Pennsylvania Anatomy Act of 1883

Main articles: Pennsylvania, Anatomy Act of 1832, Law of Pennsylvania, and History of anatomy in the nineteenth century

The Pennsylvania Anatomy Act of 1883 is legislation of the State of Pennsylvania to facilitate medical education. This act allowed teachers, students to be able to dissect bodies without have to resort to buying from grave robbers or buying body parts. This act was written to prevent grave robbing, and to even out the availability of corpses.

Background

Main articles: History of anatomy in the nineteenth century, Anatomy Act of 1832, and History of anatomy in the nineteenth century

Prior to the Pennsylvania Anatomy Act being passed in 1883, many other dissection acts were passed in America. These acts included the Massachusetts Act of 1784, which stated that those that died or were executed due to dueling may be dissected. The next act was an act in New York called An Act to Prevent the Odious Practice of Digging up and Removing, for the Purpose of Dissection, Dead Bodies Interred in Cemeteries or Burial Places. This act was one of the first acts in America to prevent grave robbing for dissection, the first section says that anyone convicted of removing a dead body for the purpose of dissection, intending to dissect, dissecting or assisting with the dissection shall suffer consequences. So that learning about anatomy using dissection is not harmed when someone is convicted of murder, arson, or burglary they are then either sentenced to death, and the judges may decide that the offender's body be used for dissection or their body is buried. Then in 1831 Massachusetts passed an act saying that the bodies of the unclaimed deceased be delivered to the anatomists, under certain restrictions. In 1835 Missouri allowed executed slaves along with convicted criminal’s bodies to be dissected.

In 1867 the city of Philadelphia and the county of Allegheny passed an act, that gave each medical school, public and private, within these regions the same amount of unclaimed bodies per student. Therefore, a larger medical school would get more bodies than a small school of 20 students. If a person claimed that they wanted to be buried, then their body would not be allowed to be given to these medical schools. Another part of this act punished the anatomists if they were caught selling the spare bodies or body parts, the same punishment went for the grave robbers and someone caught buying the bodies or body parts. This act then later on was made into seven sections and would include all of the counties of Pennsylvania and would become what we know as the Pennsylvania Anatomy act of 1883.

Provisions of the Act

The Act stated that all bodies used for medical advancements must be obtained in a legal manner through the state so as to prevent the unethical obtaining of corpses. The Act also allowed for the use of unclaimed bodies for medical research.

Section One of the Act specified the creation of a board of scholars that would be tasked with the delivery of corpses. This board of scholars would be made up of no less than 25 scholars elected by each of the dentistry, surgery, and medical schools within the Pennsylvania Commonwealth. The board would be tasked with record keeping of each corpse delivered and who it was delivered to.

Members of the board who do not perform their duties as required will be subject to up to a 500 dollar fine, as specified by Section Seven of the Act.

Specifications for the distribution of corpses were put into place by Section Three of the Act. Bodies would first be delivered to schools in need for demonstrations and lectures. Bodies remaining after the initial need was met were to be allotted based on the number of students in each class.

Section Five of the bill stated that the distribution of corpses illegally over Commonwealth boundaries will be considered body trafficking. It was further specified that such trafficking would be charged as a misdemeanor, resulting in at most a two hundred dollar fine or a one year sentence in prison.

Passage of the Bill

The initial Act was accepted by the House of Representatives, but opposed in the senate by one senator who claimed that the Act was, "unworthy of the age in which [they] live". This opposition caused the Act to be rewritten and re-submitted for consideration.

Extent

• By 1881, a survey disclosed 15 of 38 states had “liberal” anatomy acts, nine of them had “illiberal” anatomy acts, and 14 states had none.
• By 1879,similar Indiana and Ohio laws were created, stemming from the Ohio Medical College.
• By 1913, 39 states with medical schools, like Alabama, still lack Anatomy acts.

Bibliography

Harris, D. Fraser. "History of the Events Which Led to the Passing of the British Anatomy Act, A.D. 1832." Canadian Medical Association Journal 10.3 (1920): 283-84. NCBI. Web. 24 Oct. 2016. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1523813/?page=1>.

Forbes, W. S. History of the Anatomy Act of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Medical Publishing Company, 1898. PDF. <http://jdc.jefferson.edu/anatomy_act_of_penn/1/>.

Scovil, Lindsay. "A Market for Death." A-market-for-death. Lindsay Scovil, 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2016. <http://www.marketfordeath.com/timelineofanatomyacts>.

"Passage of an Anatomy Act in Pennsylvania.: An Act for the Promotion of Medical Science, and to Prevent the Traffic in Human Bodies." Chicago Medical Examiner (1860-1871) 8.5 (1867): 300-02.American Periodicals Series Online [ProQuest]. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.