This is a personal viewpoint resulting in part from the author's doctoral thesis on widening the indications for therapeutic abortion France. After praising the stand for medical abortion taken by Prof. Fruhinsholz, his advisor, and giving a brief history of the concept of therapeutic abortion, the authro concludes that most writers agree on the principle of such abortion, but disagree on indications. The French law of 1939 permits abortion only to save the mother's life if it is ser iously and immediately endangered. No mention is made of necessary functions such as sight, of disorders that can only be treated by procedures injurious to fetal development, of health endangered by pregnancy, or of subsequent social or economic impairment. The author believes that abortion is a social, not moral problem, but concluded by saying that to abandon a child to public assistance is more immoral than abortion.