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David A. Grimes, MD
University of Southern California School of Medicine Los Angeles

JAMA. 1987;258(9):1176.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Pronouncements of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) concerning prevention of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) carry great weight, yet the CDC's selective silence on this issue may be even more noteworthy. Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, the CDC has been silent about induced abortion as an option for women infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The CDC acknowledges that perinatal transmission is one of only three known modes of transmission and it advises that HIV-infected women not conceive.¹ But what of the growing numbers^1,2 who do become pregnant?

The CDC's avoidance of this issue has been persistent. The 1985 CDC committee assembled to develop guidelines to prevent perinatal transmission of AIDS concurred that the option of abortion should be discussed with HIV-infected pregnant women. This language was deleted from the final institutional report.² More recent reports on prevention of AIDS . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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