SAN DIEGO — Dr. Kenneth C. Edelin, formally named Sunday as the new national chairman of the Planned Parenthood Federation, says he is prepared to do political battle with what he views as an escalating effort by anti-abortion rights "terrorists" intent on limiting women's reproductive rights.

"I've seen this before," Edelin, a Boston physician, said after the national organization's board ratified his appointment at its annual meeting. "They took their shots at me, and they lost."

In 1975, Edelin was convicted of manslaughter in Massachusetts for performing an abortion on a 17-year-old in a nationally publicized case. The Massachusetts Supreme Court later threw out the verdict.

Edelin, 50, has maintained all along that he was targeted in an effort by anti-abortion activists--among them Boston politicians--seeking to limit women's rights in the wake of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision allowing legal abortions.

"They were looking for a test case at the time, and I was it," Edelin said.

He was affiliated with Boston City Hospital for almost two decades before stepping down June 30 as chairman of obstetrics and gynecology.

"He combines both a practical knowledge of the issues from his time in a city hospital and a broad knowledge of policy," said Lydia Neumann, a Planned Parenthood vice president. "That's an unusual combination."

Edelin said he knows anti-abortion activists' tactics.

"They didn't frighten me back in '73 and '74," he said. "These folks try to intimidate patients, they try to intimidate doctors, they try to intimidate clinic personnel. I've seen these tactics in a very personal way."

Since last July's U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a Missouri law restricting abortions in that state's public hospitals, several states have seen the development of movements seeking greater restrictions on abortion, Edelin and other Planned Parenthood officials noted.

In particular, Edelin cited Louisiana where there is an effort underway to make it illegal for physicians to perform abortions. The Louisiana effort--now being challenged in the courts--echoes back to his own legal troubles, Edelin noted.

"This is a very critical time," Edelin said, adding that the Supreme Court's increasingly restrictive rulings on abortion means that the battle for abortion rights is shifting from the legal arena to the field of politics. "The pro-choice movement has an opportunity to be a potent political force."