Woman should make abortion decision
I write regarding two letters in the Oct. 4 paper expressing horror at the idea of abortions being compassionate.
The first from Alan Murnane (“How far to take compassion?”) fretted over who would determine who is unfit to be a parent or too poor to add a(nother) child to their family, if they have a family at all. His list of suggestions included everyone except the woman considering an abortion. Any woman is perfectly capable of deciding both questions. In fact, she is the ultimate authority on the matter. No one, and certainly no one in the government, is better qualified to determine what is best for her.
Regarding Kerry Moore’s letter (“Abortions aren’t ‘compassionate’”), while supporting abortion as a right further expresses horror at the idea that abortion can be compassionate. Again, the focus is on the fetus, and not the woman and/or her family who deserve compassion just as much as anyone else. An unwanted pregnancy can and does wreck families and relationships.
It can even result in the death of the woman herself as not every man wants to be a father and some will and do go to extremes to ensure that. The general public cannot know when that will or won’t be the case, but the woman concerned probably does. How about some compassion for her?
Elaine S. Farrington Johnson, Columbus