" You go in there and it's like going to the veterinarian. "

" But do they give moral lectures to dogs? "

-South House conversation

UNIVERSITY Health Services is finally showing an awareness of the female fraction of "the Harvard Family." In response to a change in the Massachusetts birth control law and to what Dr. Sholem Postel called "milieu-pressure," gynecological services, sex counseling and abortion referrals are being coordinated and publicized. The move stems from a January 18 meeting between Health Services doctors, President Bunting, Dean Elliot and two Radcliffe resident tutors. No student were present.

The meeting was the result of a conversation between Bunting and Farnsworth during which Bunting suggested that the Health Services should look upon its responsibilities as "educational" in the area of sexuality. Farnsworth subsequently called the meeting.

To date, the only concrete result of the meeting is a mimeographed sheet giving a central phone number where information on both the medical and psychological services provided can be obtained. A firm policy of anonymity for anyone using the newly coordinated services is in effect. Notations of visits are not entered in regular Health Services records unless a prescription is issued. Although the doctors involved will keep their own records as protection against malpractice suits, these cannot be released to anyone without the patient's permission. At the meeting, Farnsworth mentioned that he had $500 that had been given to aid a "wayward girl." It was suggested that this be used to print a booklet containing birth control information.

The Health Services carefully insists that this publicity does not constitute an expansion of service, but is merely a clarification of services already available.

Under the present abortion statute, only "therapeutic" abortions are legal in Massachusetts. Certification by two physicians that carrying the pregnancy to term constitutes a grave risk, either physical or psychological, to the mother is required. The cost of a therapeutic abortion is covered by the Blue Shield/Blue Cross medical plans for undergraduates, graduate students and faculty. In addition to covering legal in-state abortions, the Health Services will refer cases to New York clinics. In that case, expenses up to the cost of a therapeutic abortion in Massachusetts, which is set for doctors subscribing to the plan, is covered by the Comprehensive Medical Plan. Any costs over that must be borne by the woman.

The old state law blocking dispersal of birth control prescriptions to unmarried women was overturned on constitutional grounds in the First U.S. District Court of Appeals on July 6, 1970. The decision is currently being appealed in the State Supreme Court. Susan Block, a Currier House tutor, suggests, however, that the change in UHS practice is due less to reinterpretation of the law than to "negative feedback" towards the Health Services from women through out the University.

Reactions to the UHS position have been generally favorable.

Judy Lazerson and Susan Block, who went to the January meeting "expecting no response" left it with the impression that the Health Services staff "had really thought it out." Mrs. Block mentioned the doctor's willingness to talk to groups of students and hoped that "a real response" would be forthcoming "to make sure they realize what students need." Farnsworth, Mrs. Block said, "very much doesn't want to be disliked" and was "amenable to pressure."

President Bunting and Dean Elliot, while somewhat anxious about the image of the Radcliffe student body, clearly supported the apparent trend towards liberalized services. "I get the feeling," said one person who attended the meeting, "that she [Dean Elliot] didn't want the doctors to think that everybody at Radcliffe needed birth control."

Dr. Graham B. Blaine, head of Psychiatric Services, called it a change from one "non-policy" to another. In other words, the options available are still determined by the individual doctor but the names of those physicians more or less guaranteed to provide services to women are being advertised. "We may be playing too much the blushing virgin," Blaine admitted. "We might be a little more aggressive."

Under the present system, several internists do the simple gynecological examinations and refer cases to Dr. Somers H. Sturgis, consulting gynecologist, when necessary.

One of the most consistent demands from Radcliffe students has been for a staff of full-time gynecologists at the Health Services. The Health Services takes the position that gynecology is basically a surgical specialty, that no surgeons are retained at the Health Services and that internists are competent to provide basic gynecological care.