In addition, "safe haven" laws--which provide immunity from prosecution to mothers who leave their babies in hospitals--save lives. Similar laws that provide those choosing between abortion and adoption a greater sense of confidence in the adoption process might encourage more women to make that choice. Abortion counseling can make those options known to the mother, but we must strengthen the nature of choices available to a pregnant mother to make that choice real.

Just as both sides should agree to agree on sex education, contraception and adoption, they must also learn better to agree to disagree on abortion policy. Whatever your conviction, the constitutional right to an abortion in the United States has been consistently upheld since the Roe v. Wade decision over a quarter-century ago. There have been fights about extremely late abortion procedures, about federal funding and about protesters, but the current court has made it clear that it will refuse to consider the basic right to an abortion as anything but fundamental.

To make progress, both sides must widen their focus and stop expending effort for symbolic victories on the fringes of the reproductive policy debate. Let us agree to work together, to lessen the number of unwanted pregnancies, to increase the percentage of adoptions and to put aside rhetoric to lower the number of abortions performed. Wouldn't that be a great accomplishment in this election year?

Adam I. Arenson '00-'01, a Crimson executive, is a history and literature concentrator in Lowell House.