Letter to the editor:

Fight teen pregnancy, not abortion rights

Pam Price, Henderson

Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 | 2:08 a.m.

Regarding William F. Brennan’s Monday letter, headlined “Don’t confuse moral fights for religion’s”:

Mr. Brennan states that abortion is wrong, because it is a moral, not just a religious, issue. I disagree. Whether you label it moral or religious, it is still a human judgment. It is not a fact nor even common sense.

The Chinese government’s view of abortion is the opposite of Mr. Brennan’s. Its “moral conviction” is to advocate abortion for city-dwelling Chinese families who have reached their allotment of one child. Having more than one child results in severe penalties. This contributes to the solution of world overpopulation.

“Pro-choice” is not “pro-abortion.” It just gives the mother, not the government, the right to make the ultimate decision. It would be more productive for parents, churches and schools to address the serious consequences of pregnancy before the fact. If young people are sexually active, contraception should be available.

In 1965, before Roe v. Wade, almost 20 percent of all maternal deaths from pregnancy in the United States resulted from illegal, unsafe abortions (according to Planned Parenthood). Outlawing abortion will not make it go away.

Discussion: 1 comment so far…

By KillerB

1/7/09 at 8:48 a.m.

Suggest removal

Since Roe v. Wade abortion can't be outlawed, it can only have legitimate regulation. One legitimate regulation would include something like parental notification. In some states a 14 year old can get an abortion just by going to her school's health clinic for the necessary referral. Notifying the parents is a crime.

Being the father of a daughter I was quite shocked to discover how active the schools were in encouraging the kind of lifestyle that could have gotten her unsupervised enough to get pregnant. That encouragement included the flipside of abortion -- setting her up in her own place, full medical, full benefits, and so on, including someone coming in once a week to teach her how to keep house and change diapers!!

So much for morality and the state's inherent mission to preserve family integrity.