CRUSADERS: Voices from the Abortion Front

A timely look at a half-dozen people closely involved with the abortion wars, which have cooled since the last major battle a year ago--or at least the opposing forces have fallen back to regroup. But the battle is likely to be joined again this summer, when the Supreme Court is set to rule again on an abortion issue involving the rights of minors. Here, Faux profiles six men and women whose lives are defined by their commitment to the cause of abortion, pro or con. Included are Frank Sussman, the lawyer who argued the pro-abortion cause in last year's Supreme Court case; and Randall Terry, the founder and leader of Operation Rescue, the anti-abortion group that demonstrates, sometimes to the point of violence, at abortion clinics. Also pictured are four women ranging from a poor, single mother who worked as a ""foot soldier"" for Operation Rescue to the clear-thinking head of Catholics for Free Choice, Frances Kissling. Not included are such high-profile personalities as the heads of Planned Parenthood and NOW. It is quite clear that Faux's sympathies are pro-abortion, but as the author of other books on abortion (Roe v. Wade, 1988) and family planning (Childless by Choice, 1984), she commands background information that helps bring the real--and often unspoken--issues on both sides into focus. Faux is not evenhanded, but she does offer an intelligent effort to be objective and a fortress of facts, sorely needed in this highly charged conflict.