Letter to the Editor: Roe v. Wade rebuttal

As a point of interest, here is a rebuttal to the Letter to the Editor I wrote which the Eugene Regist-Guard so kindly published on January 21. Personally, I think it misses the point entirely. Here the author takes pains to point out that an abortion was unsuccessfully attempted illegally, so we should keep women safe by legalizing it. My point was that if abortion had been legal, it would also have been successful and thousands of people would today be poorer for it. The real losers of legalized abortion are not the mothers who kill their unborn children, but the lives those children would have otherwise impacted. Sorry, Eileen. By the way, who's looking after the safety of the children you think we should kill?

Abortion must remain legal

Jon Smith wrote a moving letter on Jan. 21.
He is the descendant of a woman who attempted to perform an abortion on herself in 1950. He is, understandably, glad to be alive and in favor of overturning Roe vs. Wade.

I also dislike the idea of abortion. However, it is important to note that in 1950, abortion was illegal and his grandmother tried to induce abortion herself. The attempt failed and she didn't die - two things Smith should be thankful for.

Think, though - the illegality of the action did not prevent her from
attempting an abortion. Indeed, abortion will happen whether legal or not. The best way to prevent abortion is to prevent unwanted pregnancies. This has never been a priority of the U.S. health care system, and there are a lot of unwanted pregnancies.

I prefer to keep women alive and healthy through legalized abortion, rather than irrevocably injured or dead by their own hands. And that's why, until we have a comprehensive sex education policy, with access to counseling and birth control as well as a society where women are truly granted the right to control their own participation in sex, abortion needs to remain legal, accessible and safe for women.

EILEEN NITTLER

Eugene