When Abortion Was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United States, 1867-1973

Format: Paperback Language: English ISBN: 0520216571 ISBN13: 9780520216570 Release Date: September 1998 Publisher: University of California Press Length: 400 Pages Weight: 1.24 lbs. Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9" As we approach the thirtieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, it's crucial to look back to the time when abortion was illegal. Leslie J. Reagan traces the practice and policing of abortion, which although illegal was nonetheless widely available, but always with threats for both doctor and patient. In a time when many young women don't even know that there was a period when abortion was a crime, this work offers chilling and vital lessons of importance to everyone. The linking of the words "abortion" and "crime" emphasizes the difficult and painful history that is the focus of Reagan's important book. Her study is the first to examine the entire period during which abortion was illegal in the United States, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century and ending w