LETTERS: WELL-INFORMED CHOICE

To the editor:

In the struggle for common ground on the issue of abortion, the high ground is the welfare of women and their children. The debate surrounding House Bill 1320, the alternative to the abortion bill, has ideological camps poised for yet another showdown during these final days of the legislative session. Once again, the welfare of women, their families and the unborn children of Missouri are at risk of being lost in the political shuffle.

The issues is whether or not full disclosure of options to abortion will somehow burden a woman faced with a crisis pregnancy. Although nothing in the bill restricts a woman's option to choose abortion and the bill provides equal access to services for any pregnant woman in need, the argument against the bill seems to be that women are best left unassisted during this time of crisis. Missouri legislators are in danger of backing away from women faced with some very real social and economic problems because those who champion the abortion option have yelled foul.

HB 1320 would provide case managers at not cost to the state who, like honest brokers, would link women with appropriate social services. They would be links to already existent professional counseling, adoption, employment, housing, day care and prenatal service. These long-term benefits to women's and children's social and economic well being are in the best interest of all Missouri's citizens.

Research by Planned Parenthood as to the reasons women have abortions reveals that approximately 90 percent of abortions are not for medically indicated reasons, but rather for socio-economic reasons. These are precisely the areas in which case managers are most effective in linking women to services to reduce the conditions contributing to the 14,000 annual Missouri abortions.

It is time for the Missouri Legislature to concern itself not with diluting the effectiveness of this bill in an elusive search for common ground, but rather with seeking the high ground: the welfare of women and children, recognizing their rights to compassionate assistance and fully informed choice.

SUSANNE HARVATH, Director

Project Rachel

St. Louis