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In medical eyes, a fetus is usually incapable of independent life before 20 weeks, thus presenting no murder issue in abortion. In contrast to Catholic doctrine, most other Western religions now view the mother's life as primary. Many Jews accept abortion because they regard a fetus as an organic part of the mother and not as a living soul until its birth. The National Council of Churches has approved hospital abortions "when the health or life of the mother is at stake," and many clergymen broadly define health to mean social as well as physical wellbeing. Last month the nation's Episcopal bishops approved limited legal abortion "with proper safeguards against abuse." The assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association has decried abortion laws as "an affront to human life and dignity."
In a Legal Maze
The central problem of abortion in the U. S. is that it is governed by criminal law rather than medical knowledge. Following English common law, the early U. S. regarded abortion as no crime before the fetus quickens in the womb (about five months); a miscarriage before 20 weeks still generally requires no death certificate or interment. But starting in 1860, many states outlawed abortion before as well as after quickening. New Hampshire, for example, bans hospital abortion before quickening, even to save a dying woman. The legal maze is extraordinary. In 17 states, unjustified abortion is a felony that carries sentences ranging up to 21 years. In some states, the woman herself can be charged (but seldom is) for cooperating in the abortion.
Prosecution is rare: women do not testify. Yet doctors in most states can never forget that the sole defense is proven necessity to save the patient's life. Only seven states even consider her health or safety. Actually, most hospital abortions are performed for admittedly illegal reasons, notably mental illness and German measles (25% of the 1964 total). Unfortunately, fear of the consequences creates vast inequities. To fend off prosecution, special hospital boards often use quotas and render questionable moral judgments.
The inescapable result is that women able to pay fees of $300 to $600 frantically seek illegal abortionists, who seem remarkably available (one middle-class East Coast wife asked five friends, got five names). About 75% of abortionists are doctors, some of them genuine humanitarians. Until he retired a while ago, Dr. Robert Spencer of Ashland, Pa., was considered a saint by thousands of Eastern college girls. Even the police sent him their wives. One New Jersey general practitioner performs 250 abortions a year in his spotless, two-nurse clinic. "Every day I tell myself, This is the last,' " he says. "And every day someone else calls and sounds so frightened and alone. I just can't tell them no."