Betrayers of the Truth: Fraud and Deceit in Science

are not used, then the papers and discussion that follow will be absorbing. If you find yourself wanting more detailed discussion of the assumptions that Mr Baird makes in his introduction, you may be left slightly dissatisfied. Reading through the papers, it soon becomes apparent that the reasons why women seek abortion appear to be far removed from a desire to prevent an unlimited growth of the world's population. In the United Kingdom, 98 per cent of women wish to have an abortion because of social reasons; often it is a first pregnancy. This picture appears to be reflected in other countries. The factors that influence women to take such decisions are not really discussed in this text and it is, I feel, a regrettable omission. However, many issues are raised in the book which should provoke the reader into reflecting on his or her own ethics and practices and this is one ofthe strengths of presenting subject matter in this way. One of the contributors argues that it could be considered unethical to train more doctors than are necessary, as they will have to gain experience that they will never utilise at the expense of vulnerable women. Alastair Campbell spends some time discussing how the terms 'illegal' and 'untrained' are often seen as synonymous when discussing abortion. It is evident from some of the papers that legal abortions are, on occasion, performed by inexperienced personnel, whereas illegal abortions performed in certain countries, are performed by highly experienced personnel. Legality it would seem may not always be synonymous with experience or safety. The availability of abortion is also discussed. Lidija Andolsek states that abortion is seen as a basic human right in Slovenia, a statement which 'pro-life' organisations may well see as a contradiction in terms, but certainly it is an issue worthy of more detailed discussion. This symposium does take a broad look at a wide spectrum of the issues concerned with abortion. Recent developments including the concept of 'wrongful life' are introduced and discussed. The long-term effects of abortion on both the woman and her partner are also discussed in an interesting contribution by Janet Mattinson. And the role of the doctor is discussed briefly: 'many people prefer the doctors to make the choice for them. It is not just a question of altering attitudes, but of helping people to grow up and make choices'. This comment, made by a Jungian analyst, left me with an uncomfortable feeling that she believed that doctors had some particular expertise in this area. Overall, this book must be welcomed for it does try to look at issues that are less than comfortable and to convey the dilemmas and quandaries that the personnel involved in abortion often face. Statistics are also included which should form a helpful reference source. There is also a surprisingly good index which is unusual in a book of this type. One is left, though, feeling that the contributors never allowed themselves to personalise the subject; it was discussed from a distance as ifabortions happened to other people and were performed by other doctors. It is a sad omission that there was no attempt to find out what the effect is on doctors of performing abortions as a part of their routine work. KATE NEWSON