Readers on abortion, immigration, Greens

Abortion foes aren’t thinking about costs

From 1970 to 2014, it is estimated that women had 44.5 million abortions. Women have abortions because they cannot, for any number of reasons, care for a child. A child who cannot be cared for by its parents or a family member goes into foster care.

In Ohio in 2016, 20,672 women had abortions. That same year, the average cost of foster care was $6,675, and the average cost of Medicaid was $2,589. That was $9,264 a year for the first three years of a child’s life. The average cost of education was $8,931 per year, for the next 15 years. Then the child would cost almost $18,200 per year. Just these three items for the babies aborted in 2016 would have cost Ohio taxpayers about $6.2 billion.

In 2015, there were 13,205 children in foster care in Ohio, of these 3,010 were available for adoption. That same year 978 children “aged out” of foster care without having been adopted.

Our president and Congress have promised to overturn Roe v. Wade because abortion violates their deeply held Christian beliefs.

“No new taxes!” is also one of their deeply held beliefs. How do these same Christian elected officials propose to care for these now-to-be-born babies that are going to end up in the Medicaid, education and/ or foster care systems?

It will be interesting to see what happens when these folks are forced to choose between God and mammon. ANN V. PADDOCK, DAYTON

Immigrants are fleeing war, drugs

Regarding separating children at the border from their parents: As a retired teacher, I have studied the recent situation carefully.

There is an erroneous argument being spread that people desiring to enter the USA are illegally acting (acting against the law), therefore, deserve to have their children taken away as a deterrent. This same argument encourages completing a wall to deter undocumented people attempting to enter from other countries.

First, those who are at our borders at this time are legally seeking asylum from war and narcotics — dangerous attacks and assaults. I repeat, Asylum. ... We must consider this moral question carefully. LILLIAN B. MOSKELAND, BEAVERCREEK

Green Party provides a better alternative

The Green Party of Ohio grew by more than 60 percent in the May primary election because we have a great candidate running a serious campaign for governor of Ohio. Constance Gadell-Newton follows the Green Party’s key values including feminism, ecological wisdom, social justice, non-violence and grassroots democracy. Because Greens stick to these values, Constance is a fundamentally different kind of candidate. She refuses all corporate donations. She opposes fracking and nuclear power. She steadfastly defends a woman’s right to choose, and agrees with the majority of Ohioans on a host of other issues, including universal single-payer health care, and protecting people’s right to vote.We have new county committees starting all over Ohio, and our party continues to grow, despite being ignored by almost all the mainstream media.

If you feel unrepresented by the Republicans and Democrats, send a strong message: Vote Green. WILLIAM N. DAVIS II, DAYTON