About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

14 N. Y. L. F. 411 (1968)
The Law of New York Concerning Abortion and the Status of the Foetus, 1664-1968: A Case of Cessation of Constitutionality

handle is hein.journals/nyls14 and id is 433 raw text is: NEW YORK LAW FORUM VOLUME XIV FALL, 1968 NUMER 3 THE LAW OF NEW YORK CONCERNING ABORTION AND THE STATUS OF THE FOETUS, 1664-1968: A CASE OF CESSATION OF CONSTITUTIONALITY CYRIL C. MEANS, JR.* I. THE COMMON LAW CONCEPTION OF A MAN An Historical Footnote ANY discussion of the law of abortion must center upon the issue of when, if ever, during pregnancy a foetus becomes a man, a human person, with all the rights of those already born. This philosophical puz- zle has perplexed the sages down the corridors of time. During the Euro- pean Middle Ages, however, there was a virtually unaminous consensus on the question by educated men of all disciplines, including theology, philosophy, medicine, and jurisprudence. All agreed that the moment of animation, the infusion of a rational soul into the developing foetus, occurred at some point in time between conception and birth. The theo- * A.B., 1938, Harvard College; J.D., 1941, Wayne State University Law School; LL.M., 1948, Harvard Law School. Member, Governor's Commission Appointed to Review New York State's Abortion Law (1968); member of the Michigan and United States Supreme Court Bars. Editor's Note. Because of the large number of Latin words and phrases in some of the footnotes of this article dealing with ecclesiastical documents, the following explana- tion may be helpful to readers, particularly those from disciplines other than law. The New York Law Forum follows the ordinary typographical convention, in the text, according to which foreign-language words and phrases are italicized, as are English words where emphasis is desired. In the footnotes, however, a different usage is adhered to. Foreign-language words and phrases are not italicized but are set off by double quotation marks (which do not, therefore, necessarily signify that they are being quoted from another source). English words to be emphasized in the notes are not italicized but underscored.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most