Ah, abortion... can't we all just put down our coat hangers & pipe bombs & get along?
Reading one of the five or six pages of my hometown rag, The Advertiser-Tribune, a few weeks ago while at my grandparents' house, i came across a column by good ol' Cal Thomas on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Typical fare for The A-T, to be sure. So, just to ruffle some feathers, i wrote this Letter To The Editor. It's a bit snarky, but that's mostly cos i didn't really think they'd print it. But, unlike the proposal I sent in to the The Ann Arbor News to bulldoze a few trees in Gallup Park to make room for a Hummer dealership, The A-T actually did print this.

You can read Thomas' article here.

-cpb 2/16/08

I felt compelled to write in an opposing view to Cal Thomas' recent column regarding Roe v. Wade because I doubt my view is anything that would ever appear in The A-T.
In the column, Thomas suggested abortion was "a reflection of our decadence and deviancy." I disagree. If anything, it may be a reflection of our stupidity. If a couple does not want to have a child, they should take precautions to prevent pregnancy. To not do so is stupid. However, if conception occurs, to force someone to bring an unwanted child into this world is equally idiotic.
Adoption is an option, of course, but there are already more children in foster care than will be adopted. And funny enough, I see very few Pro-Lifers out there getting in line to adopt a crack baby or bring a product of rape or incest into their homes.
And nor should they. It is not their responsibility to care for unwanted babies. Neither is it their responsibility to nose into a woman's decision on whether to have that baby.
Roe did not, as Mr. Thomas stated, "[take] the question of endowment of life by 'our Creator' and [place] it in the hands of individuals." What Roe did was kick our government out of a woman's uterus.
Try as it might, and it most certainly does, the government cannot legislate morality. Not everyone in this country holds the same religious and moral beliefs. Not everyone in this country believes a fertilized egg is a human being.
I've never heard of a fetus being counted in a census. I've also never heard of a couple with two kids and one on the way say that they have three kids. This is all semantics and kind of silly, of course. But then again, carbon is the basis for all life on this planet, yet I've never seen Pro-Lifers protesting the burning of coal.
If you do believe that a fertilized egg is a human being, then don't have an abortion. If you believe that abortion is a mortal sin, then don't have an abortion. That is most definitely your choice and you are welcome to it. Just don't force your beliefs onto me or anyone else who does not share them.