Word: edelin
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...CASE OF the Commonwealth v. Kenneth C. Edelin, which the Massachusetts Supreme Court is now considering on appeal, has more to do with the rights of patients than it does with abstract definitions of birth and death. The conviction of Dr. Edelin for manslaughter following an abortion he performed on October 3, 1973 was the triumph of a zealous prosecutor in limiting women's right to abortion. Although stricter legislation on abortion in this state was passed in 1974, the Edelin conviction stands as a grim symbol for women who believe in abortion as a right...
...defense has repeatedly argued, when a 17-year-old woman entered Boston City Hospital in late September 1973 requesting an abortion, Edelin observed the law regarding his practice--as far as the law went. Edelin determined that it was legal for him to perform the abortion after estimating that the fetus was less than 24 weeks old. But there the legal guidelines ended. No laws dictated what sort of abortion Edelin had to perform or what procedure he had to undertake after initial efforts at aborting the fetus failed. When Edelin used a hypodermic needle to penetrate the uterus...
...this would have legally constituted birth, according to the trial judge, James P. Maguire--but he could shout emotionally that "this is the case of a child that was born." Even given his contention that a child had been born, Flanagan could not prove that the alleged human life Edelin ended was "viable." All he could do was to argue against making patients and their doctors "the absolute judge of what the law is in this country." What Flanagan himself would like to do with the abortion law was clear...
Homans argued that Giminez's testimony "established at most circumstantial evidence since he couldn't see what Edelin's fingers were doing...
...Edelin case attracted national attention last year because of the implications it could have for abortions performed in this country