Abortion Regimes

The regulations of abortion through legal controls have always been a problematic issue. This book places abortion in the context of reproductive medicine and explores the medicalization of abortion and the ethos of professionalism. Although the forms of legal regulation vary throughout western jurisdictions, the constant and most influential factor underlying these laws is the power of the medical profession. The medicalization of abortion has largely removed abortion from the public arena and has buried the issue under the cloak of medical autonomy. This book considers historical and contemporary issues surrounding the evolution of abortion law and speculates on future directions in abortion law and policy.