In 1879 a coroner's inquest was held on the body of Sarah Lovell, a young, unmarried woman who was thought to have died of an attempt at procuring an abortion. Suspicion fell on Emily Stowe, Toronto's first woman doctor. Stowe had graduated 12 years earlier from a US medical college but had not yet been granted a licence to practise in Ontario. She admitted to having seen and spoken to Lovell but denied any involvement in an abortion. Less than a year later she obtained the long-desired licence. The author has used newspapers, journals and other archival sources to explore the nature of Stowe's testimony and its relation to her acceptance by the profession.
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