LETTER: When did abortion become all the rage?

I am having great difficulty understanding why so many women consider abortion to be the most important part of women’s rights and of “reproductive freedom.” I became “of age” during the free-love era of the previous century when birth control became available in many forms. At first, some forms required a script from a physician, but now so many types are so readily available it is unfathomable that so many women can possibly be unaware that conception can be prevented.

Abortion can have many, many serious physical and emotional side effects. Why is this a better choice? If one is really concerned about women’s health, pitch birth control, not abortion — which should be recommended only as a last resort and not “just because I do not want to have a baby.”