KIE: When the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the Missouri abortion statute case Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, the American Medical Association filed an amicus brief jointly with several other medical associations. Here the general counsel for the AMA explains the three goals that the association tried to accomplish in filing the brief. It provided the Supreme Court with accurate information about the medical questions involved; it challenged two aspects of the Missouri statute involving fetal viability testing and abortion counseling; and it argued that patients have the right to make important personal medical decisions in consultation with their physicians. Speaking for the AMA, Johnson concludes that the role of organized medicine in the abortion debate is to ensure that no law is passed or upheld that conflicts with sound medical practice.