Abortion Doctors And The Law

This book focusses on the evolution of the law and medical practice of abortion in England.

Since Roe v. Wade, abortion has continued to be a divisive political issue in the United States. In contrast, it has remained primarily a medical issue in Britain and Canada despite the countries’ shared heritage. Doctors and Demonstrators looks beyond simplistic cultural or religious explanations to find out why abortion politics and policies differ so dramatically in these otherwise similar countries. Drew Halfmann argues that political institutions are the key. In the United States, federalism, judicial review, and a private health care system contributed to the public definition of abortion as an individual right rather than a medical necessity. Meanwhile, Halfmann explains, the porous structure of American political parties gave pro-choice and pro-life groups the opportunity to move the issue onto the political agenda. A groundbreaking study of the complex legal and political factors behind the evolution of abortion policy, Doctors and Demonstrators will be vital for anyone trying to understand this contentious issue.

The battle for legal abortion in the United States may have been won, but access to safe medical abortions is rapidly narrowing. Some 84 percent of all U.S. counties are now without abortion facilities, and the situation is growing worse. How are we to explain the crisis of abortion access? In Doctors of Conscience, Carole Joffe argues that in addition to the violence and disruption of the anti-abortion movement, the medical community itself must share the blame. Joffe traces the ways mainstream medicine has marginalized abortion even after Roe vs. Wade, by failing to establish needed training and services and by stigmatizing and penalizing doctors who perform abortions. The costs have been high - not only for women with unwanted pregnancies, but also for doctors committed to providing safe medical abortions. Based on in-depth interviews with forty-five physicians who have provided or facilitated abortions, Doctors of Conscience recalls the days before Roe, when emergency rooms were filled with women maimed and infected by botched abortions. Witnessing the desperation of women seeking illegal abortions was a turning point in the careers of many of the doctors interviewed. After Roe, they continued to be haunted by their experiences.

An argument calling for an alternative model for discussing and thinking about individual rights and social responsibility through an investigation of the processes controlling women and reproduction. Kellough (social science, York U.) discusses cultural codes and social organization using the poststructuralist language of feminism, analyzing legal and medical choices and the contradictions inherent between women's personal reality and the patriarchal logic constructing hegemonic frameworks. The volume concludes with an investigation of resistance, particularly focused on the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics. Canadian card order number C95-932843-2. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

'[A]n accessible introduction to models and theories of human nature and how they inform our professional practice' Professional Social Work