To the Editor:
Re “The War of Words on Abortion” (Op-Ed, Jan. 10):
Charles C. Camosy is wrong in throwing up a smokescreen to pretend that the abortion debate is a struggle over language.
Pro-choice victories in Ireland, Chile and likely soon in Argentina clearly demonstrate that increasingly, on a global scale, people in Catholic-majority countries are taking a stand for the values, morals and ethics of defending a woman’s right to choose.
Those who favor women’s rights are not running away from fundamental principles like conscience; they are embracing the reality that women’s rights are human rights. They understand the challenges to women’s health and well-being when we deny their right to make free choices over their bodies.
In the United States, 6 in 10 Catholic voters say abortion can be a moral choice, and in my home country of Ireland 66 percent of voters said yes to legal abortion. In the face of an increasingly educated and sophisticated electorate, Mr. Camosy and other anti-abortion advocates are reduced to running away from ethical arguments they used in the past and relying on red-herring arguments as a fallback position.
Jon O’Brien
Washington
The writer is president of Catholics for Choice.
To the Editor:
Those who are anti-abortion do not have sole claim to being pro-life. I went to medical school to save lives. I have treated patients for whom abortion is lifesaving, and I have seen the consequences when women don’t have access to safe, legal abortion.
Just as a heart surgeon isn’t “pro-heart surgery” but is for access to all treatment options, I am not pro-abortion, I am pro abortion access. I am also for access to birth control, cancer screenings and sexually transmitted disease tests that, along with abortion, are part of the full spectrum of reproductive health care.
Though I do identify as being pro-choice, that term is limiting: It implies equitable access to abortion, which is not the case.
Instead, let’s use the terminology of pro-reproductive health. Let’s talk about how access to contraception has resulted in the United States’ being at a record low for unintended pregnancies, and how access to abortions saves thousands of women’s lives every year.
Let’s refer to reproductive health care as the standard medical care that it is, and be clear that being pro women’s health care is pro-family, pro-economy and pro-life.
Leana Wen
Washington
The writer is president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
To the Editor:
Progressive Democrats and lifelong feminists like me who protest the inhumane words, actions and policies of this administration are hypocrites to the core if we do not acknowledge the hardness in our own hearts.
One of three Democrats is pro-life. Republicans do not own this stance, but Democrats who share this viewpoint must speak out without fear.
Human beings in formation are not mere “tissue,” a point made by Charles C. Camosy in his article. We are persons-in-the-making. Until we humans recognize how interconnected and interdependent we all are at each stage of life with all life on this planet, we will never effectively address the myriad crises we all face.
More than 60 million American girls, boys, men and women do not exist today because of Roe v. Wade. Just because these developing humans were deprived of life in the womb does not mean that their lives were any less precious than ours.
Jennifer Wilder Kierstead
Waterville, Me.
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | The Language in the Abortion Debate
Opinion | The Language in the Abortion Debate
To the Editor:
Re “The War of Words on Abortion” (Op-Ed, Jan. 10):
Charles C. Camosy is wrong in throwing up a smokescreen to pretend that the abortion debate is a struggle over language.
Pro-choice victories in Ireland, Chile and likely soon in Argentina clearly demonstrate that increasingly, on a global scale, people in Catholic-majority countries are taking a stand for the values, morals and ethics of defending a woman’s right to choose.
Those who favor women’s rights are not running away from fundamental principles like conscience; they are embracing the reality that women’s rights are human rights. They understand the challenges to women’s health and well-being when we deny their right to make free choices over their bodies.
In the United States, 6 in 10 Catholic voters say abortion can be a moral choice, and in my home country of Ireland 66 percent of voters said yes to legal abortion. In the face of an increasingly educated and sophisticated electorate, Mr. Camosy and other anti-abortion advocates are reduced to running away from ethical arguments they used in the past and relying on red-herring arguments as a fallback position.
Jon O’Brien
Washington
The writer is president of Catholics for Choice.
To the Editor:
Those who are anti-abortion do not have sole claim to being pro-life. I went to medical school to save lives. I have treated patients for whom abortion is lifesaving, and I have seen the consequences when women don’t have access to safe, legal abortion.
Just as a heart surgeon isn’t “pro-heart surgery” but is for access to all treatment options, I am not pro-abortion, I am pro abortion access. I am also for access to birth control, cancer screenings and sexually transmitted disease tests that, along with abortion, are part of the full spectrum of reproductive health care.
Though I do identify as being pro-choice, that term is limiting: It implies equitable access to abortion, which is not the case.
Instead, let’s use the terminology of pro-reproductive health. Let’s talk about how access to contraception has resulted in the United States’ being at a record low for unintended pregnancies, and how access to abortions saves thousands of women’s lives every year.
Let’s refer to reproductive health care as the standard medical care that it is, and be clear that being pro women’s health care is pro-family, pro-economy and pro-life.
Leana Wen
Washington
The writer is president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
To the Editor:
Progressive Democrats and lifelong feminists like me who protest the inhumane words, actions and policies of this administration are hypocrites to the core if we do not acknowledge the hardness in our own hearts.
One of three Democrats is pro-life. Republicans do not own this stance, but Democrats who share this viewpoint must speak out without fear.
Human beings in formation are not mere “tissue,” a point made by Charles C. Camosy in his article. We are persons-in-the-making. Until we humans recognize how interconnected and interdependent we all are at each stage of life with all life on this planet, we will never effectively address the myriad crises we all face.
More than 60 million American girls, boys, men and women do not exist today because of Roe v. Wade. Just because these developing humans were deprived of life in the womb does not mean that their lives were any less precious than ours.
Jennifer Wilder Kierstead
Waterville, Me.
Source: Read Full Article