Abortion: Humane or Inhumane?

To the Editors:

The guilty verdict in the abortion-related manslaughter case [Feb. 24] is not surprising. The issue was not one of abortion but of destruction of human life following an abortion. The verdict was reached by peers who had no choice but to base their decision on the compelling evidence presented in the case. The jury is saying that a doctor has no right to kill an aborted fetus that is alive.

This case illustrated the full impact of the U.S. Supreme Court decision. The lack of respect for human life is not confined to the unborn child but is being extended to the child after separation from its mother, even as it was extended in Japan following legalization of abortion. Nothing short of a return to total respect for human life, born and unborn, will eliminate abuses.

Some people have expressed concern that the decision may inhibit abortion. We pray to God that it will and that at least some human lives may be saved.

John Cardinal Krol Philadelphia

Has the American legal system sunk so low that the justice now meted out is even worse than that in the Salem witchcraft trials?

It is inconceivable that the American Medical Association will accept this total mockery of what is right.

George N. Rose Pueblo, Colo.

The subject of abortion is a great social and emotion-packed issue almost equally dividing our people, and equally so our physician population.

The policy position of the American Medical Association is that if an abortion is to be done, it should be carried out by a duly licensed physician and surgeon in an accredited hospital or facility during the first trimester of pregnancy, after consultation has been obtained in accordance with good standards of medical practice in that state. Consent must be obtained from the patient and/or parent.

No personnel should be required to be a part of such an act if it is in violation of his or her moral or religious beliefs.

I am not privy to all the facts in the Edelin case and thus obviously can take no position on it, but the A.M.A. must now develop a policy on abortions in the second trimester. Certainly appeal is a matter of due process and the A.M.A. does not oppose this action.

Malcolm C. Todd, M.D., President

American Medical Association

Chicago

How can you equate the inhumane killing of prenatal babies by elective abortions with the alleged "untold hardship for thousands of unhappily pregnant women, who now find that although late abortions are technically legal in most states, few doctors are willing to perform them"?

The decision of the jury reflects what everyone deep down knows: when a woman is pregnant, she is having a baby which, if allowed to live, will take part in our society for better or for worse. May even the smallest live.

Joseph Mauro Silver Spring, Md.

Two Armies

The Army described by James Bell [Feb. 101 is one that I would like to join. It is not, however, the one I am in.

Instead of individual rooms, beds and latrines, my basic training, under the volunteer concept, came with 40-man bays, 6-ft. bunk beds (I am 6 ft. 5 in.) and community latrines. Instead of sleeping until 5:30, we got up at 4 a.m., ran four miles to warm up for breakfast, and then ran eight miles each way to the range. A twelve-hour workday was unknown. Our hair was not stylish or long. It is hard to even comb something that is one-eighth of an inch long.

John D. MacKenzie Cupertino, Calif.

I was delighted with Mr. Bell's perceptions of today's Army. It is important for us to listen to the views of those outside the ranks. Sometimes independent observers make us aware of shortcomings that we had overlooked; sometimes, as is the case with your article, they confirm our belief that the Army is making real progress.

We are proud of what the Army is doing, and we think the American people can share that pride. Our story needs to be told, and we only ask that we be given a conscientious and objective look. I think your article has done that.

Howard H. Callaway

Secretary of the Army

Washington, D.C.

Death Companions

Your article on "Companions to the Dying" [Feb. 17] caused an uproar at our party last night.

The Threshold concept of paid friendship to those who are dying seemed to some ghoulish. Others at first saw it as unethical, crassly commercial and the ultimate indictment of a decadent society.

After hours of controversy, the consensus was that the Threshold concept is neither immoral nor unduly commercial. Rather, the ethical problem lies with the medical profession, which for years has been taking money for not doing the things Threshold companions intend to do.

Linda and Joe Cox Encinitas, Calif

Caring and friendship are not marketable commodities. Furthermore, we seriously question the expertise of a "paid stranger" who has received a crash course geared toward teaching him to be a "death companion" to the dying "customer."

Threshold has added a new dimension to the high cost of dying.

Marie Spychalski

Mary Scheid

Cleveland

I find it hard to believe that paying $7.50 an hour for a companion would help me die more comfortably.

Personally, I'd rather go alone than with a gigolo!

