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The Davis Trial-Accused of Murder by Abortion Essay example

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The Queen vs. Davis case concerns the murder trial of Arthur Paul Davis and Alice Davis that occurred in 1875. In it, they were tried and convicted of murder for conducting an abortion; the killing of a fetus and subsequently causing death of the victims, Catherine Laing and Jane Vaughn Gilmour. This essay will examine the historical context of the case, what the trial reveals about the nature of women’s lives in Toronto during the 1870s as subordinate women who are deemed as caretakers and how women managed to end unwanted pregnancies. During the late 19th century ending an unwanted pregnancy was an illegal offence because it was considered unethical to kill a fetus. Women were not able to access safer alternatives such as …show more content…

After her death George Laing’s suspicions led him to believe that she did not die of Typhoid fever as the man who buried her stated. Dr. Davis had hired Jacob Amour to build a coffin the size big enough to fit a body, and told him that it was case of Typhoid and presented him with the death certificate. She was put in a coffin and taken out of Toronto to Hamilton. Dr. Davis received the certificate of death from Dr. Isaac Ryall by stating that it was the case of typhoid. No one knew at the time that Catherine was pregnant or that she was had a family of her own. Suspicions grew about the cause of death as the body did not seem like a case of typhoid when examined; instead seemed like an induced abortion by means of violence. It was clearly noted during the investigation and newspaper reports by the Globe and Mail that Dr. Davis was not a licensed doctor. Investigations took place because witnesses saw a box on the side of the ditch and later discovered that it had a body of a young woman. Constables were informed and coroners began an inquest. The next body discovered along a ditch was of Jane Vaughn Gilmour. Gilmour was a single woman who had emigrated from Scotland with her family, and was living in Canada for 3 years. She lived with a middle-class family, the Clements and worked as their servant. It was suspected that she was seduced and impregnated

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