here is a big difference between ''The Princess and the Pea'' and ''The President and the Pill.''
In the fairy tale, a princess wins the hand of the prince and lives happily ever after because she felt a pea under a mountain of mattresses. Everyone knew she felt the pea because when she was asked how she slept, she said, ''Oh, very badly! I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It's horrible!''
In ''The President and the Pill,'' two princes are trying to win the hands of millions of princesses. Their rhetoric is so carefully scripted that on issues such as trade, education, and Hollywood violence, you can hardly tell them apart.
This made it very hard on the princesses. In the summer, George Bush bore promises of education reform to take the lead among white women voters. In the late summer, Al Gore showered bouquets among the women of ''working families'' and seemed to have nudged Bush into the moat.
But Bush has recovered, the polls are close to even, and until a few days ago there had not yet been a defining moment to help many princesses see the difference between a prince and a frog.
That was before fate placed a pea under both Gore and Bush.
Last week the Federal Drug Administration announced its approval of the abortion pill RU-486. The pill, which should be available by the end of this month, gives women a new option to abort an unwanted pregnancy. The pill allows abortions to be induced at home instead of through surgery at a clinic, where patients often have to wade past antiabortion protesters.
Gore felt the pill and praised it. ''Today's decision is not about politics but the health and safety of American women and a woman's fundamental right to choose,'' Gore said.
Bush felt the pill and leaped off the bed in horror. After so many months of trying to convince moderate suburban women that he was a compassionate Republican, he condemned RU-486.
''The FDA's decision to approve the abortion pill RU-486 is wrong.'' Bush moaned that the pill would make abortions ''more and more common rather than more and more rare.'' Reminding us that he opposes abortion except in the case of rape, incest, or to save the life of a mother, Bush said, ''I will work to build a culture that respects life.''
There is no more stark reminder that there is a choice to make between Gore and Bush.
Bush has sent clear signals that if he is elected president, he will nominate justices to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe v. Wade. When Tim Russert asked Bush on ''Meet the Press,'' nearly a year ago, ''Which Supreme Court justice do you really respect,'' Bush responded:
''Antonin Scalia is one.''
Russert said, ''He is someone who wants to overturn Roe vs. Wade.'' Bush said, ''Well, he's a ... there's a lot of reasons why I like Judge Scalia.''
Russert said: ''So you'd want to know how a judge feels about abortion. You just wouldn't put him on the bench blindly.'' Bush said, ''I want to know how a judge feels about a lot of issues.''
A few moments later Russert asked Bush, ''Will your judges and judge appointments to the Supreme Court be similar to Scalia in their temperament and judicial outlook?'' Bush said, ''Well, I don't think you're going to find many people to be actually similar to him. He's an unusual man. He's an intellect.''
Then Russert asked Bush, ''Do you believe Clarence Thomas was the most qualified man in the country for the Supreme Court?'' Bush responded, ''I do.''
Bush most admires the two most conservative members of the court, both of whom oppose abortion on a bench that has upheld abortion rights by a 5-4 majority. Gore, despite a checkered past on abortion, now says that any justice he nominates to the high court would have to support abortion rights.
Up to now Bush has downplayed the abortion issue. Even in this week's debate he avoided saying directly that he would appoint justices who would overturn abortion rights but decried so-called ''liberal, activist judges.''
If he is president, Bush will not be so coy. The princess felt the pea and lived happily ever after. Bush felt the pill and heaven only knows if he is so horrified that he is willing to send us back to the days when women sought illegal abortions. Many women came home black and blue all over. Some did not come back at all.
Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address is jackson@globe.com.
