- April 18, 2024
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Dear Editor:
Regarding Loraine Sandblom’s letter claiming abortion is “murder:" Some cultures and religions believe the soul enters the body with the breath. Actually, in the Bible, in Numbers 5:11-31, induced miscarriage (abortion) is green-lighted, in certain situations.
Circumstances surrounding pregnancy are unique and highly-personal. Pro-choice doesn't mean pro-abortion. It means you believe decisions regarding pregnancy are best left up to the pregnant woman (and, ideally, her mate).
Lastly, “pro-life" should include cradle-to-grave. It’s a shame so many people care more about an unborn child than they do for a child after it’s born. Maybe that's why our country is suffering.
Mary Anne Andrew
Ormond Beach
Dear Editor:
When I drive past local churches and they have their crosses out with their anti-abortion signs up, it is offensive to me. When I see pro-life people barking at women outside Planned Parenthood, it infuriates me.
Pregnancy is a personal choice. Abortion has been legal since I was an innocent kid. I cannot believe we have to fight for the right to keep it legal at this stage of my life and it is very scary with Texas, Florida, other states following suit, getting in front of the current conservative SCOTUS. Backstreet/alley abortions were a thing of the past; if they reverse Roe v. Wade, more women will die. But they don't care. It's not rich, white women who will suffer the consequences, so it doesn't matter to the old, white men who are making these decisions.
If they only cared about the child after it was born, that would be a different story. Out of 40 million births a year in the U.S., 1.6 million are the result of “unintended” pregnancies and have been linked to poor child health outcomes as they are less likely to have received early prenatal care, breastfeed the infant, and are more likely to have infants with poorer health at birth.
Thirty-eight states require parental involvement in a minor’s decision to have an abortion. Forty-three states prohibit abortions after a specified point in pregnancy (with some exceptions — generally when necessary to protect the patient’s life or health). Twenty-five states require a person to wait a specified time, usually 24 hours, between when they receive counseling and the procedure is performed. Twelve of these states have laws that require the patient to specifically make two separate trips to the clinic to obtain the procedure. Forty-five states allow individual healthcare providers to refuse to participate in an abortion and 16 states use their own funds to pay for (most or all) medically-necessary abortions for Medicaid enrollees. Thirty-three states and Washington D.C. prohibit the use of state funds except in those cases when federal funds are available: where the patient’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
As you can see, you can’t just “go out and get an abortion” and it isn’t an easy choice — for anyone involved and people just need to mind their own business. Aborting a cluster of cells does not make you a murderer!
Lori Bennett
Ormond Beach
