ABORTION: Limits on pro life

A big thank you to Douglas Wells for his Jan. 22 My Turn concerning abortion. I have written this letter in my head many times in one form or another.

There are some people who would self-identify as pro choice who are too comfortable treating abortion as a form of birth control. By the same token, there are people who would self-identify as pro life who act as though life begins at conception but ends at birth.

After birth, the commitment to the sanctity of life seems to morph into an every man for himself philosophy. This philosophy manifests itself in a distinct opposition to using tax dollars to create and maintain the support systems that actually represent the imperative to be thy brothers keeper.

I suspect it is rare to find anyone who actually lives their lives as if abortion is casual birth control. For the vast majority, abortion is an agonizing decision no matter what one believes.

It is far more common to find people who claim to be pro life in the sense of believing that every pregnancy must be brought to term, but in their politics abandon a pro life point of view in what they are willing to vote and pay for.

I have felt for a long time that if you are ‘pro life’ then step up to the plate, (as some do). Vote and act as though you believe that every life is sacred, not just from conception to birth, but throughout the ensuing life. Until I see that in action, I will continue to support choice.

STEPHEN D. BRUNO

Dalton Gardens