Letter to the Editor
Pro-choice individuals aren't "for" abortion. We don't sit up nights hoping more women will have abortions. What we are for is a government that doesn't tell a woman what she can and can't do with her body.
Conservatives are all for government staying out of Americans' lives -- unless it's a social issue they disagree with, like gay marriage or abortion, then by all means, the government should get involved. This sort of hypocrisy really gets to me, especially when the conservatives claim that they care so much for the unborn. Sure, they care about the unborn, but once that baby is born, he had better pull himself up by his "booty straps" because we don't tolerate anyone getting a free ride.
Now that he's taken his first breath, he needs food, shelter, child care, and health care. That once-precious, little life is now a "drain" on society. Conservatives don't want to waste money on programs for the underprivileged. They don't want to waste money on quality preschool programs or day-care assistance for the growing working-class poor. So spare us the "compassion" for the unborn and start caring about the ones that are already here.
I understand not wanting people to have abortions. I don't want people to have abortions, but prohibition doesn't work. It didn't work for alcohol. It's not working for drugs. What works is money spent on prevention. If we spend the money up-front on quality child-care programs, on a quality education for everyone, and on sex education, not abstinence, we can lower the number of unwanted pregnancies significantly.
If we spend the money up-front we not only can lower the number of abortions, but we can actually change the trajectory of many little lives from destined for prison to destined for medical school or the presidency.
Jewel Pullen
Grovetown