President Bush suggested that the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, that gentlest of measures which he signed into law earlier this month ("Welcome to the 'human family,'" Aug. 17), could be a first step in restoring a culture of life. It may well be, if the administration encourages further steps with other moves, quite as gentle. They would require no new legislation, and they might involve simply the artful raising of questions in public.

For one thing, the Department of Justice could inquire of places like Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill., whether they are still performing the so-called "live birth abortions," in which a baby is delivered, and then put aside to die. Or they could be asked whether they are performing any abortions that just might run afoul of the new law.

Merely to pose the question raises the prospect that a hospital or clinic could be in violation of federal law. And while the violation carries no penalties, there must be, ever hovering, the prospect of losing federal grants. That prospect may set off deep tremors; it could also induce many facilities to consider again whether they would be better off getting out of the business of abortion altogether.

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