Journal Correspondence Archives - Page 10 of 26 - Protection of Conscience Project Library

(Correspondence) Abortion: it is time for doctors to get off the fence

CE Cragg

Canadian Medical Association Journal, CMAJ — Canadian Medical Association Journal

Extract
In response to Dr. Myre Sim’s shopworn fulminations (Can Med Assoc 11988; 138: 742- 743), I am one doctor who has been off the fence and on firm ground for some time on the matter of abortion. . . The key to reducing the problem of ethically troublesome abortions remains quick, easy access to abortion, which includes improvement in the early identification of genetic defects. The key to reducing the numbers of abortions includes increasing awareness of the still dire need of children for information about sex, sexuality and birth control and increasing promotion of ethics as an object of study in school.

Cragg CE. (Correspondence) Abortion: it is time for doctors to get off the fence. Can Med Assoc J. 1988 Jul 16;139(2):99.

(Correspondence) Mr. Sullivan replies

Patrick Sullivan

Extract
It was Dr. Robbie Mahood who suggested that physicians have a duty to speak out on abortion and other health care issues. I merely reported his comments. On the lack of response by pro-choice physicians to the Supreme Court decision, I was making a statement of fact. . . .

Sullivan P. (Correspondence) Mr. Sullivan replies. Can Med Assoc J. 1988;138(12):1088. Available from:

(Correspondence) Abortion: Is it time for doctors to get off the fence? Dr. Sim responds

Myre Sim

Extract
All medical procedures should have proper medical indications; and when these indications are being abused strict guidelines are laid down by the profession; those who ignore them are censured. . . .Bart would have abortion specifically excluded from such guidelines, yet abortion carries certain death for the fetus as well as hazards for the pregnant woman. Medical ethics are specifically designed to curb unwholesome and dangerous medical practices. . . abortion on nonmedical grounds, which includes most, is a male- inspired maneuver. . .

Sim M. (Correspondence) Abortion: Is it time for doctors to get off the fence? Dr. Sim responds. Can Med Assoc J. 1988 Jun 15;139(4):1085.

(Correspondence) Abortion: Is it time for doctors to get off the fence?

John Bart

Extract
I was present at the death of a woman whose uterus had been torn open and infected by a coat hanger. Anything is better than that: she died through poverty and ignorance, and her whole family suffered. . . .Medical ethics are an extension of personal ethics, not an abstract entity with a special name. I believe what I believe, and he believes what he believes. Sim should not force his opinions upon others. That is what the Nazis did. . . . We are not on the fence, Dr. Sim. We are exercising our free will and not interfering with that of others. We believe that women are capable of decisions without an avuncular physician’s approval. We think that freedom from unwanted pregnancy is a cornerstone of feminine freedom. Without that, society is male dominated, unequal and the poorer for it. Please do not equate abortion with euthanasia. The two are not synonymous. Please do not equate your opinion with moral rectitude either. Anything is better than that.

Bart J. (Correspondence) Abortion: Is it time for doctors to get off the fence? Can Med Assoc J. 1988;139(4):1085.

(Correspondence) “Pro-abortion” versus “pro-choice”

Brian A Shamess

Extract
Although he may feel uncomfortable about being involved in abortions, the term “pro-abortion” is accurate. The term “pro-choice”, medically speaking, refers to a choice between killing a fetus and allowing it to live. The fetus is distinct in every way from the mother. . . . This is a medical fact. Therefore, doctors who perform abortions and the staff of abortion clinics are “pro-abortion”. Certainly they are “pro-choice” as well, in that they will allow a woman to choose between killing and granting life to the unborn child. . .

Shamess BA. (Correspondence) “Pro-abortion” versus “pro-choice”. Can Med Assoc J. 1988 May 15;138(10):890.

(Correspondence) Newfoundland has no legal abortion services

Louis A Aubé

Extract
Dr. Carl Robbins finds the fact that abortions are not available in his province “disgraceful, bordering on the unethical” (Can Med Assoc J 1986; 135: 910). He must be a young man, because it wasn’t long ago that it was disgraceful for a doctor to do abortions – besides which, it was a crime. As for Dr. Robbins’ call to ethics, I wonder what he is using for the basis of his code. Certainly not the Judeo-Christian formula. It must be the new “situation ethics”, which as applied to our general conduct is producing frightening results.

Aubé LA. (Correspondence) Newfoundland has no legal abortion services. Can Med Assoc J. 1987;136(4):324.

(Correspondence) Abortion: an issue that won’t go away

Ernest A Johnson

Extract
I have, as I am sure do many doctors, a framed version of the Hippocratic Oath prominently and proudly displayed in my waiting room. . . I had a very busy general medical and surgical practice, and during that time it was understandably considered ethical to do a truly therapeutic abortion when this very occasional truly medical necessity arose. . . .Times have changed, but there are some things that cannot change if we are to retain our self-respect as professionals.

Johnson EA. (Correspondence) Abortion: an issue that won’t go away. Can Med Assoc J. 1986 Nov 15;135(10):1062-1064.

(Correspondence) “The Silent Scream”: setting the record straight

Carlos Del Campo

Extract
A newsbrief in CMAJ 1985;132:1301) criticizing the videotape “The Silent Scream” failed to report the opinion of a highly qualified expert. Dr. Ian Donald, the original developer of diagnostic ultrasonography, former Regius professor of obstetrics at the University of Glasgow and honorary research consultant at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin, spent 4 years filming fetal activity at various stages of gestation. Donald, in a sworn affidavit, wrote: “I have now studied Dr. Nathanson’s video-tape film entitled ‘The Silent Scream’ not less than four times and affirm that I am of the opinion that the fetal activities depicted by ultrasound real- time scanning in this film are not faked [or] the result of artefact intentional or otherwise”.

Campo CD. (Correspondence) “The Silent Scream”: setting the record straight. Can Med Assoc J. 1985 Sep 15;133(6):556-557.

(Correspondence) “The Silent Scream”: setting the record straight

J Kohari

Extract
No doubt several Ottawa gynecologists were shocked by the stark reality of the ultrasound images of abortion shown in “The Silent Scream”. The film can be called propaganda, but since there is no proof that it is a fake it is called a documentary. The gynecologists never questioned the reality of the procedure, so why do they label it dishonest?

Kohari J. (Correspondence) “The Silent Scream”: setting the record straight. Can Med Assoc J. 1985 Sep 15;133(6):557.

(Correspondence) Abortion denied – outcome of mothers and babies

Carlos Del Campo

Extract
The Aberdeen study examined the cases of 300 women applying for abortions, of which 60% were approved; approximately 120 women were denied abortion. This number would constitute only 1.9% of the 6323 cases in my survey. Furthermore, if they had been included the results would remain statistically unchanged. . . Dr. Watters states that I was “very selective in examining the work done in Czechoslovakia” and cites the work of Matejcek and colleagues.3 I direct Dr. Watters’ attention to reference 11 in my survey, in which this work is cited. This was Dr. Matejcek and colleagues’ original publication on the same group of patients; furthermore, they published a more recent follow-up study, in which their original findings remained basically unchanged. To base a therapeutic approach toward women with unwanted pregnancies on the evidence quoted by Dr. Watters and to ignore the massive evidence presented in my survey would be unacceptable.

Campo CD. (Correspondence) Abortion denied – outcome of mothers and babies. Can Med Assoc J. 1984 Sep 15;131(6):546-548.