In response to Hernando Herrera's letter concerning abortion, I would first like to congratulate and encourage Penn State Students for Life in their new babysitting service. It is refreshing to finally see them do something to help women, instead of trying to control them.

However, I feel the need to clarify some of his allegations about the pro-choice movement. Pro-choice is not pro-abortion. We do not advocate abortion in all circumstances. We simply want abortion to be economically, politically and practically a safe, legal operation for all women. We believe women are capable of making decisions about their own bodies without Hernando's help.

Since abortion is only one option when an unplanned pregnancy occurs, pro-choice respects each woman's decision about her pregnancy and is concerned that prenatal and childcare are available for all women. Pro-choice believes in and encourages health centers and clinics that provide accurate and non-biased pregnancy testing and options conselling.

Birthright and the Crisis Pregnancy Center are none of the above. They are religiously zealous, inaccurate and biased. These "clinics" are nothing more than anti-choice propaganda that gives women in need of truth and support instead manipulative films designed to frighten and denegrate. I encourage anyone in need of unbiased and caring pregnancy testing and options conselling to go to Ritenour Health Center or Family Health Services.

Hernando's allegations that pro-choice does nothing to help women in need is most puzzling. Penn State Pro-Choice has been actively working since their existence here to improve women's health care at Ritenour. Pro-choice has been working toward better childcare for students with families and just began a support group for women who need to talk to others about their experience with abortion.

Nationally, those who are pro-choice work toward sex education in schools, welfare, childcare in the workplace and safer birth control. These are things anti-choice people rarely believe in, much less actively work toward.

When Hernando speaks of support, he fails to see a crucial difference: Anti-choice supports some women who make a decision that anti-choice believes is right; Pro-choice supports all women and the decision they themselves believe is right.