WHY NOT?
A BOOK FOR EVERY WOMAN
BY
PROF. H. R. STORER, M. D.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
The American Medical Association have done a good work in authorizing the issue of this essay for general circulation. To the majority of medical men, of any large experience, of course the subject is sufficiently familiar, and the evils of forced abortions, independently of the moral obliquity of the act, are well known. But those most directly interested—the women of the country—are, as a rule, ignorant of their evil effects, and all the influence of their medical advisers has hitherto proved ineffectual to put a stop to the lamentable and criminal sacrifice of fœtal life. Curiously enough, any moral considerations of the question have little or no weight with those determined to prevent any further increase of their families,—for it is among the married that the practice obtains to the largest degree,—and it is only by direct appeals to the common sense of females, and by convincing proofs of the long train of diseases that are so sure to follow this unnatural crime, that any good results can be hoped for. This point Dr. Storer has forcibly considered, and placed the matter in its true light so far as relates to the subjects themselves.
The opinion has somehow gained credence that induced abortions are not unfrequently effected by the better class of physicians. Dr. Storer, while repudiating this gross misrepresentation, and claiming that physicians are unanimous as to the sanctity of fœtal life, admits that they have, to a certain extent, innocently and unintentionally given grounds for the prevalent ignorance on this subject, and lays down as a fundamental principle that abortion, no matter how indicated, should never be induced by a physician upon his own uncorroborated opinion. The law should provide this safeguard against the destruction of fœtal life. As in insanity, where, in some of our States, the certificate of at least two physicians is required before a legal commitment to the asylum can be obtained, so here the law should provide at once the safeguard against the destruction of fœtal life, and extend to the physician its protection against the claims of pity, or personal sympathy, or importunate entreaty, to say nothing of direct offer of comparatively enormous compensation.
We cannot follow Dr. Storer in his arguments. They are so concisely stated that to give even a fair exposition of them would necessitate the quotation of a large part of the work.—New York Medical Journal, Sept., 1866.
Such a production from a physician of character and eminence has long been needed, for the extent to which the crime to which it relates is practised, even by women holding respectable positions in society, is fearfully great; and we rejoice that Dr. Storer, with such manifest intrepidity, learning and thoroughness, has done his full duty to humanity in the preparation of this paper. “Why not” should the subject be discussed?—for nothing is so intimately connected with the health and happiness of women, the welfare of the community, and the greatness of the nation, as the birth of vigorous children. The present edition is a neat and convenient volume, and just the thing for a present to every young wife.—Boston Commonwealth.
“Why Not? a Book for every Woman,” cannot be too universally read. It is a prize essay on criminal abortion, which has become so alarmingly common, and is brief, concise, plain, free from technicalities, earnestly written, and calculated to do much good. It is high time that physicians “spoke out” in regard to this crime, and Dr. Storer, from his great experience, and the large attention he has given to this subject, seems to be the one above all others from whom a recitation of the evils of abortion, and an appeal to the women in behalf of themselves and their offspring, would have the most weight. No false modesty or squeamishness should prevent the advocates of a reform of this evil from assisting to give this little book a wide circulation.—Springfield (Mass.) Republican.
Dr. Storer evinces high moral courage in addressing the public upon a subject which it would be more agreeable to most men to pass without observation. But having become familiar, in his medical studies and practice, with causes which he believes are not without a baneful influence upon the constitution of many of the female sex, he ventures to present for their consideration this chapter of medical science and ethics. He is plain, direct, and earnest in the presentation of his views upon a subject which, we believe, he is the first to make the theme for public disquisition.—Worcester Palladium.
The subject of this essay is one, we believe, which is largely engaging the attention of the medical fraternity, as well as that of many others at the present time. Few have cared to investigate the full extent of the evil. Those who have done so, find this system of abortion, especially on the part of married women, a great and growing danger. Already in many parts of our country the number of foreign births is largely in excess of native ones, and the large families of our ancestors find no counterpart in our day. Without passing judgment upon all of Dr. Storer’s conclusions, or claiming that his argument is altogether sound, as that of few enthusiasts is, we yet recommend to every woman a perusal of the work.—Northampton Free Press.
Dr. Storer has given more attention to this subject than any other professional man in the country; and he is so deeply impressed by his knowledge of the frequency, criminality, immorality, and dangers of the practice in question, that his appeal to “every woman” is most direct, forcible, earnest, and eloquent. Many readers will be astonished at the evidence adduced by Dr. Storer to show the increase and frequency of this crime in our country. But few will wonder at the earnestness and even intense feeling with which the author presses this subject home upon the feelings, the consciences, and the fears of his readers, after they have read his startling exposition of the evils, dangers, and fatal results which are produced by this great offence against the laws of God and man.—Salem Observer.
We commend this essay to every wife, and to all women about to be married. The subject is treated with commendable fidelity to the good of humanity, and a genuine zeal for truth, and at the same time with all due delicacy, and no false modesty should prevent any pure-hearted woman from seeking to know its contents. Honi soit qui mal y pense, as the French say; or, as the highest authority saith, “To the pure all things are pure.” So let no one object to this notice, but forthwith read and circulate the book, that erring, mistaken, guilty ones may know “Why Not?”—Ladies’ Repository.
This elegantly written little book, unexceptionable in tone and singularly free from pedantry, discusses the subject of criminal abortion in all its bearings. The moralist and politico-economist will find much that will awaken thought, if not arouse to action, while the very large class to whom it is addressed cannot fail to be convinced—and may we not hope converted?—by the stern logic of its well put scientific truths.—American Homœopathic Review, Detroit, Michigan.
The evidence adduced by Dr. Storer is unanswerable. Every married man and woman in the land knows its truth. He does not exaggerate, but rather under-estimates the evil; and were it possible to make extracts from a work of this kind in a newspaper, any page out of the hundred would blanch many very respectable married people’s cheeks with righteous shame. It is the best antidote to quack pills and vile “French inventions” that has been issued within the century.—Waukegan Gazette.