Letter: There are things much worse than abortion

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2000 | 9:22 a.m.

Is it not violent to read about newborn infants being left to die in garbage bins and on railroad tracks, or beaten and shaken to death hours after birth because pregnancies occur when people are not yet ready to become parents?

Is it not violent enough for a woman to be raped? Must she also be forced to carry and bring into the world the growing product of her violent attacker? Is it not ludicrous that in the 21st century, in what is supposed to be a free country, there are still people trying to tell us what we can and cannot do with our bodies, our futures, and our choice in medical procedures?

The choices that I make in terms of my reproductive health are of no consequence to my neighbors or of any concern to any person beyond my family, my physician, my God and myself. It is a thousand times more responsible to keep abortion safe and accessible to all women than it is to sit in judgment and try to ban a medical procedure because it does not fit into your set of morals. It is far more responsible to choose not to bring a life into this world than to have a child that you cannot or will not care for.

If you want to save the babies, start with the ones that are here, the babies that are abused and neglected, without homes or loving parents. Save the children who have never seen a day without pain, the ones born drug-addicted and the ones who grow up with the hurt of knowing what it is like to not be wanted.

SUSAN RUSSOTTI