Aleck Bourne

Aleck Bourne

Aleck William Bourne (4 June 1886 – 30 December 1974) was a prominent British gynecologist and writer who is best known for his 1938 trial, a landmark case, for performing an illegal abortion on a 14-year-old girl rape victim.

Early life

Born the only son of the Reverend W. C. Bourne in Barnet, Bourne was educated at Rydal School and at Downing College, Cambridge where, in 1908, he received a first class Natural Science Tripos. Granted a senior university scholarship, he entered St Mary's Hospital and, between 1910 and 1911, he had qualified as an MRCS, LRCP (as well as obtaining an MB, BCh, Cambridge, and the FRCS England the following year). While at Queen Charlotte's, in cooperation with Professor J. H. Burn, he published research papers on uterine action in labour and in response to various drugs. He would held several residential and other appointments at St Mary's, Queen Charlotte's and the Samaritan until the outbreak of the First World War. In 1912, he would become married to Bessic Hayward, the eldest daughter of G. W. Hayward, and would have three daughters during their marriage.

Enlisting in the British Army, he served as a surgical specialist with the 17th General Hospital in Egypt and the 2nd General Hospital in France between 1914 and 1917 and, in the years following the war, he began a successful consulting practice in obstetrics and gynecology. In 1929, he was elected a foundation member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and, founding its museum in 1938, served as curator of its museum which he built up considerably during the following years.

A yachting and deep sea cruising enthusiast, he was a member of several yacht clubs during the 1930s and, in 1933, won the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club's cup for the best cruiser of the year.

Abortion case

In 14 June 1938, Bourne was arrested after performing an operation without fee at St Mary's Hospital, London to terminate the pregnancy of six weeks of a 14-year-old girl who had been sexually assaulted by five off-duty British soldiers, officers in the Royal Horse Guards, in a London barracks. She asked at St. Thomas' Hospital, but was sent away on the grounds that she might be carrying a future prime minister. [cite book | last = Hadley | first = Janet | title = Abortion: Between Freedom and Necessity | publisher = Temple University Press | location = Philadelphia | year = 1997 | isbn = 1566395917 | pages = pg35 ] Tried at the Central Criminal Court in July 1938, he was acquitted on charges of procuring abortion as his actions were later defended by Lancet as "an example of disinterested conduct in consonance with the highest traditions of the profession".

His defense had been based on the Act of 1861 in which, under British law, only recognized justification for the termination of a pregnancy if the life of the woman was in danger.

Later career

Serving as president of the Obstetrical and Gynecological Section of the Royal Society of Medicine from 1938 to 1939, Bourne later wrote several important books including "A Synopsis of Midwifery and Gynecology", "Recent Advances in Obstetrics and Gynecology" with Leslie Williams and was the co-editor of "British Obstetric and Gynecological Practice" with Sir Eardley Holland. An advocate of state medicine, Bourne expressed his views in "Health of the Future" (1942), which gained much attention to the issue in the medical field.

During the 1960s, Bourne became a founding member of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children which was organized in opposition to the Abortion Act of 1967.

He would continue serving as consulting gynecologist at St Mary's Hospital and to the Samaritan Hospital for Women as well as consulting obstetric surgeon to Queen Charlotte's Hospital before his eventual retirement and died on 30 December 1974 at the age of 88.

References

External links

* [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1672187&blobtype=pdf BMJ obituary]
* [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(75)91134-4 Lancet obituary]
* [http://www.stuart.n.clarke.btinternet.co.uk/AddlMatObitBourne.html Obituary: Mr. Aleck Bourne, An eminent gynecologist]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Aleck — may refer to: *Aleck Bovick *Aleck Bourne *Aleck Smith …   Wikipedia

  • Abortion in the United Kingdom — has been legal in England, Scotland and Wales since the Abortion Act passed in 1967. At the time, this legislation was one of the most liberal laws regarding abortion in Europe. However, abortion remains illegal in Northern Ireland, and all… …   Wikipedia

  • History of abortion — The practice of abortion dates back to ancient times. Pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the administration of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and other… …   Wikipedia

  • Joan Malleson — Joan Graeme Malleson (4 June 1899 ndash;14 May 1956), née Billson, was an English physician, specialist in contraception and prominent advocate of the legalisation of abortion.Malleson was born at Ulverscroft, Leicestershire. She was educated at… …   Wikipedia

  • Timeline of reproductive rights legislation — Reproductive rights are a sub set of human rights pertaining to issues of reproductive health: sexual education, family planning, including contraception and abortion, as well as access and affordability of services. 17th century to 19th… …   Wikipedia

  • Unschooling — is a range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life experiences, including play, game play, household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction, rather than… …   Wikipedia

  • History of feminism — The history of feminism is the history of feminist movements and their efforts to overturn injustices of gender inequality. Feminist scholars have divided feminism s history into three waves . Humm, Maggie. 1995. The Dictionary of Feminist Theory …   Wikipedia

  • Socialist Health Association — The Socialist Medical Association (now the Socialist Health Association) was founded in 1930, in order to campaign for a National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It took in many of those who had been active in the State Medical Service… …   Wikipedia

  • George Lotrell Timanus — Dr. George Lotrell Timanus was a physician who performed illegal abortions in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area from 1920 to 1951. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,893984,00.html Abortion in the U.S. , Time, June 2, 1958] ]… …   Wikipedia

  • Women in Psychiatry —    Several of the women involved with psychoanalysis, such as Anna Freud and Melanie Klein, are familiar figures. Yet, the lives of many other women who also made distinguished contributions to the fields of psychoanalysis, psychiatry, and… …   Historical dictionary of Psychiatry

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”