ABSTRACT
One of the most fertile areas for feminist research has been women's health and their treatment by the medical profession. Issues of particular importance to women such as abortion, pregnancy, contraception, assisted reproduction and sterilization have rightly been a focus of feminist analysis. Feminist scholarship has demonstrated, however, that the content and application of the law is prejudicial to, and prejudiced against, women. This chapter reveals the extent to which women are discriminated against in particular health care contexts. It focuses on the contribution that feminism and feminist theory can make towards reversing this situation. The insights offered by gender into the treatment of women at the hands of the medical profession are enhanced by an historical perspective. The chapter discusses the story of how medical practitioners transformed themselves and their business into one of the learned professions is itself a story of the marginalization of women.
