• The abolished rights of action include alienation of affections, breach of promise to marry, criminal conversation, and seduction of a person over the legal age of consent. Many states today have enacted heartbalm statutes primarily because of the highly speculative nature of the injury and the potential for abusive prosecution, as well as the difficulties of determining the cause of a loss. The terminology in this field is somewhat confusing, since a heartbalm statute abolishes lawsuits that were known as heartbalm suits; some scholars therefore call the abolitionary statutes anti-heartbalm statutes. But the prevailing term is heartbalm statute. — Also written heart-balm statute.
— Also termed heartbalm act; anti-heartbalm statute; anti-heartbalm act. [Cases: Breach of Marriage Promise 14; Husband and Wife 323, 341; Seduction 3. C.J.S. Breach of Marriage Promise §§ 2, 12, 14.]
