From "Who Decides? A Reproductive Rights Issues Manual" (C) 1990 NARAL Foundation/NARAL The following are NARAL's positions, as identified by the above source: Government restrictions on the reasons women can have legal abortions Every woman has the fundamental right to decide for herself, free from government interference, whether or not to have an abortion. Today, more than ever, American families do not want the government to trample on their right to privacy by mandating how they must decide on the most intimate, personal matters. That is why even though Americans may differ on what circumstances for terminating a crisis pregnancy are consistent with their own personal moral views, on the fundamental question of who should make this personal decision, the majority of Americans agree that each woman must have the right to make this private choice for herself. Anti-choice proposals to ban abortions for "sex-selection" or "birth control" are smokescreens designed to shift the focus of the debate away from this fundamental issue and trivialize the seriousness with which millions of women make this highly personal decision. Any government restriction on the reasons for which women may obtain legal abortions violates the core of this right and could force all women to publically justify their reasons for seeking an abortion. Teenager's access to abortion services Responsible parents should be involved when their daughters face crisis pregnancies. In fact, most teenagers do turn to their parents for guidance. But the government cannot mandate healthy family communication where it does not already exist. Laws that restrict minor's access to abortion by mandating parental involvment actually harm teens and families they purport to protect, by increasing illegal and self-induced abortions, family violence, suicide, later abortions, and the teenage birthrate. The real agenda behind laws enabling parents to veto their daughter's abortion decisions by requiring parental consent or notification is to deprive young women access to abortion. Opponents of choice are seeking to use the issue of parental consent to paint the pro-choice position as extremist and anti-family. The true pro-family position is the pro-choice position. Equal access to abortion: discrimination in public funding Government refusal to fund abortion services makes it impossible for women, even women with serious health problems, to exercise their constitutional right to choose abortion. It jeapordizes women's health by forcing some women to resort to illegal abortions and others to delay abortions. Governmental exclusion of abortion services from an otherwise comprehensive funding program (including costs related to childbirth) is not a "neutral" stance; it coerces women to make one choice by foreclosing the possibility of making another. Women's ability to obtain medical care should not be dependent on economic status. Nor should it be held hostage to political extremism. Restictions on the use of "public" facilities for abortion services The effect of these laws -- and the intent behind them -- is to make it impossible for many women, even women with serious health problems, to exercise their constitutional right to choose to have an abortion. Women's ability to obtain medical care should not be held hostage to political extremism. Men's attempts to veto women's abortion decisions In the vast majority of relationships, women choose to discuss decisions about birth control, abortion and family planning with their spouse or partner. Responsible men are, as they should be, deeply involved in women's decisions concerning whether or not to have an abortion. The issue here is, in those relatively few cases in which a relationship breaks down ad the partners cannot agree, who should make the decision. Although men clearly have a strong interest in these decisions, no one should be able to utilize the power of the state to force a woman to continue a pregnancy and bear a child against her will. It must be the woman who decides. Government cannot legislate healthy relationships and attempts to do so could be disasterous. Women who have decided to have abortions could be forced to suffer the humiliation of having to consult or gain permission from men who have beaten, abused or deserted them. Anti-choice propaganda laws As is common practice with any medical procedure, physicians must obtain a woman's informed consent after advising her of the relevant medical information concerning abortion, including the risks involved and the options available. Women should be provided with all options. These anti-choice laws, however, have nothing whatsoever to do with providing women with medical information or options. The sole purpose behind these laws is to use shocking and deceptive literature and films to provoke fear, anxiety and guilt in women facing crisis pregnancies. Sex education and family planning One fundamental goal that all Americans should support is the reduction of the incidence of abortion by attacking the root problem: the high rate of unintended pregnancies. The most effective means to reduce the crisis pregnancies that often lead to abortions is not by restricting constitutional rights but through improved sex education and availability of contraception. Unfortunately the Bush administration and anti-choice forces have too often sought to undermine efforts to reduce abortions through improved education and research into birth control. The Bush administration and opponents of choice should leave behind their ideological blinders and join pro-choice forces in a sincere and comprehensive effort to reduce the rate of crisis pregnancies. Pregnant women's rights While this tragic problem clearly is deserving of our government's attention, the use of special punitive laws aimed at pregnant women will hurt not only women's rights but the infants these laws are aimed at helping. Such laws will deter pregnant women from seeking much needed medical care for the treatment for alcohol and drug dependency during high-risk pregnancies. There is broad-based consensus among health care providers, as well as groups on both side of the abortion debate, that government should not impose ineffective punitive measures, but instead should address the root problem, which is the complete lack of drug treatment programs for pregnant women. Special restrictions on pregnant women also create a dangerous precedent for wide-ranging governmental intrusions into the everyday decisions of all American women. Fetal tissue research The government should not allow extermist, anti-choice ideology to control public policy and undermine advances in medical science. It is a national tragedy that the opportunity to save countless lives through federally funded fetal tissue transplant research is being sacrificed because of opposition from self-proclaimed "pro-lifers."