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Book Reviews

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date01 December 2003
AuthorJ. A. Wallbank
DOI10.1177/0964663903012004007
Date01 December 2003
Subject MatterReviews
BOOK REVIEWS
MELANIE LATHAM, Regulating Reproduction: A Century of Conflict in Britain and
France. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002, 224 pp., £45 (hbk).
This book effects a comparative analysis of the regulation of reproduction in the UK
and France over the past one hundred years. It focuses on the three main reproductive
areas of contraception, abortion and assisted conception and examines legal and political
responses. Methodologically, the book adopts a very useful and original interdisci-
plinary approach which combines methods from legal analysis and political science.
Latham suggests that the comparison between the two jurisdictions demonstrates
their very different cultural and social heritage. This is indeed one of the most success-
ful aspects of the book as the analysis of the socio-political climate throughout the
twentieth century in each of the two jurisdictions is meticulously examined and articu-
lated. The book identifies and attempts to fill the gap left by writers who failed to
demonstrate the relationship between law and politics on reproduction. I believe
Latham to be using ‘political’ in its strict political science sense, as many writers before
Latham have demonstrated the relationship between law and politics on reproduction
within a broader understanding of politics. The questions the book seeks to address
are: (1) What different types of reproduction legislation were passed in the UK and
France?; (2) Why did they take so long to come about?; (3) Which groups were influ-
ential in bringing about legislation?; (4) In the legislation that pertains to ‘women’s
liberation’, what role was played by those who campaigned for women’s rights? (p. 2).
Much of the book is descriptive due to the kinds of questions that provide its frame-
work. The book provides extensive detail on the policy and law in the elected areas.
The depth and breadth of the research are extremely impressive. It could be a useful
resource for students, lecturers or researchers seeking to expand...

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