Contraception is answer to abortion
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the Editor: As a retired family nurse practitioner, I become very frustrated by the abortion debate. Mr. Rick Lohr, in your May 6 letter to the editor you asked for a civil debate about abortion. I am asking for a civil debate about free birth control for all women, thus, significantly reducing the need for abortions. Why are we not looking at birth control as an answer to the abortion issue? Some say birth control is a religious issue.
The Catholic Church has debated the contraception issue for centuries, many times just avoiding the issue entirely. The first Christian, Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek and Roman texts discuss well-known contraceptive practices, such as withdrawal, crocodile dung, dates and honey to block or kill semen. Judeo-Christian scripture encourages humans to “be fruitful and multiply,” but nothing in Scripture explicitly prohibits contraception.
At that time in history it was important to have many children because one fourth of all infants died before their first birthday and one half of all children died before the age of puberty. Children were required for survival, to help work the fields and to care for disabled and elderly family members as there were no social programs to meet those needs. This is no longer the case. As you mentioned, “abortion is tangled with class and race” issues. The well thought out reform ideas you mentioned in your letter are already in place, are costly to states and of course not designed to prevent pregnancy.
The Colorado Family Planning Initiative (CFPI), a privately funded project, temporarily offered low-income women and teenagers low or no-cost contraceptive devices including IUDs and implants for seven years. The teen pregnancy rate dropped by 40 percent with a 35 percent to 42 percent drop in abortions. The program saved the state between $49 million and $111 million in birth related Medicaid costs. The funding for the project was for a limited time. The Colorado House voted to continue the project but the Republican dominated Senate refused to further fund the project.
Contraception is no longer a religious issue but a political issue voted on by men. Pregnancy has always been a women’s issue as men can walk away. If men were the ones who got pregnant would the laws be different? Would politicians even be involved? We need to fight for contraception for all to significantly reduce abortions.
Janice Soczka Town of Cassel
To the Editor: President Trump’s campaign slogan is “Make America Great Again.” Due to his decision to ignore intelligence warnings as early as November, a dozen warnings in his daily briefings beginning in January, and his determination to “listen to his gut” instead of science, he has a huge job to do.
With more than 36 million people unemployed, 1,515,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 90,000 dead, the country is in desperate need of a leader. Some people say we should not criticize the president because he is doing the best he can. That is exactly the problem.
The only thing Trump seems to be good at is blaming others. He refuses to listen to experts and continues to say the coronavirus will just go away. He sets out guidelines for states to follow, then encourages people to violate them. He suggested people consume bleach. He says some people will be affected badly, meaning they will die, but we have to open up the country.
Where is his plan? When was the last time Trump told us the truth? Big rallies, finger pointing, wishful thinking and lies will not make America great again. Darlene and Dennis Bucheger Greenwood
Pandemic offers lessons for the nation
To the Editor: COVID-19 has been an eye-opener for America.
This country has 4.3 percent of the world’s population, yet leads the world in the number of cases.
Since the Reagan era, cuts to all government agencies and infrastructure have been progressive, leaving government agencies inadequate funding (except for the military which now gets over 50 percent of discretionary budget).
The current president had terminated a USAID study of viruses and the committee charged with planning for a pandemic, and refused help from the World Health Organization. The delay in confronting the pandemic has cost about 20,000 additional American lives so far.
Once the pandemic began, our health system failed. Having only a for-profit system eliminated treatment for the many with no health care. Those who lost jobs have no health care. No vaccine is in sight, the virus is not being traced, and medical supplies are inadequate.
The vast majority of CARES money went to huge corporations with little to no oversight. Included was another tax cut for the wealthy corporations. The president is insisting new bailouts be tied to cutting taxes that support Social Security, forcing more elderly into poverty.
America’s food system is based on mega corporations created by consolidation. When one link breaks, the country suddenly finds itself with shortages.
At this time we have a federal government run by Wall Street that is unwilling to protect, educate, or support 90 percent of its citizens.
How long will Americans accept this?
Glory Adams Eau Claire
