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This paper offers an analysis of the book reviews published about the 1973 book Experience with Abortion: A case study of North-East Scotland, a volume edited by Gordon Horobin. The paper sets the scene at the time of publication of Experience with Abortion, and includes abortion as a societal issue, the 1967 Abortion Act and the role of the MRC Medical Sociology Unit in Aberdeen. The reviews were analysed using content analysis. Considering the controversy of abortion in the early 1970s, it is interesting that the book reviews were overwhelmingly positive towards both Experience with Abortion and the need for high quality social science research in this field. Several reviews highlighted the importance of having someone like Sir Dugald Baird in Aberdeen and of the Aberdeen-based Medical Research Council's (MRC) Medical Sociology Unit. Nearly 40 years later, abortion has disappeared off the sociology and social policy agenda, at least in the United Kingdom (UK) and Horobin's legacy in medical sociology appears to be in areas other than abortion or reproductive health more generally.

One key concept in medical sociology/anthropology for the analysis of approaches to health and illness is the medical model. However, this medical model is not only applied at the analytical level, i.e. as a sociological tool, but it also appeals to health service providers at a practical level as a model of working practice. This paper challenges the uncritical use of the medical model by practitioners and social scientists alike. The purpose of this paper is to separate and analyse the three different levels of understanding expressed in any model of childbirth, whether medical or social: (1) the practical; (2) the ideological and (3) the analytical level. Social scientists are advised to reflect on the question: 'At what level am I using the medical model as a theoretical concept in my work?' This is necessary not only to avoid further confusion, but also to ensure that our sociological tools maintain their ability to analyse the social world appropriately, without becoming 'blunt' due to the uncritical use.