How is it that politicians rabidly campaigning for “the way life should be” in an advanced American society can persist in absolutist views of abortion availability and indifference to religious doctrine and medical judgment. I see no one in either party questioning “a woman’s right to choose,” only the length of time needed for her to do so. At what stage of pregnancy does reverence for the miracle of life collide with infanticide? Preventive contraception measures are varied, plentiful and affordable. Beyond that decision, modern medical science provides intensive post-pregnancy fetal monitoring to detect deformities and other conditions predictably affecting the ultimate quality of independent life. Exceptions for rape, incest or threat to the mother are not contentious issues and largely can be addressed prior to the end of term. These realities mitigate against an unnecessarily rigid full-term and post-birth advocacy position. There is plenty of inter-party policy opposition to go around without this logically resolvable but somehow contrived conflict. Population control does not have to be deferred until the moment of birth except in the rarest of circumstances. Phil Osifer