Dear Editor:
I am writing in response to Sue Gibson's letter in the May 25 paper regarding extended wait times for abortions.
I would have to respectfully disagree with her reasoning and her conclusions, and would like to offer a different perspective.
She argues that this bill penalizes women for their pregnancies, and tells them that they are "incapable of making responsible decisions about our own bodies and our families." I feel this bill does quite the opposite.
It acknowledges that women are, in fact, going to make this very grave decision about their own body as well as the body and the very life of another human being, their unborn child, and therefore simply asks them to take a little time to carefully consider what they are about to do, and the ramifications this decision will have on their own life and the life of their child.
If we truly desire to promote equal rights for all citizens, is it not a hypocritical position to ignore the rights of the youngest and most vulnerable members of society, the unborn?
Of the 1.3 million babies aborted annually in the U.S. how many of those were women who had no rights at all, not even the right to live? Abortion is not only an issue of the mother's body and choice, but also and equally an issue of her child's body and lack of choice.
Gibson mentions the hardships suffered by the tenacious women on whose shoulders she stands, including being shamed, targeted, jailed, restrained and force-fed.
How much worse the sufferings innocent children endure every day in abortion - limbs being violently rent from tiny bodies by sharp tools and powerful vacuums, tender skin being burned by strong saline solutions, tiny heads being collapsed in partial-birth abortion.
If we truly care about women's rights, we will stand up for the smallest and most vulnerable women in our society, the unborn, and fight for those who cannot speak for themselves.
I would urge the governor to sign this excellent piece of legislation that truly protects the rights of all women.