Educational Media Reviews Online

Dr. Robert Douglas Spencer, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, practiced medicine in Ashland, PA from the early 1920s until the late 1960s. Although Dr. Spencer provided primary health care services to this coal mining community, his international notoriety was achieved primarily from the over 40,000 abortions which he performed. Abortion was not legalized until 4 years after his death.

The title of the video alludes to the thousands of letters that Dr. Spencer received asking for his assistance; excerpts from a number of letters are read throughout the video. Despite its title, the video is not anti or pro abortion. It is the story of a fiercely independent doctor who committed himself to service for his patients and his community. The video is a blend (nearly a montage in effect) of readings from letters, photographs of Dr. Spencer and Ashland, PA, combined with candid interviews with his wife, lawyer, friends and even patients. The end result is an effective insightful chronicle of one man's life and the impact he had on the community around him. An impact so profound that the predominantly conservative Catholic juries acquitted him each time he was brought to trial for illegal abortions.

Recommended and appropriate for use in any adult level context where social/sociological issues are presented and discussed.