The 'right' of a woman to^-have an abortion has become an emotionally charged issue. The arguments put forth against this right are laced with moral indignation. They do not lack conviction. But, they must be answered.

It is now in vogue to compare legalized abortion with the Nazi Holocaust. This is an affront to the victims and the survivors of this horror. Only one who does not truly understand the Holocaust would ever make this comparison. Abortion is a personal decision. It is not a movement, a credo, a plan. Nazi Germany did not start with abortions. Hitler, himself, felt the use of contraceptives and the practice  of abortion went against Nazi ideals. He urged the extermination of abortion. Opposing concepts and minority peoples were also exterminated. Nazi Germany was . the ultimate denial of freedom of choice.

As to the argument that, abortion leads to euthanasia etc., there is no evidence that respect for life has diminished or persons have been killed in countries that have had legal abortion for years. However, infanticide is prevalent in countries, where the overburdened^- poor cannot control^- their childbearing and was prevalent in Japan before abortion was legalized.

This is not to support the fallacious theory that abortion is an alternative to birth control. Far from it. Dr. Christopher Tietze of Population Control has' found that "There has been a marked Increase in the use of contraception by both married and unmarried women since legal abortions became available."

We who support freedom of choice concern ourselves with all aspects of reproduction. We vigorously support measures which would eliminate much of the need for abortion. We do not refuse to sit down and talk with anyone who has another view or feels there may be another way. But, we will never cease to insist that a woman have the right and freedom to determine when and if she will reproduce. As Dwight Eisenhower so eloquently said, "All our freedoms are a single bundle, all must he secure if any is to be preserved."

DALE CHARKOW

Coordinator

Putnam Coalition for Freedom of Choice