Alliance For Life Responds

To the Editors of The Crimson:

I am writing in response to the article titled "Anti-Abortion Journal Released" published March 14. As a member of the group who published the journal, I would like to make a few corrections.

First of all, although we admired the fairness of the article itself, the headline and label "anti-abortion" is unfair and narrowing. This term is to be found nowhere in the statement of purpose of the Harvard-Radcliffe Progressive Alliance for Life, nor anywhere in the publication your article discussed.

The specific goal of the group and of the publication is to make people aware of the necessity for a society which is receptive and helpful to women and their children. Had your reporter read our publication thoughtfully, he would have been aware of the important distinction between a strictly antiabortion stance and a progressive pro-life position.

Secondly, your reporter misquoted Hannah K. Vorwerk '90 in his statement that "Vorwerk described the Supreme Court's position on abortion as 'extreme' because it allows abortions as far as six months into pregnancy." Indeed, abortion in this country is legal through the ninth month, as documented in Doe v. Bolton. This point is specifically made in Vorwerk's article which, again, your reporter evidently failed to read.

The third point is a minor one. Your article named Vorwerk and Kathleen M. Taylor '90 as co-directors of Liberating Options and George P. Cassidy '90 as its secretary/treasurer. The publication itself has no officers or official positions other than editor. These titles are the positions formerly held by the above-mentioned individuals in the group, the Progressive Alliance for Life (PAL.) We have recently held elections, and as a new officer of PAL, I feel obliged to correct your mistakes. Again, these errors aside, the article was well-written and fair. Julie L. Whitman '93   Co-director, Harvard-Radcliffe Progressive   Alliance for Life

Editor's Note: In an effort to avoid implying value judgments in its terminology, The Crimson uses the term "anti-abortion," instead of "pro-life," to describe opponents of legal protection of abortion.