an ethical issue?

["H.Wade Patterson" <hwade@triax.com>]

Group:
Sohei Kondo, in his book, Health Effects Of Low-Level Radiation, Chapter
2, page 22; Medical Physics Publishing, Madison WI. 1993, states that
"According to the IAEA 100,000-200,000 excess abortions were performed
throughout western Europe after the Chernobyl accident." 
He cites Ketchum, LE, Lessons of Chernobyl: SNM members try to
decontaminate world threatened by fallout. Part 1 [Newsline]. J. Nucl.
Med., 28, 413-422, 1987 as the source of this data.

In the August issue of Health Physics, 73(2), 378-382, there is a note
by Kristin Shrader-Frechette and Lars Persson titled "Ethical Issues in
Radiation Protection."

Curiously they make no mention of these abortions.

I wonder if they do not see an abortion, induced by fear of radiation
exposure, as an ethical issue.

It seems to me that it is.

Such fear of course arises from the official ICRP/NCRP position that
there is no threshold for radiation induced cancer and teratogenesis.

I wonder what opinions others may have on this matter?

-- 
Wade

mailto:hwade@triax.com

H.Wade Patterson
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