Abortion trial of Emily Stowe
CourtOntario County Court
Decided1879
DefendantDr. Emily Stowe

The abortion trial of Emily Stowe was a famous early Canadian judicial decision on abortion in Canada. The case involved Dr. Emily Stowe, one of Canada's first female doctors. Stowe was acquitted, which was a rare outcome for abortion trials in the nineteenth century.[1]: 178 

Background

The case began after one Sarah Ann Lovell, an unmarried teenager, was found dead in August 1879. It was discovered after she had died that she had been pregnant. Furthermore, she had been a patient of Dr. Emily Stowe in May. Stowe claimed she had first resisted performing an abortion, but Lovell seemed emotionally distressed and threatened suicide. As this was before the quickening, an abortion at this stage would be seen by some as more legitimate.[1]: 164  Lovell could have been turned over to the authorities, however, Stowe wound up prescribing hellebore, cantharides, and myrrh. While allegedly capable of aborting the fetus, Stowe claimed these drugs were prescribed in such a small dose that they were intended as a placebo.[1]: 166–167  Furthermore, drugs prescribed in May would not cause death in August.

While it is unlikely that Stowe was pro-choice, this view of her was pushed by those who saw her as responsible for Lovell's death.[1]: 170  The case soon achieved fame.[1]: 171  A jury for the coroner wound up deciding Lovell was poisoned by drugs meant for an abortion, but they blamed Lovell and/or unidentified people rather than Stowe.[1]: 173 

Trial

Afterwards, the Crown indicted Stowe for having "administered and caused to be taken poisons with intent to procure a miscarriage", which had been outlawed since 1869. Stowe could have gone to prison for life for this. The intent was to discourage abortion in a widely publicized trial.[1]: 174  Stowe pleaded not guilty in an Ontario County Court. The coroner was called to testify, and he confessed he had lost all medical evidence.[1]: 175  Another doctor was accused of being antagonistic to Stowe because she was a woman doctor, and of calling Stowe a "bitch".[1]: 177 

Finally, the defence under Dalton McCarthy argued that whatever drugs may have been prescribed, Stowe did not administer them nor cause them to be administered. While supplying such drugs was also a crime (with a lesser penalty), Stowe had not been charged with it. Moreover, it was possible that a person would disregard such a prescription.[1]: 177–178  The judge agreed and wound up deciding the jury need not even decide the case, as there was no case against Stowe to make. The judge also questioned whether women should be doctors.[1]: 178  However, the anti-woman sentiment among Stowe's opponents might have been so extreme and offensive that it helped Stowe's case.[1]: 180 

In 1880, she was granted her medical licence by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, making her the second licensed female physician in Canada after Jennie Kidd Trout.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Backhouse, Constance B (October 1991). "The Celebrated Abortion Trial of Dr. Emily Stowe, Toronto, 1879". Canadian Bulletin of Medical History. 8 (2): 159–187. doi:10.3138/cbmh.8.2.159. ISSN 0823-2105.
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