The panel discussion, which involved six participants, considered issues in the making of the film, "Defending Our Lives," which presents the stories eight women who were imprisoned in Massachusetts for killing their abusers; responses to battering among lesbian and gay couples; recommendations included in a Report on Domestic Violence; contents of the Massachusetts Abuse Prevention statute; the Roxbury Family Violence Project; and the admissibility of evidence of past abuse to establish duress. Four articles consider the prosecutorial role in the enforcement of Massachusetts' Abuse Prevention statute (Mass. Gen. L. ch. 209A); how Massachusetts is and should be addressing abuse among lesbian and gay couples; a copy of Massachusetts' Report on Domestic Violence: A Commitment to Action; and a review of domestic violence programs in legal education. One of the "comments" analyzes the Rhode Island Supreme Court's decision in McMaugh v. State, which established coercion as a defense in an abused woman's killing of her abuser. Another considers the Connecticut Supreme Court's decision In re Valerie D. regarding prenatal conduct as an insufficient basis for the termination of parental rights. Other comments address abuse and parental rights in the context of adoption, Irish citizens' travel to other European countries to obtain abortions, and domestic relations exception to diversity jurisdiction. For individual articles, see NCJ 153830-36.