
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 21, 1990                   TAG: 9003232494
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CHOICE IS MADE BEFORE PREGNANCY

I NOTED with interest and appreciation the newspaper's decision to drop the term "pro-choice" in favor of "abortion rights." By the time a pregnancy is involved, the choice has been made and the issue is life.

I object to the killing of the innocent, whether unborn (abortion), young (infanticide) or old (euthanasia). The term "pro-life" is therefore the accurate term to use to describe my views and convictions.

I maintain that those who favor abortion are indeed "anti-life." They would choose to kill anyone who dared to inconvenience them. Do we honestly believe the killing of the inconvenient will stop with the unborn? If we do not object to the killing of the unborn, eventually none of us will be safe.

Your refusal to use the term "pro-life" reflects an unwillingness to accurately report the pro-life position. Only when you are willing to do so will I begin to be able to believe that you genuinely want to separate your editorializing from your news reporting.\ DAVID LEAMAN\ ROANOKE

Editor's note: This newspaper has adopted terminology used by The New York Times and its news service. We don't use "pro-life" and "pro-choice" because, at least in the opinion of some, they are propagandistic. We use "anti-abortion" and "abortion-rights group" because both terms accurately describe a position. We cannot use "pro-abortion" because some people oppose abortion, yet think such a decision is a matter of individual conscience.

by CNB