Physicians were largely responsible for their passage however abortion legislation was only one goal of the physicians crusade against abortion as it was termed by historian james c mohr the other was to convince women to continue unwanted pregnancies the physicians were highly successful in enacting stringent anti abortion laws. The physicians crusade against abortion by frederick n dyer few if any academic works have had the impact on abortion of james mohrs 1978 book abortion in america the origins and evolution of national policy 1800 1900. In his chapter the physicians crusade against abortion he provided a single extended quote from an illinois physician james s whitmire written in 1874. In the physicians crusade against abortion dyer shows that there were scores of anti abortion physicians whose efforts followed storers 1859 american medical association report on criminal abortion moreover although storer was the first to organize a lobbying effort against abortion he was not the first to speak out on the subject