To the Editor.—Your editorial in the April issue of the Journal (127:471, 1974) sounds like a half-time pep talk by a football coach.
"We must prove that scientists can be humane as well as curious, moral as well as dedicated," is undoubtedly the theme of your article. Yet how can "we" prove anything? "We" still stand high in public opinion, but doubts are the result of deeds damning delinquent doctors. I cheer on with you, Coach, but just as nationality and religion and color are not criteria for judging a man, neither can the degree "Doctor of Medicine" be an adequate criterion.
It is ironic that investigation of the aborted fetus is being thwarted by antiabortion advocates; however, the concern is not with the doomed fetus per se, but rather with encouraging the concept of taking a life. "Since human beings (including doctors) can misconstrue even 'informative' information,"