Reply #34: Seems that this is the source - a controversial JAMA article [View All]

[question everything]

by M. LeRoy Sprang, MD; Mark G. Neerhof, DO (DO???)

(thank you, Eileen)

http://eileen.undonet.com/Main/PBAinfo/cv80000x.htm


Vol. 280, pp. 744-747, Aug. 26, 1998

Rationale for Banning Abortions Late in Pregnancy

Dayton, Ohio, physician Martin Haskell, MD, who had performed more than 700 partial-birth abortions, stated that most of his abortions are elective in that 20- to 24-week range and that "probably 20% are for genetic reasons, and the other 80% are purely elective."


One of the letters, by Dr. Jane Hodgson of St Paul, MN had the following comment:

Drs Sprang and Neerhof have written an article that is a treatise against abortion, not a scientific contribution. Many of the references are citations to lay or newspaper articles rather than to scientific literature. No references are made to any research work of the authors. In describing the risks of an intact D&X, the authors use a quote that refers to a full-term breech delivery from a chapter in Williams Obstetrics, a text with little reference to abortion.5 The authors appear to have had little or no practical experience in the field of abortion.