ABSTRACT
The sociological significance of abortion availability in the United States has yet to be fully assessed in light of the fact that private practice continues to serve as the major barrier to a more equitable provision of the procedure. Each was reluctant to become too deeply involved with the personal lives of patients or with the political aims of social movements for and against abortion. The practice of obstetrics and gynecology was split apart at many levels of its organization. Subspecialization enabled some doctors to avoid ever being faced with the decision to perform an abortion. The medical profession has been subject to considerable hostility because it remains the sole legal provider of abortion. Physicians agreed less on who should perform abortions than on how they should be performed. The moral imperative to perform them technically well gave no guidance as to when they should be performed.
