For Abortions

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Unwanted pregnancy is a tragedy, and for a young woman already confronted with the complex personal relationships and career pressures of college, there is no solution that is without suffering and trauma. In establishing financial support for abortions UHS and, by extension, Harvard University, would advocate a particular decision which, although saving the woman from child-bearing, necessitates the destruction of human life. The implications are unquestionably serious, but our society today tends to ignore such implications-as a Cornell health insurance officer remarks, an abortion is "a lot cheaper than having a baby."

The Crimson betrays a bias in this direction (and also a sensationalist streak) by labelling as an "abortion fund" an RUS medical emergency loan fund which could also be drawn upon by a Radcliffe student choosing to bear her child. The fact that so few women choose this difficult alternative reflects the lack of encouragement and practical support for this option among counselors, and in society at large.

We feel that this increasingly liberal attitude toward abortion indicates a dangerous lack of concern for human life, and cannot condone the use of general funds, with the implicit moral assent involved, for this purpose. Kathryn E. Donovan '77   Constance Mitchell '76   Leslie J. Olin '76-3