by Brian Johnston (Author)
On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court released two, interlocked abortion decisions overturning the laws of all 50 states. Only one, Roe v. Wade, tends to get much media attention, and it is popularly said that it grants a 'woman's right to choose'. But Justice Blackmun is in several places quite adamant: though it had been explicitly sought, he was not granting a women the 'right to choose.' In Doe v Bolton, the second and often unexamined, companion decision, Blackmun is explicit. The right he is granting is to the doctor. There is to be no cloud of prosecution. The 'freedom to choose' was granted to the physician. For the first time in Western Civilization the doctor was no longer constrained by the oath to 'never harm' another human being; the doctor was free to kill. Medical ethics has never been the same and the repercussions are still being felt.