Senate Candidate Assails Abortion At Open Forum

Dr. Mildred F. Jefferson, a Massachusetts Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, last night called on all Americans to "fight for those who can't fight for themselves" and put an end to abortion.

Abortion replace "the sanctity of life ethic with the quality of life ethic." Jefferson told an audience of 50 at Phillips Brooks House, in the newly forward Harvard-Radcliffe Students For Life group's fifth sponsored event this year.

Speaking for close to an hour-without any prepared notes, Jefferson assailed what she called doctors' ignorance in confronting the moral dilemma of abortion. Jefferson referred to a statement in the Hippocratic Oath--"I will not aid a woman to procure an abortion"--and added, "unfortunately people in my profession know lens about legislature than the average layman."

Jefferson said she is a viable candidate in the three-way struggle for the Republican nomination. Recent polls show her trailing former U.S. Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson '41 and businessman Raymond Shamie.

Students for Life recently submitted the necessary papers and is waiting for official college recognition. The group, which includes more than 20 members, first came together in December 1983 with the aim of "educating the Harvard-Radcliffe community about the issue of abortion and its consequences." according to founding member Michael K. Pakatuk '80.