Abstract
The practice of medical contraception and that of medically conducted abortion are essentially products of the twentieth century. Historical instances exist of physicians being concerned with the prevention or termination of life-endangering pregnancies, but these tended to be seen as part of desperate efforts to preserve existing lives, and were legally explicable and defensible under the legal doctrine of necessity to save human life. Recourse to contraception and abortion with medical assistance as an element of reproductive choice, designed to enhance the experience of life of women, their dependent children, and, for instance, their dependent parents, is a development of at most recent decades, and in many countries still not a legal possibility. In Canada, for instance, before 1969 the Criminal Code addressed both procuring miscarriage and spreading information about contraceptive methods under the classification of Crimes Against Morality.
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Notes
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Cook, R.J. (1994). Contraception and Abortion: Legal Distinctions and Dynamics. In: Beller, F.K., Weir, R.F. (eds) The Beginning of Human Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8257-5_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8257-5_12
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