Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1812

Commonwealth v. Bangs

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · Decided October 15, 1812

9 Mass. 387

Cases that cite this one

11 later published cases cite this decision.

State v. Harris (Kan. 1913)
Roe v. Wade (Supreme Court of the United States 1973)
Memphis Center for Reprod. Health v. Herbert Slatery, III (6th Cir. 2021)
Memphis Center for Reprod. Health v. Herbert Slatery, III (6th Cir. 2021)
RIGHT TO CHOOSE ETC. v. Byrne (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1979)
Right to Choose: E. M., P. B., A. C., D. T., E. R. ex rel E. v. Byrne (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1979)
State v. Atwood (Or. 1909)
Evans v. . the People (N.Y. 1872)
Lloyd v. Brinck (Tex. 1872)
Abrams v. Foshee (Iowa 1856)
Commonwealth v. Parker (Mass. 1845)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

By the Court.

There can be no sentence upon this verdict. The assault and battery are out of the case, and no abortion is alleged to have followed the taking of the potion; and if an abortion had been alleged and proved to have ensued, the averment that the woman was quick with child at the time is a necessary part of the indictment, (a)

Judgment arrested.

[An attempt to procure abortion, even when the pregnant woman is not quick with child, is a misdemeanor at the common law. — 3 Chitty, Crim. Law, 798, — 1 Russell on Crimes, 2d. Eng. ed. 553. —And it is made felony by recent English statutes when the woman is quick with child, and highly penal in other cases. — 43 Geo. 3, c 58.— See 1,2,1 Geo. 4, c. 31, § 13 — 10 Geo.4, c. 34, § 16.—Ed.]

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.