Roe v. Wade crosses have dual meaning

To the Editor,

We are writing in response to your front page photo [“Remembering Roe v. Wade”] in the Jan. 23 issue depicting the crosses in White Memorial Plaza that represent the number of legal abortions since Roe v. Wade. It is worth noting that those crosses could also represent the 67,000 women who die worldwide each year as a result of complications from unsafe abortion. The overwhelming majority of these unsafe abortions occur in countries where abortion remains illegal, a situation that existed in the U.S. before Roe v. Wade made women’s lives safer.

Carrie Frederick, M.D. and Paul Blumenthal, M.D

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford Hospital