Abortion, Doctors and the Law: Some Aspects of the Legal Regulation of Abortion in England from 1803 to 1982 (Cambridge Studies in the History of Medicine)

Ranging from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the 1980s, this book focuses on the evolution of the law and medical practice of abortion in England. Little academic attention has hitherto been given to the development and scope of abortion law in England, the formative influence of the medical profession, and the impact of the law on medical practice. Consequently, Dr Keown considers the performance of abortion by doctors, and the influence the medical profession had on the restriction of the law in the nineteenth century and on its relaxation in the twentieth. The book does not deal directly with the legal status of the unborn child, the rights and duties of its parents and of the doctors involved in the provision of abortion or the question of the desirability of reform. Rather, adopting a socio-legal perspective, it considers what the scope of the prohibition of abortion has been and focuses on aspects of professional influence on the evolution of that prohibition, and of professional practice thereunder. The First Statutory Prohibition Of Abortion : Lord Ellenborough's Act 1803 -- Anti-abortion Legislation 1803-1861 And Medical Influence Thereon -- Abortion In Legal Theory And Medical Practice Before 1938 -- The Medical Profession And The Enactment Of The Abortion Act 1967 -- The Abortion Act 1967 And The Performance Of Abortion By The Medical Profession 1968-1982 -- The Reaction Of The Medical Profession To Proposed Restriction Of The Law 1969-1979 -- A Theoretical Overview. John Keown. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 171-205). Ranging from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the 1980s, this book focusses on the evolution of the law and medical practice of abortion in England. Dr Keown considers the performance of abortion by doctors, and the influence the medical profession had on the restriction of the law in the nineteenth century and on its relaxation in the twentieth. This chapter focusses, against the background of the common-law offence of abortion, on the enactment of the first statutory prohibition of abortion in Lord Ellenborough's Act 1803 (43 Geo III c. 58).