Dial for Abortion

In theory, since a dozen states have liberalized their laws, it is no longer difficult for an unwilling pregnant woman to get a safe, legal abortion in the U.S. Since last July, New York has had minimal restrictions and no residence requirement. Yet abortion seekers still face formidable obstacles, ranging from doctors' reluctance to alleged bilking by a score of commercial ''referral services" that have sprung up in New York.

Charging from $60 to $160 to make an appointment with a doctor, those services have eagerly advertised as far away as Miami Beach--in one case, by using a low-flying plane trailing a banner that read "Abortion Information," and a Manhattan phone number. New York State's Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz is so disturbed by such brokers that he is considering legislation either to put them out of business or to regulate them strictly.

Stored Data. Planned Parenthood groups and some religious agencies offer the same service free. But nothing quite matches a new computerized service run by Zero Population Growth Inc., a nonprofit organization headquartered in Los Altos, Calif. From its founding in 1968, it was inundated with requests for abortion referrals. "This wasn't our main purpose, but we couldn't turn these people away," says Z.P.G.'s executive director, Shirley Radl. "Then we found ourselves accumulating information on doctors, hospitals and costs around the country." The natural next step was to organize the data and store it in a computer. The result is Abortion Information Data Bank (AID Bank), which now has about 500 listings, including 300 doctors.

A pregnant woman anywhere in the U.S. can call Z.P.G. AID Staffer Kit Riggs gets her name, address and financial status, and can usually give preliminary advice on the phone. Then Mrs. Riggs feeds her caller's data into a shared-time computer. Within five minutes, the computer produces a printout listing the names of the eight or ten doctors and clinics nearest the caller, with their fees and other pertinent facts. Mrs. Riggs mails this printout to the caller. AID makes no charge for its service, but asks women who can afford it to send a $5 donation.

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