Each day I scan the opinion pages of the The Daily Collegian. Each day I am confronted with some issue of social right or wrong.

Of late, the topic of choice has been abortion. These writers either condemn women who chose to terminate a pregnancy or the writer becomes an "abortion cheerleader."

What is missing from the letters on the pages is a middle ground. This gray area recognizes the reasons why a woman chooses abortion. I would like to think that this opinion also encourages people to show a bit of compassion for women who choose abortion.

The decision to have an abortion is an agonizing one and is not made without guilt or sorrow. Women who make the decision to abort do not need or want pictures of the developing fetus staring them in the face as they read the morning paper.

These women don't want a simple "it was within your legal rights." A woman in this situation only wants someone to hold her hand and reassure her that she is loved. After all, it was her value of life that lead her to this decision, not the law.

"Value for life!" I can hear someone scream. Yes, value for life. Most likely this woman has weighed the negatives and the positives for the unborn.

Was this child conceived out of love or just passion? Did other reliable methods of birth control fail? (Yes, it does happen). Will this child be born an addict? Can this child receive pre-natal care? Is this child worth more to the mother than her own life?

A woman who choses abortion is not looking for an easy out -- abortion is not easy, physically or mentally. A woman who aborts saves a child from a life that she knows would not be worthy for any living creature because she understands the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy.

People must remember that abortion is an alternative outcome for pregnancy, just as birth. Women who choose abortion must live with their decision every day, just the same as the woman who chooses to carry the child full term.

It is not fair for anyone of us to make decisions for other people who live in this complicated world. If each of us would take responsibility for his own life and offer support to those people around us, life wouldn't be black and white. Maybe life would have a more rosy hue.