Friday, April 4, 2008

Michael Gerson, ostensibly pro-life, is startlingly cavalier about the lives of women when he attacks anyone who might oppose a ban on "partial birth" abortion -- the political term for intact dilation and evacuation ["Obama's Abortion Extremism," op-ed, April 2].

Restrictions on partial-birth abortions are one thing, but a large number of partial-birth abortions are performed when mothers' lives are in danger or when severe developmental problems have been detected in fetuses. To ban the procedure outright does nothing to prevent late-stage abortion but merely leaves non-intact dilation and extraction methods as the sole resort of women whose lives may be in danger -- methods that many doctors deem riskier and more likely to cause infertility.

KAREN FRANTZ

Policy and Advocacy Associate

American Humanist Association

Washington