I am afraid that Dr. Raymond Raskin (Chairman of the Committee on Social Issues), in his response to Francis Barnes' letter to (TAP 25-3), did not at all get the point Dr. Barnes was making. Dr. Raskin defends the political and social actions of the committee by saying that it had sent only three position statements or resolutions to the Executive Council: (1) protesting the “squeal rule”; (2) supporting the freedom of choice of abortion in women; and (3) condemning discrimination against homosexuals. He reports studies and statistics on abortion, etc.

The point, however, is that we are not sociologists but psychoanalysts, and that these holy statements and resolutions are clearly anti-analytic. Supporting pro-choice or pro-life is not our business. The analyst up to now was supposed to respect his neutrality. The argument that the sociopolitical positions of the committee are accepted by all 3000 members of the American Psychoanalytic Association because there is only one letter of protest is not necessarily valid. If this is true then the situation of American psychoanalysis is not just alarming but desperate.

It is my strong belief that we should not try to correct past mistakes by becoming trendy.

Sincerely,

George Zavitzianos, M.D.

Montreal