(The Rev.) Robert J. Dexter Lafayette, Ind.

Charon would at least wait until the ancient Greeks arrived at his mooring before demanding payment for that last ferry ride.

John Nunes Albuquerque, N. Mex.

Does Threshold provide flat rates for the lingering death?

Sherrill Salisbury, R.N. Boston

Scoop in the White House

The Democrats will do well putting Senator "Scoop" Jackson in the White House [Feb. 17]. If the Republicans can elect a President who wrecks the internal affairs of this country why can't the Democrats elect one who can ruin us internationally?

S.I. Salem Long Beach, Calif.

Senator Henry M. Jackson sums it up well when he states, "People are looking for answers." He is the one candidate who speaks out with authority--authority gained from hard work, dedication, unselfishness and concern for all people.

Ralph P. Pechanio Elmhurst, Ill.

Now that we are trying to limit what have become ridiculously enormous presidential campaign expenditures, it seems to me that with the exception of the President, the politicians who have declared or are declaring their candidacies for President some 20 months or more in advance of the election are giving us a good reason for not voting for them.

They will have us all utterly bored with the whole thing by the time anybody is a nominee and for the post-convention campaign will have to invent unimportant new "issues" to replace the dead horses they will have been beating all those months.

Douglas Campbell Cos Cob, Conn.

North Is South

Oh, come off it! You aren't really surprised at the reluctance of the white racist citizens of the North to integrate with us poor, lowly black folk [Feb. 17]. The white man's superiority complex won't allow him to admit that our children are just as good as his, and whether that racist lives in the North or the South, he's still a racist. Malcolm X advised his black brothers to "stop talking about the South" because "as long as you are south of the Canadian border, you're in the South."

Nothing could hold more truth, as Boston continues to prove.

Gregory Logan Baltimore

The most tragic aspect of the current busing conflict is that it has allowed the far deeper crisis of inadequate education for America's children to be sidestepped and obscured.

While I believe integration is a vital and needed part of any genuinely healthy and educational experience, the central task of the schools is to provide every child with the skills and knowledge he or she needs to find a job and live a decent life. America's educational system has failed to provide this constitutionally guaranteed right especially to black and other minority children, and the results can be seen in the high rate of unemployment and low wages that torment black America.

I believe that the critical challenge today is to ensure a good education for all. Few whites I believe would object to integration or even busing itself, if its purpose and result were the best possible education rather than the futile shuffling of students from one school to another with scant prospect of a meaningful educational experience in either.

The real needs of all children black and white are the same, and I believe that by focusing on the real issues genuine advances would occur in both the quality and the level of integration of American education.

Coretta Scott King Atlanta

Gun Laws

Regarding "Cop Carnage" [Feb. 17], how could gun laws have prevented this tragedy?

Just in case your "many urban police chiefs" do not know it, New York City has had very strict gun laws for many years. This fact has not made it another Garden of Eden.

Do you think it would help if our courts of law would lean a little on people who commit crimes with guns?

J.E. Kelly Chicora, Pa.

Your article notes the tragic spiraling increase in the number of slayings of police officers. What should be added is that this increase comes at a time when the police, for their part, have made commendable progress in reducing the use of force and in practicing restraint in the control of disorders. Specifically, a number of police departments have greatly tightened controls over the use of weapons by officers.

The article also indicates that the number of police officers and administrators supporting gun control is growing. This is a hopeful trend that I believe will accelerate. Strong gun-control laws offer the best opportunity for reversing the upward climb in violent crimes and police slayings.

Patrick V. Murphy, President

Police Foundation

Washington, D.C.

The writer was formerly police commissioner of Detroit and New York City.

Old Tom, Vain George

To label as dirty graffiti my detailed examination of Thomas Jefferson's 28-year liaison with Sally Hemings, quadroon slave and half sister to his dead wife, as was done by Virginius Dabney, quoting Dumas Malone in TIME [Feb. 17], is a slap at all black people.

The Jefferson establishment refuses to look at the material as well as the psychological evidence and persists in denying this most remarkable of our founding fathers a capacity for love. One wonders why.

For TIME to describe my Thomas Jefferson, An Intimate History as "unflattering" suggests too that the writer of this article never read the book.

Fawn M. Brodie

Professor of History

University of California, Los Angeles

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