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your entire issue. I knowthere are many of us outthere and you are helpingus come together. Together,we do have a choice and we can make changes."Martha GlennonBement, IL"Thank you for On the Issues. It is splendid. Wehave begun a Women's studies Resource Center on alimited scale — with no budget — so we would appreciatecontinuing to receive your publication. There isno Women's Center on our campus and our officefunctions as a place where women can go who needresources or ideas.Maggie Mc'Fadden, Associate ProfessorAppalachian State UniversityBoone, NC"I drew strength, courage and conviction from readingyour publication cover to cover for the first lime,and took heart for being a woman. I wanted tothank you more than I can say for your supportThank you! !!"Sony a LugoNew York, NY"As a pro-choicer living in a pro-life city, it's gettingharder and harder to express my views. It's nice tohear from others with the same opinion I have; andthat also respects the views of others as I do, even if Idon't agree."Lauren A. CohenN. Dartmouth, MA"I'm the Director of Women s Issues for the AmericanJewish Committee, New York Chapter and Iwant to use your fine publication for my work here"Betty ReiserNew York, NY"Thank you for the copy of On the Issues. The articlesby Merle Hoffman, Virginia Apuzzo and AlexandraSymonds are right on! I will pass my copy onto members of two women's support groups to whichI belong: 'Women in the Ministry', which inlcudesclergy, a law student, clinical social worker, etc.,and a support group in a retirement communitywhere feminist issues are of major concern as wegradually raise the consciousness of other retiredpersons, both men and women. Thank you for thework you are doing"Lois C. SeifertClaremont, CA"I suffered from clinical depression for 18 years. Iwelcome seeing information about this confusingdisease; however, I must comment on Dr. Symonds'article. While cultural demands may contribute tothe higher incidence of depression in women, recentresearch indicates that brain chemistry imbalancehas far more to do with causing depression thanpsychological stress. I did not improve until a psychiatristfound the medication which corrected myfaulty brain chemistry. I needed the emotional supportof my psychiatrist to help me through the longprocess of finding the effective medication, but noamount of psychological therapy will change thechemical processes of the brain."Yvonne M. KelchamCape Girardeau, MOEditor's Note: Dr. Symonds said in herarticle: "Treatment of depression shouldbe a combination of psychotherapy and,when indicated, medications, (underscoreours.)... Medication alone is not enough... New medications have accomplished agreat deal in relieving the extreme sufferingof severe depression. But all depressedpeople need psychotherapy as well.""Ijust received On the Issues. I was pleased to seethat you 're not afraid to print anti-choice letters.These have spurred me to write. I was a patient atCHOICES last year. When I went there, I wassurprised and even annoyed at photos of babies andchildren who had been delivered through your services.I noticed that at least two of your staff werepregnant. That also annoyed me. The counselorwho spoke with me asked me questions and gave meinformation to make sure I was aware of the implicationsof my decision, and to make me realize that Ihad to take responsibility for my life. She was directand sensitive. Previously, I had seen pregnancy as afailure or an enticing escape. Either way, 1 didn'tthink of it as a choice but rather an imposition oneeither accepted or rejected. Suddenly, my decisionwas not so clear. I recognized the seriousness of thechoices I was facing. There is gain and loss on eachside. I determined to take responsibility for the choiceI made. When I left CHOICES, I decided thatfrom that moment on, pregnancy would always be amatter of my choice, not chance, and determined toappreciate and develop my own life so that when Idecide to have a child, I will have satisfied andaccomplished all the goals which were the reasons formy postponing motherhood. Thank you so much.CHOICES truly lives up to its name.COMING ATTRACTIONS:NAOMI CHASE, author of A Child isBeing Beaten, on Massachusetts 1 phenomenallysuccessful Employmentand Training Choices Program —anexclusive interview...DR. RICHARDMORGAN. International Coordinator ofName Withheld By RequestBronx, NYMobilization for Animals, makes a connectionbetween animal rights andthose of women and children...Blackwomen's health issues...the effects ofdiagnostic technology on a woman'sright to choose...and morel"We would like to convey our considerable outrage atthe ethnic stereotyping in the editorial cartoon onpage 18, Volume IV of On the IssuesAdvocacy of a particular position should never be anexcuse for this sort of offensive caricaturing, particularlywhen the cartoon's shrill message vitiates thetemperate and reasoned tone that characterizes therest of your excellent publication.In addition to its insensitive nature, the cartoon is\imply not correct in suggesting that the OrthodoxJewish community (represented by the gentlemanwith the long nose wearing the yellow star) sharesthe Catholic Church and Moral Majority's activistabsolutist position on the abortion issue. The Unionof Orthodox Jewish Congregations, the representativebody of the vast majority of North AmericanOrthodox synagogues, is on record as opposing anyConstitutional amendment concerning abortion.Most Orthodox Jews attempt to refrain from seekingto impose their own theological views on Americansof other faiths and creeds.May we suggest that to be truly pro-choice'is torespect the right of others to choose not to sanctionabortion for themselves without attacking theirmotives or religious beliefs."David Luchins Margy-Ruth DavisCo-Chair Co-ChairCommunal Relations CommissionUnion of Orthodox Jewish Congregationsof A mencaNew York, New YorkExcerpt from Merle Hoffman's response:"/ did not view the depiction of the Jew as anti-Semitic, perhaps because so often I have personallybeen on picket lines and in demonstrations and rallieswhere highly visible members of the Orthodoxsect, looking not dissimilar to the cartoon figure,were counter-demonstrating, holding signs that proclaimedabortion as murder and a sin.I am also aware that no religion is monolithic andthat in any organization there will be degrees ofagreement/disagreement with the established position.This is as true in the Jewish Orthodox religiouscommunity as in any other religiouscommunity. The anti-abortion, anti-woman's rightsmovement has support from all religious affiliations.The political momentum to overturn Roe v. Wade isnot limited to the push for a Constitutional amendment,but is reflected in litmus testing for FederalCourt Judgeships, State rulings on restrictive consentsprior to abortion, Medicaid cut-offs for poorwomen and, outside the law, direct violence againstabortion clinics themselves.I, in no way, intend any type of anti-Semitic inferenceby my publication of this cartoon. As a woman,psychologist, feminist, activist and Jew, my entirepolitical and spiritual direction is one which seeks toreduce the artificial stereotypic barriers that divide usrather than to increase them But, the fact remainsthat it is women who must bear the results of thelaws concerning their bodies, their children and theirreproductive freedom; laws that they had little, ifany, voice in creating."Tdo13