Transcriber's Notes 1. Typographical errors and hyphenation inconsistencies were corrected. 2 The text version is coded for italics and other mark-ups i.e., (a) Italics are indicated thus _italic_; (b) Smallcaps thus +CAPS+: * * * * * WHY NOT? A BOOK FOR EVERY WOMAN. The Prize Essay TO WHICH THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION AWARDED THE GOLD MEDAL FOR MDCCCLXV. BY HORATIO ROBINSON STORER, M.D., OF BOSTON, Assistant in Obstetrics and Medical Jurisprudence in Harvard University; Surgeon to the New England Hospital for Women; and Professor of Obstetrics and the Diseases of Women in Berkshire Medical College. ISSUED FOR GENERAL CIRCULATION, BY ORDER OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. _Casta placent superis. Casta cum mente venito, Et manibus puris sumito fontis aquam._ BOSTON: LEE AND SHEPARD. 1866. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by LEE AND SHEPARD, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. At the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association, held at Boston in June, 1865, it was, upon recommendation of the Section on Practical Medicine and Obstetrics,-- _Resolved_, That the Committee on Publication be requested to adopt such appropriate measures as will insure a speedy and general circulation of the Prize Essay written for women; provided this can be done without expense to the Association. CONTENTS. +PAGE+ +PREFATORY REMARKS+ 5 I. Origin and Purpose of the Present Essay 11 II. What has been done by Physicians to Foster, and what to Prevent, the Evil 15 III. What is the True Nature of an Intentional Abortion when not Requisite to Save the Life of the Mother 27 IV. The Inherent Dangers of Abortion to a Woman's Health and to her Life 36 V. The Frequency of Forced Abortions, even among the Married 62 VI. The Excuses and Pretexts that are given for the Act 70