I read with interest the March 31 staff editorial criticizing the partial-birth abortion ban bill opposed by, among others, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (“Undermining Roe v. Wade”). The position of this group, whose members stand to benefit the most financially when restrictions on abortion are weakest, and of the editors conflicts with the official position of the American Medical Association (AMA).

In their position paper H-5.982, the AMA advises against the procedure, stating that “according to the scientific literature, there does not appear to be any identified situation in which intact D&X is the only appropriate procedure to induce abortion.” Seventy percent of Americans, myself among them, agree with the AMA’s assessment, and we support the ban on this gruesome and unnecessary procedure.

Laura E. Openshaw ’05

March 31, 2003