Growing up in Buffalo wasn't easy for Eyal Press. At the time, his father, Shalom, was one of only two doctors performing abortions in the city.

Then, on Oct. 23, 1998, the other original doctor, Barnett Slepian, was killed by a sniper.

The abortion conflict that has spanned over three decades has forever changed Press, and the city of Buffalo. Now a journalist and author from Buffalo living in New York City, Press's latest book, "Absolute Convictions: My Father, a City, and the Conflict that Divided America" tells his personal story of the abortion wars that have plagued Buffalo and the nation since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

This Tuesday, he is giving a lecture and signing books at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center at 7 p.m.

After Dr. Slepian was murdered, Shalom, a colleague and friend of Slepian, found himself in a dangerous position. There were armed guards at his house. He wore a bulletproof vest to work. Now, years later, Press searches for the reasons behind the assassination.

"I felt a need to try to understand what lead to such a tragedy taking place in my hometown and to try and unravel the threads that had coalesced to produce the murder," Press said in an interview with The Spectrum.

In the early 1980s, Buffalo became a hotbed for the abortion issue.

"There was a Pentecostal church called New Covenant Tabernacle that had young pastors who entered the movement and embraced radical measures," he said. "Civil disobedience and protesting on the streets, and their emergence coincided with the formation of what we now know as the 'religious right.' The story I tell in the book is very much tracing the rise and development of the 'religious right.'"

In "Absolute Convictions," Press draws comparisons between the abortion conflict and Buffalo's own deindustrialization, class struggles, and the unemployment crisis of the late '70s and early '80s. Buffalo has always been thought of as a very pro-life city, but as Press points out, most radical pro-life activists do not condone the murder of abortion performing obstetricians. James Kopp, who was arrested for Dr. Slepian's murder three years later, is said to have greatly set back the pro-life movement.

When asked about the current state of the abortion conflict, Press said he could not be certain about the future.

"In Buffalo, as throughout the country, the center of the abortion conflict has moved from the streets, where it was in the late '80s and early '90s, to Washington D.C. and the courts," he said. "With new justices being appointed by President Bush, there is a widespread anticipation that Roe v. Wade, if not completely overturned, will at least be chipped away at."

In his new book, Press is trying to reach as wide of an audience as possible.

"I want people to understand both what took place in Buffalo and what also has happened in America that has made issues like abortion play such a prominent part in our society," he said.

Press said that the closing of factories and plants in the country in the late '70s lead to a sort of cultural revolution among blue collar workers, which he calls conservative populism.

"Conservative populism has focused on cultural issues such as abortion and gay marriage and has mobilized middle- and lower-middle-class people against the elite, but not the economic elite, the cultural elite. This is the central story of American politics these days, and I feel that the book examines why this has happened."

When asked if both sides of the abortion argument would be able to get something out of "Absolute Convictions," Press was confident that he had given an unbiased account of the situation.

"There are people who feel so strongly about the issue one way or another that it will be difficult for them to read a book that engages both sides of the issue," he said. "However, the surprising thing is that most Americans have opinions about abortion that lie somewhere in the middle."

For instance, Press said, many pro-choice advocates believe there should be some type of regulation.

"This book is written for an audience with an open mind that wants to learn, and wants to be moved by stories of real people, in a real city, who took various sides on this issue," he said.

"Absolute Convictions" is currently available in all major bookstores. Author Eyal Press will be leading a discussion and signing books at the newly opened Hallwalls at 341 Delaware Ave. in downtown Buffalo on Tuesday at 7 p.m.