Contraception and Abortion

Holtzman purports to present the real agenda of the pro-life movement. In reality, she only presents one extreme point of view from the perspective of the other extreme. Specifically, she says that pro-lifers are out to ensure that sex occurs “only for the purpose of making babies.”

While there are groups such as Operation Rescue and the Catholic Church that hold to that position, the majority of pro-lifers do not fall into this category. In fact, the largest group formed for the specific function of opposing abortion--the National Right to Life Committee, of which I am a member--supports increased use of preventive birth control as opposed to abortion. The organization is headed not by religious zealots but by a physician, which helps show that the “real agenda” of abortion opponents in general is to preserve life. We are not “anti-choice”!

It is regrettable that Planned Parenthood has become a euphemism for abortion and that abortion supporters have inaccurately characterized their opponents as “anti-choice,” but we should try to look at the real questions on this issue despite the rhetoric--whether the fetus is a human life and whether it is therefore entitled to protection. If the answer to these questions is yes, then we must seek alternative methods to deal with the problems of unwanted pregnancies.

DAVID HOLLAND, Canoga Park