Abortion Policy: An Evaluation of the Consequences for Maternal and Infant Health

In the first study of its kind, Jerome Legge provides a reasoned and dispassionate summary of the procedures and effects of abortion. The ethics of abortion have been widely discussed by philosophers, social scientists, and health professionals. Until now, however, little has been devoted to the results of various abortion policy changes. Legge examines the effects of abortion policy changes on maternal and infant health in the United States, Great Britain, and Eastern Europe. He looks at both liberal and restrictive abortion policies, demonstrating the importance of historical and cultural context on the outcome of policy changes. Abortion Policy makes available the latest research in the field. It addresses many of the questions evaded in the moral debate on abortion: Have legal abortions lowered the overall number of abortion deaths? Has maternal health improved for society as a whole? Has infant and fetal mortality been reduced? How and to what extent does abortion policy interact with other societal interventions such as health spending and contraception?