The New England Medical Gazette Volume 44 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1909 Excerpt: ...menstruated on time and considers it no crime because the doctor has told her that the child has as yet no form. In this class of cases we must take the time to thoroughly explain that life begins with the fertilization of the ovum and conception with its fixation, that there is no period from the beginning to the end of a normal pregnancy when the products of conception may be interfered with, except to save the life of the mother, without a crime being committed. Physicians should ever be the persistent and active foes of unnecessary abortion. Prof. Pinard says, "From the moment a child is conceived no one has the right to hinder its development; the obstetrician is everywhere and always bound to protect it as well as its mother." When, then, in the performance of our duties as phvsicians, shall we be justified in emptying the uterus of the products of.conception? In my endeavor to answer this difficult question I shall not try so much to present the opinions of the latest authorities, as content myself with laying before you some of the conclusions I have reached, and a few of my methods of action in these matters. It is held in common by the great majority of medical practitioners and in perfect accord with the statutes of most of the states, that one is justified in removing the products of conception when because of the presence of the foetus a woman's life is.endangered. To do so early in pregnancy, before such time as the child would be viable, must necessarily result in the death of the offspring, but this taking of the life of the foetus should not cause the physician to shirk his duty and thus prevent his saving the life of the mother, for otherwise not only will her life be lost, but the death of the foetus is also inevitable. True, ma...