Abstract
The law plays a number of functions in relation to health care practice. It structures the relationship between professionals and patients/clients, setting the ground rules on which the health professions practise. Thus the laws governing consent, access to health records and confidentiality help to determine the character of the therapeutic relationship, hopefully as a partnership rather than one dominated by either a paternalistic professional or a consumerist patient. The law also has a role in setting limits to acceptable practice on behalf of society. Controversial ethical issues, such as those which arise when the termination of pregnancy is being considered, are regulated through a legal framework. This will rarely force a single solution upon unwilling professionals and clients, but it will often rule out some options.
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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Montgomery, J. (1994). Legal issues in prenatal diagnosis. In: Abramsky, L., Chapple, J. (eds) Prenatal Diagnosis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3027-9_2
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