, Future PDF
Preview The Law of Abortion: Past, Present, Future
The Law of Abortion: Past, Present, Future Julie D. Cantor, MD, JD UCLA School of Law Origins of abortion law Key cases Recent legislation Current litigation Politics, stare decisis Roles for MDs T P : HE AST Origins of Abortion Law History • Law ignored early abortion • Early 1800s: No abortion laws in America • Existing laws followed English common law: abortion before quickening = misdemeanor (at worst) History 1850s - 1900s • Rural/agricultural society → urban/industrial History 1850s - 1900s • Rural/agricultural society → urban/industrial • Abortion deaths • Medicine as a profession • Physicians push for restrictive abortion laws - By or on the advice of a physician - Liable for felony, woman faced possibility of prosecution - Physician efforts “probably the single most important influence” “It must be admitted that, while the majority of these therapeutic abortions were done to preserve the mother’s health, to prolong her life, and to prevent serious and permanent injury, under the direction of at least two practitioners of medicine, the life of the mother was not always threatened imminently.” - W.J. Danneuther, Therapeutic Abortion in the General Hospital, Am. J. Obst. & Gyn., 1946: 52; 54. Doctors, not women, hold the right to decide the necessity of abortion Therapeutic Abortion Boards 1890s 1950s 1960s Sherri Finkbine, 1962 Constitutional Law
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