"Something is seriously wrong with our society's approach to the problem of abortion", Donald Judges writes. Investigating the struggle over abortion rights, he found a shocking lack of information on both sides of the issue as well as an ignorance of those matters that really affect a woman's decision. In this thorough, balanced, and fairminded view of the controversy, Mr. Judges provides clear and pertinent information on the sociological, medical, historical, and legal aspects of abortion, with equal attention to the arguments of pro-life and pro-choice forces. The conflict, he charges, has polarized society and dehumanized its participants. Moving on to consider the Supreme Court's response to the abortion question, he argues that the Court has distorted constitutional rights and damaged its credibility. Beginning with the Court's earliest decisions, and tracing its judgments through Roe v. Wade and later cases up to the present, he explains the Court's reasoning in language general readers can understand, and shows how strained and tenuous that reasoning has become. The Supreme Court's decisions, Mr. Judges concludes, serve neither side well and help further roil our society". Abortion rights continue to be determined more by political power than by constitutional principles", he observes. He illustrates how the major arguments of the opposing forces - a woman's rights versus the state's interest in protecting fetal life - are rarely applied to the practical decision for or against abortion. Instead a woman's circumstances - where she lives, how much money she has, whether she works, how old she is - count for much more than constitutional rights or philosophical principles. "Theinterest in reproductive freedom", Mr. Judges writes, "has been defined in a way that allows it to be denied on an unprincipled and arbitrary basis". Reaching beyond the continuing deadlock, Mr. Judges suggests a new test - a so-called "repugnancy point" - which might remove the abortion issue from the courts and satisfy both sides in the controversy. His fresh approach would "express what really bothers people about abortion". Hard Choices, Lost Voices, with its evenhanded perspective on the major issues in the abortion debate, its just treatment of the opposing positions, and its suggestions for a new path toward resolution, is the outstanding book on the subject - for the committed, the concerned, and the undecided.

In a powerful indictment of the battle over abortion rights, Mr. Judges charges that the conflict has divided society, distorted constitutional rights, and damaged the courts. Thoughtful, balanced...a welcome antidote to the emotional rhetoric that has polarized abortion debates in the U.S. This book issues a clarion call for a new approach to the issue. --Nadine Strossen.