Parents, Doctors and Children: The Gillick Case and Beyond

Abstract

“The [Gillick] case is the beginning not the conclusion of a legal development in a field glimpsed by one or two judges in recent times but not yet fully explored. Mrs. Gillick, even though she may lose the appeal, has performed a notable public service in directing judicial attention to the problems arising from the interaction of parental right and a doctor's duty in a field of medicine unknown to our fathers but of immense consequence to our society.”