Self-Service Setback

One extreme symptom of Women's Liberation has been the refusal of some feminists to submit to examination by male gynecologists. Men doctors, some women believe, simply do not understand female attitudes toward gynecological problems. Small groups of women began meeting last year in "selfhelp" cells on the West Coast; they learned to detect, diagnose and sometimes even treat some ailments. Since then, do-it-yourself gynecology has spread to cities across the country.

Last week police raided one of the self-help movement's temples, the Women's Center in Los Angeles. They arrested two of its leaders for practicing medicine without a license. Carol Downer, one of the movement's founders, was accused of diagnosing a woman's illness as a vaginal infection and treating it with an application of yogurt (the lactic acid in yogurt is supposed to provide a hostile environment for some organisms; without laboratory tests it is difficult to determine whether the treatment is appropriate). Colleen Wilson was charged with performing a menstrual extraction, or preemptive abortion (TIME, Sept. 11), pelvic examinations and pregnancy tests.

Although Wilson pleaded guilty to one of eleven counts and drew a $250 fine and two years' probation, Downer pleaded not guilty and insisted on a trial. The case seems likely to become a feminist cause celebre. Women's Liberationists have begun to raise funds for Downer's defense, which is expected to center on women's right to know their own bodies. The clinic, meanwhile, is continuing to challenge the state by doing business as usual.

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