Rock icon Grace Slick joins PETA in condemning the cruel, wasteful animal studies funded by the March of Dimes with donors' generous contributions. Even March of Dimes employees, who received Grace's Mother's Day telephone message, may not know that the charity's experimenters have:

· sewn shut the eyes of newborn kittens, then killed the kittens after they had endured a year of blindness

· strapped social, intelligent primates into restraint chairs for days at a time

· cut open ferrets' skulls and injected chemicals into their brains

· administered alcohol, cocaine, and nicotine to pregnant animals even though women suffering from substance addiction can be observed in clinical studies

· implanted electrodes into the uteruses of pregnant monkeys and kept them in restraining devices for days at a time

Grace, whose Jefferson Airplane hits include "White Rabbit," wants to save all the animals killed in March of Dimes experiments, and she asks the charity to put its funds into programs that will save babies' lives. Consider the following:

· An estimated 25 percent of all infant deaths could be prevented if adequate prenatal care were provided to the 1.2 million women who need it every year.

· If the 25 percent of women who smoke during pregnancy were to stop, infant deaths would decrease by up to 10 percent.

· Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is the leading cause of birth defects, but even as rats, kittens, and other animals are force-fed alcohol, treatment programs are in desperate need of funding.

· The establishment of a national birth-defect registry could identify and prevent causes of birth defects, but lack of funds leaves this program on the planning board.

Please join Grace Slick in demanding that the March of Dimes stop funding experiments on animals and start helping more babies.