The reporter's question was the inevitable: “Abortion is still legal 30 years after Roe v. Wade, so when is the pro-life movement going to face reality and change its focus?”

In 1973 Roe v. Wade elevated abortion from its historical place of shame to the supreme law of the land. Roe and the case of Doe v. Bolton effectively made abortion legal in every state, at any time in pregnancy. Abortion is a hole in the heart of our great nation, and pro-life people will never stop working for the day when all human lives are protected by law.

Unlimited abortion is a social experiment, now running for 30 years. Millions of children have lost their lives, and countless women have suffered physically, emotionally and spiritually. But we don't know with certainty abortion's effect on women's health, or on the family or society, or even how many children have perished, because proponents of abortion have opposed any systematic scrutiny of their experiment.

Instead, we've had a public debate for three decades that is dominated by an utterly false dichotomy—that abortion is a contest between women and children. Pro-lifers are seen as those who fight for unborn children, pro-choicers as those who fight for women. Women and children are of course natural allies, not enemies, and pro-lifers fight for women every day—but the terms of the debate have been set, and they have held.

Because of the sustained efforts of the pro-life movement—and some marvelous developments in science and technology—fewer people now question the humanity of the unborn child. People generally accept the fact that abortion takes the life of an unborn child. Even proponents of abortion will admit it—in 1996, for example, abortion activist Naomi Wolf called upon her peers to recognize the “full humanity” of the unborn child.

Still, abortion is accepted in our culture. Why?

One reason is the profound misunderstanding about abortion that persists in our country. Most people do not understand the breadth of the Roe/Doe edict. Polls show that people think abortion is legal only in the first trimester of pregnancy, and most believe abortion should not be legal beyond that point. Abortion law is extreme, but most people don't know it.

People also misunderstand the reality of abortion practice. The fact that almost half of all abortions today are repeat abortions is inconceivable to most people. Abortions for health reasons or rape, themes that appear so often in the public debate, account for only a tiny fraction of abortions today.

Above all, abortion persists because its proponents have offered up the false assumption that abortion is good for women, and the culture has swallowed it.

It is time to challenge this assumption head-on.

Women choose abortion as a last resort, not as a free choice. Women turn to abortion because they feel alone and helpless, or abandoned, or pressured by boyfriends or family members. Abortion is not the act of empowerment it was promised to be. Even the Alan Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood's research affiliate, reports that the primary reasons women have abortions are a lack of financial resources and of emotional support.

“I can't stop crying” is the type of message that appears regularly on the message boards of the Web site www.afterabortion.com, a forum for women who are having trouble coping with their abortions.

While this is not a pro-life site, the stories shared here give the lie to the pro-choice argument. Their families pressured them, their boyfriends abandoned them, they had nowhere to turn.

Some had their abortions many years ago but feel the pain as intensely as if it were yesterday. Many speak of clinical depression and medication. Women on this site share their feelings of rage and regret, and try to help each other deal with severe grief.

Their profound loneliness is palpable. You cannot visit this site and be unmoved. It should be required reading for anyone considering supporting Planned Parenthood.

No compassionate person wants a woman to suffer through the personal tragedy of abortion. No teen-age girl should have to drop out of school because she became pregnant. No young woman should have to face the prospect of a life of poverty. No one should feel abandoned by her family and friends. And no person should ever have to suffer the pain and anguish of abortion. Pope John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae said that we are called to “a radical solidarity with the woman in need.” Each woman's struggle with an untimely pregnancy is our struggle. The problems she faces are ours to help solve.

Women deserve better than abortion. This month marks the first major public education effort of the Women Deserve Better campaign, a campaign supported by a number of pro-woman and pro-life groups to refocus the nation on the reasons why women feel pressured into abortion and to promote women-centered solutions to these problems. Advertisements will appear in Washington, D.C. subway trains, buses, and commuter trains, in newspapers and periodicals.

Their message: “Abortion is a reflection that we have not met the needs of women. Women deserve better than abortion.” (For more information on the campaign, visit www.womendeservebetter.com.)

Roe v. Wade created the lie that abortion is moral and acceptable because it is legal. Roe must be reversed, and we will never stop working for an end to legalized abortion. While we do, we must also strive to eliminate the reasons why women turn to abortion.

Cathleen A. Cleaver, Esq.Is director of planning and information for the secretariat for pro-life activities at the U.S.

Conference of Catholic Bishops.