ABORTION A CASE FOR CHOICE : Restrictions Mean Suffering, Death : There are times when termination of a pregnancy is the only humane alternative. Birth control, counseling and adoption are beneficial, but they’re not enough.

The past year has been pivotal in the battle to protect the right to choose abortion. The Supreme Court ruling in Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services in July, and the nationwide political mobilization last fall, made abortion a dominant issue in the United States. State legislatures, Congress, the courts and the electorate will have to address abortion and the related issues of birth control and sex education.

Abortion is a complex issue for everyone. It involves the most fundamental questions about religion, ethics, morality and the role of government in decisions involving family planning. It touches all Americans, from policy-makers to individual voters. But most important, it affects women with unwanted pregnancies and their families.

The central question is simple. Who decides? Who should resolve these difficult issues that have arisen over abortion? Should it be politicians? Should it be those who call themselves “pro-life”? Or should it be the women and families directly involved?

Those of us who support abortion rights believe that women and families must make these decisions for themselves, and that the choice in each case is an individual one. We are pro-choice, not “pro-abortion.”

Abortion is an issue about which there are deep and honest differences of opinion. We respect those differences. As difficult as it is morally for some people to accept abortion, we feel there is a greater wrong in forcing a woman to undergo the demanding, intimate and at times life-threatening experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. For some women, the pain and suffering of being denied the choice to end a pregnancy is so extreme that they have risked and lost their lives in order to avoid it. We defend the right of women to choose whether or not to have an abortion. We also work to prevent any parent, spouse, doctor or politician from ever forcing an abortion on any woman who does not want one.

A small, extremist minority cannot be allowed to impose its views and take away our most fundamental liberty: the right to choose. This right establishes that an outsider cannot determine when or whether an individual may have a child.

The anti-choice minority claims that human life begins at conception. In fact, there is no consensus about when human life begins. Certainly, women recognize that a fetus has the potential for human life. But “when human life begins” is a moral, religious, ethical and philosophical question.

For 17 years Roe vs. Wade, the landmark decision legalizing abortion in all 50 states, has been the law of the land. It provided that abortion in the first three months of pregnancy, defined as the first trimester, be free from government interference, and it established some limits on abortion in the second and third trimesters. Many politicians have placated anti-abortion forces by stating their personal opposition to abortion, but they have not had the power to act on it. In its 1989 decision in a Missouri case, Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services, the Supreme Court ruled that states could enact legislation that severely restricts abortion. The political aspect of the issue has taken on a new complexity.

In some areas, anti-choice forces are asking politicians to translate their personal ambivalence into public policy by enacting onerous restrictions on abortion. On the other hand, the pro-choice majority will be scrutinizing the actions of elected officials. Pro-choice voters are making it clear to politicians who would restrict abortion that the consequence will be pregnant women forced either to bear unwanted children or to suffer the pain and degradation of illegal abortions. Many women will die.

Consider also what happens to children who are born unwanted. Adoption can be an option for some women. But it is the worst kind of deceit to claim that there is a loving family waiting to adopt the child of every woman, from teen-age welfare mothers to drug addicts.

Part of our work is preventing pregnancies and reducing the need for abortion. We support sex education and safe, accessible contraception. We work to ensure that every child is fed, housed and educated.

The decision to have an abortion is not an easy one. We would all like to see fewer women facing crisis pregnancies and the wrenching decisions they involve. But, in reality, whether or not to have an abortion is a choice women often face. The world is not perfect; there will always be a need for abortion services. Women are entitled to make these decisions themselves, in consultation with families, trusted friends, religious counselors and doctors if they so wish. Politicians, extremists and clinic protesters have no right to interfere.

As a nation we must trust women to use their personal judgment in making thoughtful, conscientious decisions regarding procreation. Sometimes, those decisions involve terminating a pregnancy. The National Abortion Rights Action League is committed to defending the right of all women to make these personal decisions, and to ensuring that abortion is accessible to all women who choose it.