any responsible learning institution. Given the extremely difficult, emotionally charged and significant issues surrounding abortion at the embryo stage, which issues become even more difficult when dealing with a fetus, anyone suggesting what boils down to the murder of a newborn is doing it simply for the sake of making headlines with a published paper. You know it, the authors know it, we all know it. How pathetic you would find what basically boils down to tabloid trash posing as research an acceptable way to attract attention to the Journal of Medical Ethics. An attempt at stirring controversy for its own sake speaks so poorly of academia, and it does such a tremendous disservice to legitimate and innovative work/research. You criticize your critics, and yet you knew very well what kind of reactions you would get. If you are so inexperienced and naive as to claim innocence, you should not be in the position you are in. Anyway, I would like to remind you that the duty of academics and researchers is to educate, to contribute something positive and useful, with sensitivity and compassion, especially when it comes to the incredibly difficult issues that women, parents, and caregivers in the medical profession face. Please consider this, and consider abandoning the "free-speech" cliche to excuse poor, irrelevant work that serves only to create a scandal. Mike B Sullivan Classic hypocrisy from the Editor with his concerns about "openly racist language". Let's look at the language used in the article that devalues