Let’s Talk

To the Editor: 
In reading the opinion section of the Herald Sept. 27, I found myself agreeing with letter writer Micki Goldberg who said that she wished not to associate with people who have “repulsive” political and social views, and with Herald Publisher Art Hall, who said that there is a need to continue discussion on topics that divide us. So in that vein, I would like to re-open a topic that fits that description (and has divided us for decades), a topic that Hall specifically raised, that is abortion.
First of all, let’s not use emotively-laden terms. What is inside a woman from, in the words of Parents Magazine, “a tiny cluster of cells to a bouncing baby” is a fetus. It is not a baby or a child. It isn’t an infant or a toddler. It is a fetus, plain and simple. Let’s not mislead people or cloud the issue by using terms of our choice, but instead, let’s be honest.
Then, instead of choosing sides, abortion being legal upon demand in all cases, or illegal, let’s first look at specific cases. After all, this shouldn’t be a team sport, but a serious attempt to pull our nation together on an important issue. Let’s just stick with rather ordinary cases with ordinary people.
Case 1: A high school educated young woman who is struggling financially forgets to use birth control and becomes pregnant. Case 1a: That same woman has a sex partner who has no job and disclaims paternity. Case 1b: That woman is a 17-year-old junior in high school, with disapproving parents who don’t want anything to do with the girl or the child. Case 1c: That same woman/girl is the victim of clear cut rape. Case 1d: That same woman/girl was “date raped” after she got drunk at a party.
Case 2: It is discovered by, say, an early sonogram that a fetus is seriously malformed and a woman doesn’t want to carry such a fetus to term. Case 2a: That same early sonogram shows that there is, say, an ectopic pregnancy which the OB/GYN considers to be possibly life-threatening to the mother if allowed to develop. Case 2b: A third-term sonogram reveals that there is a serious threat to the woman’s life if the fetus is actually going to term. Case 2c: A third-term sonogram reveals massive physical problems with the fetus that if allowed to develop, will be carried through the life of the person.
Case 3: A sonogram reveals that those physical problems will require tens or hundreds of dollars of medical treatment every year of the person’s life. Then, of course, the most common cases.
Case 4: A poor woman struggling through, say, her second semester of medical school gets pregnant.
Case 5: A woman in a bad marriage (or single) in her early 30’s has two youngsters and gets pregnant.
So, sit down with friends, look long and carefully and discuss those (and other) cases before coming to a conclusion about abortion. Then, after reflecting on them, throw in principles, like libertarianism, religious beliefs, personal feelings, etc., and see what you come up with.
My opinion, for what it is worth, is that since 90 percent of all abortions are done in the first trimester, and probably most of the remaining 10 percent are of case two types, women are making wise, responsible choices. Politicians and other people should not make the decisions for them.
ED. NOTE: Definition of fetus from Merriam-Webster dictionary, a developing human from usually two months after conception to birth — compare embryo.