To the editor:

George Will’s April 11 column shows that he does not understand the basis for the pro-choice movement. Apparently, Mr. Will believes that because medical technology such as sonograms show that a 15-week fetus “looks like a baby,” both sides in the abortion debate will coalesce around a 15-week cutoff for abortions. However, because abortion care is health care, the pro-choice movement is not likely to simply go away.

Will acknowledges that 90% of abortions occur within the first 15 weeks of pregnancy but ignores the fact that less than 1% of all abortions in the U.S. occur after 21 weeks of gestation. In those cases, the mother almost certainly wants to have the baby. She may have picked out a name and begun to prepare to bring the baby home. Then she discovers late in her pregnancy that the fetus suffers defects incompatible with life or that she herself is suffering maternal health complications that endanger her health, life or future ability to have children. She is then faced with the most difficult decision of her life.

As we have seen in numerous cases that have garnered national attention, late-term abortions are not driven by choice but by medical necessity. Simply put, bans such as those supported by Will and other conservatives put lives in danger. Advocates for restoration of the rights establish by Roe v. Wade will continue to argue for protection of the right of women to control their own health care decisions.

Marty Bregman,

Lawrence