[Brandye]

We all want to eliminate the need for abortion because there are consequences for all involved. Women need to have all the options laid out for them and they, and they alone, make an excruciating decision. The UK NHS requires that all women seventeen or older be referred for abortion at their request. Many European nations have this requirement.

It seems that the US is the main holdout on both the death penalty and humane treatment for women in reproductive stress. I hope my Yank friends do not personalize this but the US has not ratified the International Treaty on the Rights of Women; nor the one on the Rights of Children. I wish you could join me for the next fortnight doing surgery in Angola. The entire world wants leadership from the US but there are too many Americans who refuse to see anything beyond their own neighbourhood or church.

We, in Europe, have very high hopes for Mr Obama. The very people Sess talks about so clearly and so well are the ones who can prevent the US from maintaining the leadership the world so desperately needs. Hold you head up Sess; you faced your responsibility and made the decision right for you.