The general standards which guide the medical profession in this matter are very strict, and are conscientiously conformed to by the majority of its members. It is also a well-recognized rule of the profession that such operations should only be performed after consultation between two medical practitioners. With this change in medical outlook, however, there has been no corresponding alteration in the law, which, as it stands, is as uncompromising as ever, and allows of no interference except to save the _life_ of the mother. It is a fact that the law is _interpreted_ liberally, and no doctor who has acted honestly in the belief that the mother's health was seriously endangered has ever been challenged. Nevertheless, it has been urged by a large body of the medical profession, especially of those most intimately affected by the question, that there are possible dangers in the situation, and that the law should be altered to indicate more specifically the rightful position of the doctor in this matter; in other words, it is advocated that the present interpretation of the law should be incorporated in the law itself. Much is made of the fact that an honourable practitioner occasionally finds himself in the unsatisfactory position of having actually to break the letter of the law in doing what according to accepted medical standards is in the best interests of the patient. As safeguards against the possible dangers of a widening of the law, it has been suggested that new regulations should be introduced governing the practice of therapeutic abortion. It has been recommended that operations should only be performed after adequate consultation, and that written certificates should be given by both parties to the consultation; that in certain cases the consultant should be a specialist; that all operations should be performed in public or licensed hospitals; that every therapeutic abortion should be notified to the Medical Officer of Health, to whom also the two certificates should be forwarded; and that every operation not performed under these conditions should be subject to strict investigation. It has also been recommended by some that there should be a general notification of all abortions. Those who are opposed to any alteration of the present state argue that any specific legalization of therapeutic abortion to save the serious impairment of health as well as to save life might lead to abuses of this sanction. They point out that even at the present time doctors differ considerably in their views and in their practice, and they fear that such divergences in thought and practice might be seriously exaggerated. As to the suggested safeguarding regulations, there is by no means general agreement in the medical profession concerning their advisability or their value.