Often a speech is significant for what it leaves out. In his State of the Union address, President Bush never mentioned the word “abortion,” even though the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision was only days away.

What a relief. For many years, the abortion issue has taken up far more time and energy than it deserves. And the blame rests with the purists on both sides, who have insisted on establishing litmus tests for political candidates and judicial nominees on that one, highly polarizing issue.

We understand their sincerity. For those who believe that abortion is murder, there’s no room for compromise. Those who consider abortion to be a fundamental right are equally unyielding. But the media have allowed these hard-line views to dominate the debate over abortion policy, when in fact most Americans are “abortion grays,” somewhere in the middle.

A poll commissioned by Third Way, a moderate democratic group, found that 69 percent support the goal of reducing abortions “while still preserving the basic right to have one.” In the latest CBS News survey, 31 percent favored legalization without restrictions, while 5 percent opposed abortion in all circumstances. Another 12 percent would approve the procedure only to save a mother’s life, leaving more than half in the gray category.