Horse sense.

John Garvey's column saddened me. I agree with him and the U.S. Catholic bishops that abortion is evil. Yet I can't disagree with the conclusion that abortion should not be re-criminalized at this late date.

Our bishops (and apparently Garvey) appear to lack what we used to call "horse sense"--that is, a feel for the practical. If abortion were to become a criminal offense after being legal for thirty-some years, the result would make the lawlessness of Prohibition look like a Sunday school picnic. If we really believe that abortion is evil, we should be fighting the conditions which make it an attractive option. While the choice to abort is often complex, poverty and lack of affordable health care are important factors. Of course legal coercion may seem cheaper, but I think this is a shortsighted approach.

PAUL LEA LUJANAC

New Cumberland, Pa.

The author replies:

To Brad Hinker: there is evil in the Democratic Party's absolute indifference to life at its beginning. If I honestly thought Kerry the lesser of two evils, I would vote for him.

To William Cooney: I don't think abortion is the central issue of this election--Iraq is--but Kerry has not distinguished his position from Bush's in any interesting or significant way. All the others evils you lay at the feet of this administration are dead on target. But some single issues do matter. If during the war in Vietnam a candidate who promised to get us out of Vietnam also promised to restore Jim Crow laws, I couldn't vote for him.

To Paul Lea Lujanac: You are right about the current climate and the impossibility of recriminalizing abortion, and about the need to help those whose desperation might lead them to consider it. There are legislative things that can be done, short of coercive law, and polls have shown the public receptive to them: restrictions on late-term abortions, a movement against abortions done to make sure the child brought to birth is a male, parental notification, etc. The Democrats have made any abortion, any time, for any reason, an absolute right.

JOHN GARVEY