Time Now To Heed Mainstream Views Reform, Don’t Revoke Emphasize Prevention, Firsttrimester Action.

In ancient Rome, unwanted babies were abandoned on the hillsides, to be adopted as slaves or to die from exposure. Later, in America, desperate women turned to coat hangers and lye douches.

Unintended pregnancies are simply a part of the human condition. Women have sought abortions throughout history. The question is, how will we treat women who choose to end their pregnancy? Should abortion be safe and legal or secret and terrifying?

For Polly Bergen, a Hollywood actress who nearly died in a pool of blood after an illegal abortion in the late 1940s, the answer burns in her heart. Experiences like hers underlie the commitment of the pro-choice movement.

But on this anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, it’s time for the wisdom of 25 years of life experience to temper these positions. Abortion-rights activists must listen to the ambivalent mainstream of Americans who still favor legal abortion but become increasingly uncomfortable the longer a pregnancy continues. It’s time for the pro-choice side to stop fighting for late-term abortions. In 1995, only two were performed in Washington state. Had a law prohibiting this procedure existed, both cases might have been legal exceptions. The mothers’ lives were in danger; the babies profoundly damaged.

The pro-choice side must work to move most abortions into the first trimester. Physicians now have morning-after pills, early pregnancy detection methods and an ultrasound-guided procedure that can end a pregnancy eight days after conception. The French abortion pill, RU-486, can end pregnancy in the first seven weeks, and should be approved in this country.

Pro-choice advocates also can focus energy on preventing unintended pregnancies, by helping women find reliable contraception and promoting teen abstinence. They can work to strengthen families, which can insulate teens from risky sex. They can fight sexual abuse, which often leads to teen pregnancy.

Bergen believes government does not belong on either side of this issue. She’s right. The American people must resolve this one themselves, with mutual respect and a committed search for common ground.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view, see headline: Let’s stand by women to avert tragic choice

Editor’s Note: These editorials represent a search for common ground concerning abortion. It is that search which today receives the editorial board’s support.

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN, EDITORIAL - From both sides CREDIT = Jamie Tobias Neely Opinion writer