Walter Lindesay Neustätter (7 December 1903 – 6 July 1978) was a German-born British doctor,consultant psychiatrist andforensic psychiatrist.
He was the vice-president of the Medico-Legal Society, which worked with theAbortion Law Reform Association to pass theAbortion Act 1967, which decriminalisedabortion in the United Kingdom. He was a founding member of theBritish Academy of Forensic Sciences.
Walter Lindesay Neustätter was born inMunich, Germany, to aGerman Jewish father Otto Neustätter and his Australian wife Ada Lilian Lindesay-Richardson. Walter Neustätter's aunt,Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson was a noted Australian author (she wrote under the penname "Henry Handel Richardson"). The family had a long history in medicine on both sides, his father was an MD and his maternal grandfather was also an MD. His parents divorced when he was only four years old, with Neustätter's father migrating to the United States, while his mother came to England.[1]
Once in England, Neustätter's mother married for a second time toA. S. Neill and the two were involved in progressivist education, founding theSummerhill School together atLeiston: it was adjacent to communist politics in Britain and the School later involved in sex scandal controversies, where Neustätter's stepfather encouraged sexual activities between students among themselves and between students and teachers (inspired by the principles ofWilhelm Reich). Neustätter himself was educated from 1913 to 1921 atKing Alfred's School,Hampstead, before moving on toLondon University andUniversity College Hospital Medical School, qualifying as a doctor in 1929.[1]
After graduating from the University College Hospital Medical School, Neustätter was the psychotherapist at theMaudsley Hospital from 1931 until 1936. Following this, he worked atGuy's Hospital as a research assistant for the American-basedRockefeller Trust from 1936 until 1939. He was appointed as Physician in Psychological Medicine atQueen Mary's Hospital for the East End in 1938 and then a similar position atRoyal Northern Hospital in 1948, a position he remained in until his retirement from theNational Health Service.[1]
Neustätter had become the Vice-Present of the London-basedMedico-Legal Society in 1964 and as part of its activities became directly involved in the process of decriminalisingabortion in the United Kingdom. Along with medico-legal advisorsPeter Diggory,Eliot Slater andDavid Paintin, Neustätter was one of the medico-legal advisors belonging to theAbortion Law Reform Association (ALRA) underVera Houghton, who advised LordLewis Silkin, 1st Baron Silkin andDavid Steel, later Lord Steel of Aikwood, during the parliamentary debates that resulted in theAbortion Act 1967.[2] Neustätter was opposed to any legal exception under the grounds ofconscientious objection for doctors who do not wish to carry out abortions.[2] In 1968, he was one of the founding members on the advisory panel of Pregnancy Advisory Service (PAS) at a meeting called by Alan Golding, Sara Abel and Sylvia Ponsonby, which sought to direct women about ways they could get rid of "unwanted pregnancy" in the aftermath of the passing of the Act.[2]
Neustätter married Mary Clutton-Brook in January 1941 atSurrey and had two children. Mary's brotherGuy Clutton-Brock and his wifeMolly Clutton-Brock, were among the founding members of theSouthern Rhodesia African National Congress.[citation needed]