Keep abortions safe for women

Re: “Abortion is also tragic,” July 24 letter to the editor

I am in my 80th year and clearly remember in 1956 trying to help another teenager through the aftermath of a back-street abortion accomplished with a solution made with carbolic soap. There was no assistance for this impoverished teenager with a low level job, living alone in a big city. She shared a small room with another teen — bathroom at the end of the hall, turn right and down six steps. She survived.

And to the woman in Littleton who wrote a letter to the editor calling abortion tragic:

Have you yourself adopted a child subjected to awful abuse because he/she was unwanted?

Have you yourself helped a stranded teenage girl?

Have you yourself helped an abused woman and her children?

Have you yourself ever been in a position where you have no money, family or resources to feed or care for a helpless baby?

If your answer is no, perhaps if you meet a little angel in your heaven you can explain why you did nothing to help his mother when she needed it most.

Now we need to vote to keep Roe vs. Wade and to keep Planned Parenthood as a lifesaver for many families. We cannot leave these life changing decisions to people with no direct knowledge of the situation. No, I am not an advocate for wholesale abortion, but we must keep the procedure legal to help those women who really have no choice. Wendy Larsen, Denver