PIP: The author responds to several issues in the January 1998 issue of the British Journal of Family Planning, agreeing with the points made in the editorial, but adding that the oral contraceptive pill scare should not be underestimated. Many family planning clients do not accept what health professionals say about the pill and are waiting for the next scare. Regarding fertility and induced abortion in the northeast Thames Region of Haringey, cultural and ethnic factors are not mentioned. However, such factors and distinctions are highly pertinent in areas such as Haringey which have a large number of young, fertile, ethnic minority women. Haringey has a considerable number of 30-year-old grandmothers. 30% of clinic patients at Haringey Healthcare NHS Trust in 1996/97 chose to use the condom, 28% oral contraception, 10% the IUD, and 4% Depo-Provera. Family planning clinics exist to serve family planning clients, not just to provide training or conduct research.